Architecture of the Mind

What is the nature of the human mind? Philosophers have debated this question for centuries, but Nancy Kanwisher approaches this question empirically, using brain imaging to look for components of the human mind that reside in particular regions of the brain. Her lab has identified cortical regions that are selectively engaged in the perception of faces, places, and bodies, and other regions specialized for uniquely human functions including the music, language, and thinking about other people’s thoughts. More recently, her lab has begun using artificial neural networks to unpack these findings and examine why, from a computational standpoint, the brain exhibits functional specification in the first place.