Ideas worth spreading

A neural portrait of the human mind

1,385,338 views | Nancy Kanwisher • TED2014

Brain imaging pioneer Nancy Kanwisher, who uses fMRI scans to see activity in brain regions (often her own), shares what she and her colleagues have learned: The brain is made up of both highly specialized components and general-purpose "machinery." Another surprise: There's so much left to learn.

Brain imaging pioneer Nancy Kanwisher, who uses fMRI scans to see activity in brain regions (often her own), shares what she and her colleagues have learned: The brain is made up of both highly specialized components and general-purpose "machinery." Another surprise: There's so much left to learn.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Nancy Kanwisher

Nancy Kanwisher

Brain researcher

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Using fMRI imaging to watch the human brain at work, Nancy Kanwisher’s team has discovered cortical regions responsible for some surprisingly specific elements of cognition.

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Nancy's Brain Talks

For more information, see my collection of short talks on how scientists actually study the human mind and brain using fMRI and other methods, and what they have learned so far.

Stanley Finger | Oxford University Press, 2001 | Book

Origins of Neuroscience

The idea that the mind and brain are composed of distinct components, each carrying out a different function, goes back at least two centuries to neurologists like Franz Josef Gall and Paul Broca. For a delightful history of the colorful characters of this early era, read this book.

Nancy Kanwisher | PNAS, 2010 | Article

Functional specificity in the human brain: A window into the functional architecture of the mind

See my 2010 PNAS article to read a review of the recent evidence for this view of brain imaging.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.