Molecular and Cell Biology 90E, Section 1
Brain Science in Fact, Fiction, and Film (1 unit, P/NP)
Professor Walter Freeman
Friday 12:00-1:00, 2070 Valley Life Sciences Building, CCN: 57880

This seminar will offer you the opportunity to learn how brain science plays a role in society. The exchange is in both directions. Scientific discoveries of how brains work are learned by writers and used in novels and scripts for movies. Imaginative scenarios invented by visionary writers provide insights into human behavior that inspire scientists to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms. The topic this spring is 'brainwashing': how it is done, what the brain mechanisms are, and what it means in terms of your experience and understanding of reality, of your self-identity, and your expectations of responsibility for actions by yourself and others. The format of this seminar requires active participation in speaking, reading and writing. I will assign references to books and films on reserve in Moffitt Library. On alternate weeks you will read a book or watch a movie. In the week in which you read the assigned book, you will write a brief book review [1 or 2 paragraphs] and post it on the class web site.

Walter J Freeman studied physics and mathematics at MIT, electronics in the US Navy in WWII, philosophy at the University of Chicago, medicine at Yale University, internal medicine at Johns Hopkins, and neuropsychiatry at UCLA. He has taught brain science in the University of California, Berkeley since 1959 and is now Professor of the Graduate School. He received his M.D. cum laude (1954), the Bennett Award in Biological Psychiatry (1964), Guggenheim (1965), NIMH MERIT Award from (1990), and Pioneer Award from IEEE Neural Networks Council (1992). Professor Freeman was President of the International Neural Network Society (1994) and is Life Fellow IEEE (2001). He has authored over five hundred articles and five books. Website: http://sulcus.berkeley.edu