The Power of the Brain
Lisa Feldman Barrett
About the Course
From the formation of language to the creation of emotion, and from the puzzle of consciousness to the existence of mental illness; understanding the brain is vital both for our understanding of ourselves and our understanding of reality. What is the brain? What does it reveal about human nature? How has it evolved over the millennia?
Join renowned professor of psychology and award winning academic, Lisa Feldman Barrett, as she tours some of the most fascinating discoveries about the brain. Professor Feldman Barrett will examine the most recent neuroscience about brain evolution and function, what this reveals about human nature, how this affects the construction of language and the implications of having socially dependant brains in a culture that prizes individual rights and freedoms.
By the end of the course, you will have learnt:
- A brief evolutionary history of the brain
- What makes the human brain so special
- How the brain creates civilisations
- The power of words, and how they affect the brain
- How we can train our brain to make us happier
IAI Academy courses are designed to be challenging but accessible to the interested student. No specialist knowledge is required.
About the Instructor
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Lisa Feldman Barrett
Cutting edge brain expert Lisa Feldman Barrett has revolutionised the way we understand emotions, pioneering the theory of constructed emotion. She is a director of the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory. She is the founding editor-in-chief of the journal Emotion Review.
Course Syllabus
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Part One: What The Brain Reveals About Human NatureProf.Feldman Barrett explores the question that has puzzled us for centuries. How does the brain work? And what precisely does the brain reveal about human nature?
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Part Two: Why Words MatterThe study of the brain exposes a paradox central to political democracy. On the one hand our behaviour is dependent on a variety of external influences and yet at the same time we live in a culture that lauds individual rights and freedoms.