Understanding The Neurological Complexity Of The Human Brain

In order to better understand the neurological complexity of the human brain, it is reasonable to first compare it to a similar organ, and according to Professor David Anderson, that is a fruit fly s brain. As a neurological researcher at the Caltech David Anderson Lab, Professor Anderson claims that the human brain is much more complex than thought, but with the help of fruit fly experimentation, understanding the human brain is made simple. As guest speaker at the TED Conference, Anderson informs his audience of a common misconception with the human brain, a misconception he intends to disprove by using evidence from his fruit fly experimentations. David Anderson explains how fruit fly research is the missing link that will help†¦show more content†¦Opening up his lecture, Professor Anderson immediately harnessed the crowds curiosity through his questions requiring crowd participation. He first asked the crowd to raise their hand if they had any family history of mental i llnesses. Most of the attending listeners responded to his inquiry with their hands raised high, signaling Anderson to ask his next question. Secondly, Anderson asked if anyone could agree that fruit fly research would help further the understanding of mental illnesses and if so, they should keep their hand raised. Naturally, in response to his second question, the audiences hands went back down. The humorous contrast in the crowds response resulted in laughter within the audience, which allowed Anderson to smoothly transition to his next point. He continued to use rhetorical questioning throughout his speech as seen when he asked, Can an organism like this teach us anything about emotion-like states? Do these organisms even have emotion-like states or are they just little digital robots? (00:04:55). Comparing living fruit flies to inanimate robots is silly and not realistic; this obvious answer made clear to his listeners that there is a high chance that fruit fly research could benefit the understanding of the human mind. In continuation, Anderson used comparison and contrast to help explain his research and support his claim. Anderson first comparedShow MoreRelatedThe Future Of Neuroscience : From Sci Fi1559 Words   |  7 Pageskick while wearing a robotic exoskeleton controlled by his brain. The high-tech demonstration was orchestrated by Duke University neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis, as part of the Walk Again Project [2], to develop and implement a brain-machine interface to allow severely paralyzed patients to regain mobility. The sight of such futuristic technology straight out of the Iron Man movie becoming a reality is simply exhilarating. 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