Knowing One's Place: Space and the Brain

This book is based on an in-depth, filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Jennifer Groh, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. After an inspiring story about how she became interested in neuroscience, this extensive conversation examines Jennifer Groh’s extensive research on how the brain combines various streams of sensory input to determine where things are, together with the corresponding implications for a wide range of issues, from neuroplasticity to evolutionary mechanisms.


This carefully-edited book includes an introduction, Framing Evolution, and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter:


From Ticks to Brains - Becoming a neuroscientist

Historical Background - On the shoulders of giants

Frames of Reference - Integrating sensory systems

Mysterious Overlap - Fitting the pieces together

Smell - An overlooked sense?

Brain Maps - Making a picture

Ice Cream Cones and Multiplexing - Same neurons, different functions?

Navigating Rats - Place fields and memory

Neuroplasticity - Phantom limbs, cochlear implants and feedback

Evolutionary Mechanisms? - Repeat performance?

The Road Ahead - Testing neurons for contrast



About Ideas Roadshow Conversations Series: 


This book is part of an expanding series of 100+ Ideas Roadshow conversations, each one presenting a wealth of candid insights from a leading expert in a focused yet informal setting to give non-specialists a uniquely accessible window into frontline research and scholarship that wouldn't otherwise be encountered through standard lectures and textbooks. For other books in this series visit our website: https://ideas-on-film.com/ideasroadshow/.