Talk: Small World Big Ideas

Talk: Small World Big Ideas

Categories: Lectures and Seminars | Intended for

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

3:00 PM - 4:30 PM | Add to calendar

2203 Dunton Tower

1125 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON

Contact Information

Jim Davies, x1109, jim@jimdavies.org

Registration

No registration required.

Cost

Free

About this Event

Host Organization: Institute of Cognitive Science
More Information: Please click here for additional details.

Chris Viger, of the University of Western Ontario will be giving the talk “Small World Big Ideas” at 3-4:30, in room 2203 of Dunton Tower.
https://carleton.ca/ics/current-ics-colloquia-schedule-fall-2017-winter-2018/

Abstract of talk:
Research into the patterns of neural connectivity using graph theory, connectomics, suggests that the brain has a small-world architecture, in which most connections between nodes are local, with relatively few long-ranging connections. Activity in long-range networks has been correlated with consciousness. I consider what other features of cognition might be associated with activity in these long-range networks as contrasted with features of cognition that correlate with activity in local networks. I argue that these findings offer new insights for the challenge to dual-process theories as to why cognitive processes have particular features that tend to cluster, but importantly can diverge. I then consider how this overall architecture underpins concept possession, which offers insights into language-thought relations.