Brain Representations of Basic Physics Concepts

COFFEE_KLATCH · Invited

Abstract

The findings concerning physics concepts build on the remarkable new ability to determine the neural signature (or activation pattern) corresponding to an individual concept using fMRI brain imaging. Moreover, the neural signatures can be decomposed into meaningful underlying dimensions, identifying the individual, interpretable components of the neural representation of a concept. The investigation of physics concepts representations reveals how relatively recent physics concepts (formalized only in the last few centuries) are stored in the millenia-old information system of the human brain.

Authors

  • Marcel Adam Just

    Director, Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging, Carnegie Mellon University