What does this study entail?
We are transported to an imaginary world when we read a story merely by looking at black marks on a white sheet of paper. We can rapidly decide if an animal is a cat or a dog, even though we have never seen the particular animal before. When something in our environment appears to be threatening, we automatically focus on its movement and shape rather than on its colour and other details.
Memory, language, categorisation and emotion are all cognitive functions. Sophisticated and theoretically motivated experimental studies can enable a better understanding of the way the brain operates while executing these functions.
Is this the right programme for you?
The human brain has an immense capacity to process information and represent the outside world. As psychologists who study this field we ask critical questions. An example of such a critical question is: how are the various brain structures involved in processing emotions, actions, language and concepts? By combining biological and cognitive perspectives on brain functioning we can try to answer this question.
