<html>
<body>
<font color="#0000FF">forwarding from the Histmed list for wider
interest<br>
Cheers<br>
Chris<br><br>
<br>
</font><blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Sender:
histmed-bounces@listserv.csv.warwick.ac.uk<br><br>
Monday 18 May 2009<br>
'Some real stuff: Language, models and animals in the quest for the
physical<br>
basis of memory<br>
in post-War Britain (1947-1965)<br>
Dr Fabio De Sio (Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine
at UCL)<br><br>
The talk will tackle an early and largely overlooked chapter of the
history<br>
of experimental brain sciences, namely JZ Young’s research for the<br>
anatomical and physiological basis of learning and memory in the
cephalopod<br>
Octopus vulgaris and the attempt to frame it into a general, cybernetic
and<br>
connectionist model of the memory mechanism. The main focus will be on
the<br>
first two decades of this research (c. 1947-1965), especially on the<br>
experiments conducted by Young and Brian B. Boycott on visual learning
and<br>
memory. This reconstruction of the early stages of the career of octopus
as<br>
a simple model for “higher” brain functions and of its problematic<br>
development aims at providing an instance of some epistemological,<br>
methodological and ideological assumptions underlying contemporary
brain<br>
sciences. More generally, it addresses the issue of the complex and<br>
multifarious relations between phenomena, observations and general
accounts<br>
in experimental practice.<br><br>
TIME: 1730-1900 (Doors open/ refreshments at 1715)<br><br>
VENUE:<br>
5th Floor Seminar Room<br>
The Wellcome Building<br>
183 Euston Road<br>
London NW1 2BE<br><br>
Registration not required<br><br>
Sally Bragg<br>
Affiliation and Programmes Administrator<br>
Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine<br>
at UCL<br>
The Wellcome Building<br>
183 Euston Road<br>
London<br>
NW1 2BE<br>
<a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/histmed" eudora="autourl">
www.ucl.ac.uk/histmed</a><br><br>
Tel: 00 44 (0)20 7679 8103<br>
Fax: 00 44 (0)20 7679 8194<br><br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Histmed mailing list<br>
Histmed@listserv.csv.warwick.ac.uk<br>
<a href="http://listserv.csv.warwick.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/histmed" eudora="autourl">
http://listserv.csv.warwick.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/histmed</a>
</blockquote></body>
</html>