Knudsen presents lecture on the auditory system of the barn owl

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Hookerlecture08.jpg” caption=”Eric Knudsen will present this year’s H. Lyman Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor lecture. File Photo. “]The Faculty of Science and the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour are pleased to present an H. Lyman Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor public lecture by Eric Knudsen. Knudsen is a professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

“Mechanisms of Learning in the Auditory System of the Barn Owl” will be presented in the Health Sciences Centre, Room 1A1, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15.

Knudsen will discuss how perhaps the most fascinating property of the brain is its ability to learn and reorganize functional connections as a consequence of interacting with the environment. The effect of experience is particularly powerful during early life. To illustrate this, Knudsen will show how the central auditory system in developing barn owls is shaped by early life experiences. Experimental manipulation of auditory or visual experience shows that young owls can learn highly abnormal associations between auditory cues and spatial locations.

Knudsen's research involves the investigation of how the capacity for learning changes with development and maturation, and the effects of early experience on the architecture and function of the central auditory system.

Knudsen has written over 70 peer-reviewed articles in publications such as Science, Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

He has been an associate editor for both the Journal of Neuroscience and the Journal of Neurophysiology. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has been a Core Research Member of the MacArthur Foundation, an Executive Member of the Neuroscience Institute, a Councilor for the International Society for Neurotheology and a member of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.

Knudsen is the recipient of numerous distinguished lectureships, honours and awards, including a Young Investigator Award from the Society of Neuroscience, a Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences and the Peter Gruber Prize in Neuroscience – to name a few.

The lecture is free and all are welcome.

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[img_inline align="right" src="http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Hookerlecture08.jpg" caption="Eric Knudsen will present this year's H. Lyman Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor lecture. File Photo. "]The Faculty of Science and the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour are pleased to present an H. Lyman Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor public lecture by Eric Knudsen.  Knudsen is a professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. <br />
<br />
<p>"Mechanisms of Learning in the Auditory System of the Barn Owl" will be presented in the Health Sciences Centre, Room 1A1, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15.<br />
<br />
<p>Knudsen will discuss how perhaps the most fascinating property of the brain is its ability to learn and reorganize functional connections as a consequence of interacting with the environment. The effect of experience is particularly powerful during early life. To illustrate this, Knudsen will show how the central auditory system in developing barn owls is shaped by early life experiences. Experimental manipulation of auditory or visual experience shows that young owls can learn highly abnormal associations between auditory cues and spatial locations.<br />
<br />
<p>Knudsen&#039;s research involves the investigation of how the capacity for learning changes with development and maturation, and the effects of early experience on the architecture and function of the central auditory system. <br />
<br />
<p>Knudsen has written over 70 peer-reviewed articles in publications such as <i>Science</i>, <i>Nature</i> and the <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>.<br />
<br />
<p>He has been an associate editor for both the <i>Journal of Neuroscience</i> and the <i>Journal of Neurophysiology</i>. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.  He has been a Core Research Member of the MacArthur Foundation, an Executive Member of the Neuroscience Institute, a Councilor for the International Society for Neurotheology and a member of the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.<br />
<br />
<p>Knudsen is the recipient of numerous distinguished lectureships, honours and awards, including a Young Investigator Award from the Society of Neuroscience, a Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences and the Peter Gruber Prize in Neuroscience - to name a few.<br />
<br />
The lecture is free and all are welcome.

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