SAS forum explores knowing about knowing the brain

Knowing about the brain and knowing about knowing about the brain are two very different things, according to Floyd Bloom. Bloom -- editor of Science magazine -- spoke yesterday at the School of Arts and Sciences' 13th Annual Dean's Forum. The forum, which began with the presentation of the 1997 Dean's Scholars Awards, took place in the University Museum's Rainey Auditorium. Bloom's lecture, entitled "Knowing About Knowing About the Brain," introduced the audience to neuroscience as a developing interdisciplinary field. "I want to increase your awareness of [the brain] so that you can not only say that you know about the brain, but that you know about knowing about the brain," said Bloom, who also serves as chairperson of the Neuropharmacology Department at the Scripps Research Institute in California. During his brief lesson on the structure of the brain and the processes of neurotransmission, Bloom noted that neuroscience has only become a field of research in the last few decades. Scientists interested in the biology of the brain had been previously restricted to the fields of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology and psychology, and each scientist worked only within his respective field. "Now [all these scientists] speak a common language," Bloom said. "Because of this interdisciplinary research, it is now possible to make progress." Such progress, according to Bloom, results from scientists sharing data from their research. In order to facilitate such communication, Bloom and his team of scientists recently completed the Human Brain Mapping Project -- a computer program that allows scientists not only to "collect and analyze the data in a reproducible and verifiable manner but also to be able to share it." Bloom, who has authored or co-authored 18 books, said he majored in German literature in college, hoping to become a journalist. He went on to study medicine because his father told him that he could "do anything" so long as he finished medical school first. The diversity of his interests fits in with the mission of the forum, which Interim SAS Dean Walter Wales said is designed to celebrate the richness of the arts and sciences. The forum also allows the University to honor some of its finest. Several undergraduate and graduate students received the Dean's Scholar Awards for academic excellence. The awards -- presented by Wales -- are based on students' course-load and overall academic performance. Honorees from the College are: seniors Boon Lian Chan, Sarah Cookinham, Nicholas Picardo and Lucy Shanno; juniors Adina Alpert, Daniel Chen and Bethany Rubin; sophomores Ariella Poncz and Benjamin Souede; and Megan Phelan from the College of General Studies. Honorees from the Graduate Division are Rebecca Frost, Patrick Heuveline, Russell Kazal, Holly Rogers-Dillon, Sven-Erik Rose, Derek Schilling and Jesse Snedeker.