SfN "Science and Society"

In the SfN's 2007 Annual Report, they featured an article titled, "Form Follows Function The Fusion of Neuroscience and Architecture". It is nice to see the neuroscience community acknowledging this initiative!
http://cognitionbaseddesign.googlepages.com/home

Spatial Cognition in Virtual Worlds

The article from Thought Capital talked about the importance of spatial cognition research in virtual worlds. But virtual worlds can also inform our understanding of spatial cognition. More on that in another post.

But this brings up the idea of virtual environments and neuroscience. Recently an article appeared in USA Today about the application of brain electrodes in virtual reality. The applications are very interesting beyond improving navigation in virtual worlds.

USA Today - Japanese researchers make 'Second Life' more like real life

Keio University graduate student Yasunari Hashimoto wears electrodes on his scalp to control the movements of his online character, or avatar, in the "Second Life" virtual reality world at the Laboratory for Biomedical Engineering, Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology of Keio University in Tokyo November 22, 2007. People with severe paralysis could find new opportunities from shopping to doing business or making new friends in the virtual world of Second Life by just thinking about it, if experiments being conducted by a Japanese university bear fruit.

Questioning Neuro-architecture

Sorry for the hiatus. But the holidays were busy.

So once again we find another blog posting about the ceiling height study proclaiming the rise of neuro-architecture. Thinking about it, it makes sense that everyone has been citing this article. This is mostly because there are no other obvious neuro-architecture research.

This blog post is interesting because it uses the ceiling height study as a segue to the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. It goes on to suggest relevant research related to the architecture of schools and its effect on learning, and the architecture of courthouses and its effect on verdicts.

Thought Capital - Architecture, meet Neuroscience