Kavli Prize Laureate Lecture – The Restless Brain
Traditionally studies of brain function have focused on task-evoked responses. By their very nature such experiments tacitly encourage a reflexive view of brain function. While such an approach has been remarkably productive at all levels of neuroscience, it ignores the alternative possibility that brain functions are mainly intrinsic involving information processing for interpreting, responding to and predicting environmental demands. Dr. Raichle will argue that the latter view best captures the essence of brain function. Understanding the nature of this intrinsic activity will require integrating knowledge from all levels of neuroscience. The reward for doing so will be a much better understanding of human behavior in health and disease.
Dr. Marcus Raichle, Washington University in Saint Louis, School of Medicine
