“The Evolution of the Human Brain”

Jon Kaas

Distinguished Centennial Professor of Psychology
Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
Vanderbilt Brain Institute
Vanderbilt University

3:30 pm – 3503 Thomas Hall (See details below)

7:30 pm – Daily Planet Café, NC Museum of Natural Sciences (Downtown Raleigh)

Kaas’s major research interests are in the evolution and functional organization of sensory-perceptual, cognitive, and motor systems, especially in primates, in the development of these systems, and in how these systems are plastic in response to injury and use in developing and adult brains. Special research emphasis is placed on studying visual, auditory and somatosensory systems, but current studies are also concerned with multimodal and sensorimotor integration in parietal and frontal cortex. Research questions are addressed with a range of electrophysiological, neuroanatomical, biochemical, and behavioral techniques. Teaching interests are in neuroscience, biological psychology, and animal behavior.