| MadSci Network: Neuroscience |
Hi there! A very comprehensive introductory neuroscience site is run by the Chudler lab: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html You can check out information about the visual and auditory pathways here, and learn about *lots* of other brain-related information, as well. In a nutshell, sensory information is received by specialized neurons (such as the photoreceptors of the eye or the hair cells of the ear), and conveyed through a circuit of neurons to the appropriate area of cortex. Visual information is conveyed to the visual cortex (pretty much at the back of your head), while auditory information goes to the auditory cortex (at the sides of your head). Other areas, such as language processing centers, are also involved in interpreting written/spoken words. The complete anatomical pathways involved in perceiving and interpreting visual/auditory information are not completely understood. Another great resource, if you haven't checked it already, is the MadSci Archives. You can find the archives at: http://www.madsci.org/MS_search.html Some useful keywords for your search might include "visual," "auditory," "learning," "reading," "language," and "sensory," for a start. A nice feature of the search site is that it allows you to restrict answers by grade level, so that you can find age-appropriate information. If you'd like to follow up on any of your searches with the *most* current research, try using MEDLINE, the biomedical literature database. You can access MEDLINE for free at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed Many journals now have abstracts (and even complete article texts) online for free, although the articles can be quite specialized. I hope this is a good start for this project! Amanda Kahn amandak@phy.ucsf.edu
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Neuroscience.