[News] The Wondersof the Brain with Dr. Kim Soyoun 

By Lee Hye Soo(hhsl_0814@korea.ac.kr) 

Theinterest of the brain and its functions has rapidly increased over the pastyears. Now, more people are curious to find more about this organ andnaturally, there are many experiments that explore how the brain processesitself. On May 16, Dr. Kim Soyoun, who is currently working at KIST (KoreanInstitute of Science and Technology), held a special colloquium called “Discountedexpected utility signals in the corticostriatal network during inter-temporal gambling” at Korea University (KU).

In the seminar, Dr. Kim explained about an experiment that shehad carried out with colleagues and professors while she was attending YaleUniversity. In this experiment, Dr. Kim explained the procedures of how monkeyswere given a choice between two stimuli and depending on their choice, theywere given delayed rewards. With the usage of this technique, Dr. Kim covered various aspects of decision-making such as howdecision-making results change over time course in the brain. What seemed as asimple experiment with monkeys, Dr. Kim took us into a more complex world ofthe workings of the brain.

The colloquium was of a relaxed atmosphere compared tothe intense contents of the seminar. Thediscussion at the end of the presentation was very interesting in that there were many questions from fellow professors. Youk Sung Bin(’12, International Studies) said, “Even though the contents was a littlecomplex, the discussion at the end was interesting in that it showed how theconclusions from experiments could be applied to daily life. This definitelygot me interested in neuroscience.” 

http://www.thegranitetower.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=549