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lectures > lectures spring 2001

Culture, education and the brain

Speaker: Professor Ian Robertson
12th May 2001

During the last few years, it has become clear that the human brain is physically shaped by experience throughout life, and that genes and environment are inextricably interlinked. Experiences alter gene expression and gene expression influences our experience. Culture and education are the main vehicles by which civilisation has transmitted ever more sophisticated ways of physically sculpting the human brain - and so, in a sense, one might argue that culture influences gene expression, as well as our genetic make-up influencing culture. The written word is one of the greatest of all cultural artefacts that has contributed enormously to the crafting and shaping of brain connections in all generations since Gutenberg. Music is another.

Ian Robertson is Professor of psychology at Trinity College Dublin and Director of the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience. He was formerly at the Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge where he was a Fellow of Hughes Hall. Currently he also holds visiting professorships at University College London, the University of Toronto, and the University of Wales, Bangor. One of the world's leading authorities on brain rehabilitation, he has published numerous scientific books and articles. His best-selling popular science book Mind Sculpture, has been translated into ten languages, including Japanese.