If someone asked, "What is brain science?", how many people could answer lucidly? Besides students who are majoring in medicine, the majority of students will find brain science unfamiliar. However, it has certainly been ingrained into our lives and we need to know about it. This lecture, held on Wednesday, May 28 in Gachon University Global Campus, is the answer to this question. The lecture was organized by the Writing Center of Gachon University and the subject was about <Consciousness and Emotions of Brain Science>. The lecture was held for students who are not familiar with brain science and aimed to introduce some recently spotlighted research by the Brain Science Institution of Gachon University.
  Prior to introducing the lecture, some brief information about the Brain Science Institution of Gachon University is needed. It was first established in September 2009 inside the Inchon Gil Hospital. It is a private research institute where researchers probe brain imaging through development of PET-MRI fusion imaging systems. This system was used to intensively study cerebropathy disorders such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, neuroanatomy, and radiochemistry. This fusion imaging technology can analyze changes of genes in addition to viewing brain function and microstructure making it possible to achieve early detection of many diseases that were impossible to detect before. Now the Brain Science Institute of Gachon University is gaining immense attention from the public as it successfully concludes a collaboration agreement with Siemens of Germany (Berlin and Munich, Germany based international electrical and electronic company) and the Brain Imaging Center of Harvard Medical School in the U.S. The goal of this research institute is to put Korea at the center of worldwide Brain Science development.
  The lecturer Kim Young-bo is also a researcher at the Brain Science Institute of Gachon University. He is currently a professor of Neurosurgery of Gachon University Medical School and in charge of various classes pertaining to brain science. After the host introduced the lecturer, a lecture related to brain science reading and writing was given. The lecture continued for about an hour and included a question and answer session. The total lecture consisted of 2 parts; the first part was meant to arouse students’ interest and was mostly focused on the introduction of concepts usually obtained from reading books. He demonstrated the differences between East and West analog thinking and what kind of human sense people use in recognizing certain things. When the lecture came to an end, he suggested that we try a variety of experiences other than just reading while we are still young. In part 2, he explained brain science. He said, “In a word, brain science is to show what is unseen, and through this process we can figure out how consciousness and emotions work in the brain.” Additionally, he claimed, understanding of brain science is essential to enjoying movies like ‘Matrix’ or ‘Avatar’,. Thus, he communicated with students by using interesting examples. He emphasized that every time a person experiences something new, the brain forms a network of synapses. Trivial actions like holding a water cup are also affected by past experiences. His conclusion was that ‘the brain is connection’. The main message of the lecture was, ‘Create something of your own through brain experience, while reading or writing’.
  When the lecture was over, I asked some students to give a comment on it. Park, Sujin (Global
Business Administration department) said, “It was interesting to connect synapses to extrapolate an idea and to think.” Sohn, Kyeongwon (Application Statistics department) said, “The brain plays many roles than I thought, and I’m sure it’ll be very helpful since the lecturer related the brain to writing.”
  Most college students consider reading and writing as a task for assignments. But if you listened to the lecture you would have learned that it is also a natural expression of consciousness and emotions from the brain. Experience recorded in the brain creates new ideas. It will be the best means to express oneself. If anyone still thinks reading or writing is horrible, how about reliving it by listening to this lecture? The result will probably be positive.