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Episode 193 of Brain Science was inspired by the book Out of the Cave: A Natural Philosophy of Mind and Knowing by Mark L Johnson and Donald M Tucker. It explores two big picture questions: What does it mean to claim that the Mind is "embodied?" and How does this change our understanding of our place in the world?
Read MoreEpisode 192 of Brain Science is an interview with Nina Kraus, author of "Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World."
Read MoreThe latest episode of Brain Science features highly respected neurologist and best-selling author Antonio Damasio. We talk about his new book Feeling & Knowing: Making Minds Conscious.
Read MoreI have released the second edition of Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty. It has sold well on Amazon but you can buy it where ever you like. A free audio excerpt is available in episode 173 of Brain Science.
Read MoreThis month my Brain Science podcast concludes its four part series about the neuroscience of consciousness with an interview with Christof Koch. We talk about his new book The Feeling of Life Itself: Why Consciousness Is Widespread but Can't Be Computed.
I have included all four episodes here for your convenience. You can also subscribe to Brain Science for FREE in your favorite podcasting app.
Read MoreIn BS 162 we continue our discussion about consciousness with an interview with Dr. Michael Graziano, author of Rethinking Consciousness: A Scientific Theory of Subjective Experience.
Read MoreIn August 2019 I started a 4 part series about the Neuroscience of Consciousness. Episode 160 of Brain Science starts by taking a deep dive into several recent books on the topic. The authors include Stanislas Dehaene, Sean Carroll, Antonio Damasio, Daniel Dennett, Todd Feinberg and Jon Mallatt. The next three episodes will feature interviews with Joseph Ledoux, Michael Graziano, and Christof Koch. Learn more at http://brainsciencepodcast.com.
Read MoreBoth Books and Ideas and the Brain Science Podcast were launched in 2006. This post includes a list of all the episodes posted in 2014.
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The latest episode of the Brain Science Podcast (BSP 107) is an interview with Dr. Penelope Lewis, author of The Secret World of Sleep: The Surprising Science of the Mind at Rest.
Click here to play the interview.
Click here for the full show notes and episode transcript.
I have just posted the February episode of the Brain Science Podcast and so I wanted to give you an update.
The new Premium Subscription is off to a good start. In addition many listeners are buying individual episodes and transcripts. These are on sell for only $1 each. However it is important to note that the most recent 25 episodes remain free to download or stream. Last year the Brain Science Podcast also became available on Stitcher.
Here is a brief description of the most recent free episodes:
Michael Merzenich (BSP 105)BSP 105 is an interview with Dr. Michael Merzenich, author of Soft-Wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life. Although this is Merzenich's first book, he was also interviewed back in BSP 54. This interview focuses on why the choices each of us make effects whether brain plasticity is our friend or foe.
Listen to BSP 105 (right click to download)
BSP 106 is an interview with Dr. Luiz Pessoa, author of The Cognitive-Emotional Brain: From Interactions to Integration. Although this book is aimed at students and
Luiz Pessoa (BSP 106) working scientists, this interview gives all listeners a chance to learn about how recent experiments are challenging traditional assumptions about emotion and cognition.
Listen to BSP 106 (Right click to download)
Please visit the Brain Science Podcast website for detailed show notes and episode transcripts.
Ginger Campbell with Rusty and GretaEarlier this month my Brain Science Podcast celebrated its seventh anniversary. I haven't been doing a very good job of updating this website in recent months, but I wanted to take a moment to look back at 2013. While I only published two episodes of Books and Ideas, I did publish 12 episodes of the Brain Science Podcast and I am looking forward to some major changes in 2014.
BSP 103 featured the return of Olaf Sporns who was also interviewed back in BSP 74. Last month we talked about his most recent book Discovering the Human Connectome.
BSP 104 is our seventh annual review episode, which highlights the main ideas that we explored in 2013. I also announced that beginning on December 30, 2013 I will be offering a Premium Subscription. The most recent 25 episodes of the Brain Science Podcast will remain free while older episodes and episode transcripts will be available via subscription. Subscribers will get unlimited access to the entire library of content while individual episodes and transcripts can be purchased on the BSP website.
The Brain Science Podcast has been nominated as the Best Science Podcast in the Ninth Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards. Voting runs from November 1-15 at http://podcastawards.com. Listeners are allowed to vote up to once a day and since we are up against several large radio shows I am encouraging listeners to vote as often as they can.
Recent Episodes:
Alvaro FernandezLast month I posted episode 100 of the Brain Science Podcast. To celebrate this milestone I supplemented the discussion of Brain Fitness with Alvaro Fernandez with feedback from listeners.
Visit the Brain Science Podcast website for the full show notes and free episode transcript.
Comment: During the interview with Alvaro Fernandez he talked about the upcoming SharpBrains Virtual Summit, which is scheduled for September 19-20. Fans of the Brain Science Podcast have been offered a 25% discount. Just use the code brainpodcast when you register.
photo by Rosalie WinwardLast month in BSP 98 I reviewed Temple Grandin's latest book The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum. That podcast focused on the current science, but this month's follow up interview (BSP 99) is a little different. It focuses on Dr. Grandin's practical advice for living with autism. Besides emphasizing the need for more research into the sensory problems that are common in autism and applying the recent discoveries about brain plasticity. Dr. Grandin believes very strongly in nurturing strengths while accommodating weaknesses. She said that it is very important that "we accommadate weaknesses in a way that is enabling." She is particularly worried that many young people are not being taught the social skills they need to succeed in a work environment, even thought they have valuable talents to contribute.
In my opinion, Dr. Grandin's advice carries extra weight because her personal example shows how an autistic person can make a unique contribution if given extensive training and support.
Listen to Dr. Grandin's interview.
Visit Brain Science Podcast website for full show notes and a free episode Transcript.
Click image above to play audioI hope to post a new episode of Books and Ideas before the end of the summer. Meanwhile the Brain Science Podcast is heading toward episode 100! Last month's episode (BSP 98) was a discussion of The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum by Temple Grandin. This book is a tremendous gift, not just to patients and their families, but also to teachers, mentors, friends, and everyone who is interested in understanding how our brains make us who we are.
I think that this is a book everyone should read because as we come to appreciate the fact that the strengths and challenges of autism occur across a broad spectrum, we may also realize that some of these issues actually affect people who aren't considered autistic. It is not the label that matters. What does matter is recognizing that each of us has his or her own strengths and weaknesses, but thanks to brain plasticity, we all have the potential to nurture our strengths and, when necessary, accommodate our weaknesses.
Please visit the Brain Science Podcast website for full show notes and free episode transcripts.
Featured on BSP 97The latest episode of the Brain Science Podcast (BSP 97) is a conversation with Daniel Lende and Greg Downey, editors of The Encultured Brain: An Introduction to Neuroanthropology. We explore how neuroscience and anthropology can work together to unravel the mystery of how our brains make us who we are.
Listen to BSP 97 (or download mp3)
Click here for complete show notes and the FREE episode transcript.
The latest episode of the Brain Science Podcast (BSP 96) marks the return of one of my favorite guests: retired neurologist and author Dr. Robert Burton. We discussed his new book A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind: What Neuroscience Can and Cannot Tell Us About Ourselves. In this book Dr. Burton expands on the ideas he first presented in On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not. He also argues that because mental sensations like certainty, agency, and causation originate outside of conscious awareness there are inherent limits in our ability to use neuroscience to understand the Mind. This is a somewhat controversial and definitely thought-provoking position, which I invite you to explore further by listening to this interview.
Go to Brain Science Podcast website for complete show notes and free episode transcripts.
Last month we launched a completely redesigned website for the Brain Science Podcast. It is intended to be more accessible to people on mobile devices, but it also makes it easier for visitors to submit feedback directly from the site.
Here is a brief summary of our most recent episodes:
Click image to listenBSP 95 is the second part of our discussion of Understanding Pain: Exploring the Perception of Pain by Fernando Cervero, who is the current president of the International Society for the Study of Pain. Dr. Cervero was interviewed in BSP 93 and in this episode I discuss additional key ideas from his book. (BSP 93 and 95 can be enjoyed in any order.
Click here for the detailed show notes.
Dr. Benjamin BergenBSP 94 was an interview with linguist Benjamin Bergen author of Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning.
Go to the complete show notes.
Click Logo to ListenDr. Fernando Cervero of McGill University has been studying pain since the beginning of his career back in the 1960's. These decades have seen tremendous advances in our neuroscientific understanding of what causes different types of pain as well as changing attitudes. Pain was once regarded as something that most people had to endure, but now most of us demand adequate pain relief, sometimes even to the point of not tolerating minor pain. Dr. Cevero's new book Understanding Pain provides an accessible account of both the history of pain research and a thoughtful consideration of the challenges facing the field.
The latest episode of the Brain Science Podcast (BSP 93) is an interview with Dr. Cervero. This is Part 1 of a planned two part series.
Click Here for Detailed Show Notes and Episode Transcripts
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Dr. Jaak Panksepp (click to play audio)In his new book The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions Jaak Panksepp set out to make his life's work more accessible to a general audience. To be honest, reading this book requires a significant commitment, but I think he does a wonderful job of updating his classic textbook Affective Neuroscience. Anyone who is interested in this field will definitely want this book as a reference. The other strength of Archeology of Mind is its evolutionary approach. The primary emotional processes that Panksepp has spent his career studying have their origins in the ancient parts of the brain that are shared by all mammals. This contradicts longstanding assumptions in neuroscience, but it has important implications for both humans and other animals.
In Episode 91 of the Brain Science Podcast Dr. Panksepp and I talked about some of the new information contained in Archeology of Mind with a particular focus on FEAR, which contrary to what many researchers claim, does NOT begin in the amygdala, but begins much lower. We do talk briefly about the experimental evidence, but this was covered in more detail during Dr. Panksepp's previous appearance on the Brain Science Podcast in BSP 65.
Click here for detailed shownotes and free transcript.
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Listen to Episode 93