Daniel Siegel, MD

In Episode 44 of the Brain Science Podcast I talk with Daniel Siegel, MD about meditation and the brain. Dr. Siegel is the author of several books including The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being. In this interview we review the scientific evidence about how mindfulness meditation changes the brain, both in terms of short term activity and in terms of long-term structural changes. The evidence is convincing that a regular mindfulness practice can be an important element of brain health.

Listen to Episode 44 of the Brain Science Podcast

Episode 44 Transcript (PDF)

Show Notes and Links:

Daniel J Siegel, MD:

• The Mindsight Institute
• UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center
• The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being
  
• Sound True™ audio version of The Mindful Brain
• The Developing Mind
• Parenting from the Insight Out with Mary Hartzell

Scientists and writers mentioned in Episode 44:

• Jon Kabat-Zinn: pioneer in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)
• Richard Davidson (University of Wisconsin): imaging studies of long-term meditators
• Sara Lazar (Harvard): imaging studies that show thickening of certain brain areas in long-term meditators
• David Creswell (UCLA): studies beneficial effects of meditation
• Ruth Baer (University of Kentucky): studies mindfulness based therapies
• Jeff Hawkins: On Intelligence (Interviewed in Episode 38)

More information about meditation:

• Insight Meditation Society (Barre, MA)
• Spirit Rock (Insight Meditation Center in northern California)
• The Seeds of Compassion (link to video with Dr. Siegel and the Dalai Llama)
• Episode 20 of Books and Ideas with Delany Dean, PhD *

Note: Insight Meditation is based of vipassana meditation, the mindfulness practices of Theravada, the oldest branch of Buddhism. Insight Meditation is easily adapted to secular purposes because it not based on beliefs or dogmas. The most well-known secular form is called mindfulness meditation, which begins with a focus on breath awareness and then advances to developing compassion for oneself and others.

Researchers are studying people who practice other types of mediation also. Richard Davidson has focused his work on the study of Tibetan Buddhist monks. Their practice emphasizes the development of compassion.

*I discussed the therapeutic use of mediation with Delany Dean, PhD in Episode 20 of Books and Ideas.

Listen to Episode 44 of the Brain Science Podcast

Episode 44 Transcript (PDF)

Fill out survey before August 31, 2008 to be eligible to win an iPod Touch!

Subscribe via iTunes™

Subscribe in a reader or podcatcher

Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email

Donations and Subscriptions are appreciated

Send email feedback to Ginger Campbell, MD at docartemis at gmail.com

Share your comments on the Discussion Forum

Filed under: Interviews, Neuroscience, Podcast Show Notes, brain science, developmental psychology, psychology | 1 Comment »

In her latest post for SharpBrains™ Laurie Bartels reviews some of the principles of brain plasticity. One principle that she mentions that I think deserves more attention is the importance of learning new things.

Adults may have a tendency to get set in their ways – I’ve been doing it this way for a long time and it works, so why change? Turns out, though, that change can be a way to keep aging brains healthy. At the April Learning & the Brain conference, the theme of which was neuroplasticity, I attended several sessions on adult learning. (Click here to read Laurie’s post.)

She goes on to review the highlights of the Learning and Brain Conference. You can read the full post at:

http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/08/07/neurogenesis-and-brain-plasticity-in-adult-brains/

Filed under: Neuroscience, blogs to check out, brain science | No Comments »

Episode 43 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Robert A Burton, MD, author of On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You’re Not, which I discussed in Episode 42. Dr. Burton tells us what inspired him to write this book and we explore some of the implications of the fact that what he calls the “feeling of knowing” comes from our unconscious, including the fact that it is not as reliable as it feels.

Listen to Episode 43 of the Brain Science Podcast

Download Transcript of this episode.

Show Notes and Links

Robert A Burton, MD

• Mind Reader blog on Salon.com
• On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You’re Not

Previous Episodes of the Brain Science Podcast:

• Episode 42: Part 1 of our discussion of On Being Certain
• Episode 13: Unconscious Decisions-featuring Blink by Malcom Gladwell
• Episode 15: Interview with Read Montague about unconscious decisions

Other scientists/writers mentioned in this episode:

• Benjamin Libet: important experiments showing that unconscious signals precede our awareness of deciding to act
• Timothy Wilson: Strangers to Ourselves
• John Searle: philosopher, Mind: A Brief Introduction
• David Bohm: physicist, Thought as a System

Other terms mentioned in the interview:

Cotard’s Syndrome: when the patient believes they do not exist or that they are dead

cognitive dissonance: a mismatch between what one believes and what the evidence supports

Listen to Episode 43 of the Brain Science Podcast

Download Transcript of this episode.

Fill out survey before August 31, 2008 to be eligible to win an iPod Touch!

Subscribe via iTunes™

Subscribe in a reader or podcatcher

Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email

Donations and Subscriptions are appreciated

Send email feedback to Ginger Campbell, MD at docartemis at gmail.com

Share your comments on the Discussion Forum

Filed under: Episode Transcripts, Interviews, Neuroscience, Podcast Show Notes, brain science, philosophy of mind, psychology | 3 Comments »

In Episode 33 Futures in Biotech host Marc Pelletier, PhD interviews pioneering researcher Dr. Brenda Milner from the Montreal Neurological Institute. Dr. Milner is best known for her work with HM, the patient that she worked with for many decades. Her work helped neuroscientists appreciate the role of the hippocampus in memory and the fact that there are multiple types of memory, some of which do not require the hippocampus.

One of the things that makes this interview special is that Dr. Milner gives us the inside story on some of the pioneering work that we now take for granted. She emphasizes how the work fit into the context of its time, giving an unique glimpse into the history of how science really unfolds.

Click here to learn more.

Futures in Biotech is a valuable contributor to SCIENCEPODCASTERS.ORG.

Filed under: Interviews, Neuroscience, Other links, Podcast, Podcasts, brain science, science podcasters | No Comments »

Episode 42 of the Brain Science Podcast is a discussion of On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You’re Not by Robert Burton, MD. This part 1 of a two part discussion of the unconscious origins of what Dr. Burton calls “the feeling of knowing.” In Episode 43 I will interview Dr. Burton. Today’s episode provides an overview of Dr. Burton’s key ideas.

In past episodes I have discussed the role of unconscious decision-making. On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You’re Not by Robert Burton, MD takes this topic to a new level. First, Dr. Burton discusses the evidence that the “feeling of knowing” arises from parts of our brain that we can neither access or control. Then he discusses the implications of this finding, including the fact that it challenges long-held assumptions about the possibility of purely rational thought.

Listen to Episode 42 of the Brain Science Podcast

References and Links:

On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You’re Not by Robert Burton, MD

• Robert Burton’s website

Neisser, U., and Harsh, N. “Phantom Flashbulbs: False Recollections of Hearing the News about Challenger,”  in Affect and Accuracy in Recall: Studies of “Flashbulb” Memories, Winograd, E., and Neisser, U., (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992)

The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers by Daniel L. Schacter

The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness by Antonio Damasio

Philosophy in the Flesh : The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson

Other Scientists Mentioned in this Episode:

• Leon Festinger-proposed the theory of cognitive dissonance in 1957
• Joseph Ledoux-research with rats and the role of the amygdala in the fear response
• Michael Merzenich-showed how the auditory cortex in young rats is affected by experience

Listen to Episode 42 of the Brain Science Podcast

Subscribe via iTunes™

Subscribe in a reader or podcatcher

Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email

Donations and Subscriptions are appreciated

Send email feedback to Ginger Campbell, MD at docartemis at gmail.com

Share your comments on the Discussion Forum

Filed under: Neuroscience, Podcast Show Notes, brain science, philosophy of mind | 2 Comments »

Episode 41 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Alice Gaby, PhD, from the University of California-Berkeley. Dr. Gaby is a linguist who studies the role of language in cognition as well as the aboriginal languages of Australia. In this episode Dr. Gaby introduces some of the basic areas of linguistics. We also talk about why linguistics is important to understanding brain function, as well as the importance of interdisciplinary communication to advancement in both fields. Dr. Gaby’s infectious enthusiasm makes this potentially intimidating subject accessible to everyone.

Listen to Episode 41 of the Brain Science Podcast

Download Episode Transcript

Links and References:

Dr Gaby’s website: she welcomes email from listeners

Gaby, A. 2006. A Grammar of Kuuk Thaayorre. Unpublished PhD thesis. Melbourne: University of Melbourne. (download PDF) (Click here for more references about the Kuuk Thaayorre language of Pormpuraaw.)

Language: Its Structure and Use (5th edition) by Edward Finegan: introductory text recommended by Dr. Gaby

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language by Steven Pinker: a good introduction for general readers

Other scientists mentioned in the interview:

• George Lakoff: UC-Berkeley
• Dan I Slobin: emeritus professor, UC-Berkeley
• Lera Boroditsky of Stanford University
• Steven Levinson: Max Plank Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands

Listen to Episode 41 of the Brain Science Podcast

Download Episode Transcript

Subscribe via iTunes™

Subscribe in a reader or podcatcher

Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email

Donations and Subscriptions are appreciated

Send email feedback to Ginger Campbell, MD at docartemis at gmail.com

Share your comments on the Discussion Forum

Filed under: Episode Transcripts, Interviews, Neuroscience, Podcast Show Notes, brain science | No Comments »

Last year I interviewed Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg about the effects of aging on the brain (Episode 18). Dr. Elkhonon is the co-founder of the website SharpBrains™, which is an excellent place to find the latest information about brain health. Recently Dr. Alvaro Fernandez, who runs the SharpBrains™ website invited me to become an expert contributor to the site’s blog. He has also given me permission to share content from his site here.

It seems fitting that I start by mentioning a recent post from Laurie Bertels who writes the Neurons Firing blog. Laurie is a regular Brain Science Podcast listener. Her blog focuses on how neuroscience applies to learning. You can find lots of useful background information on her Brain 101 page.

Here is are some excerpts from Laurie’s post on SharpBrains™:

If you agree that our brains are designed for learning, then as educators it is incumbent upon us to be looking for ways to maximize the learning process for each of our students, as well as for ourselves. Some of what follows is simply common sense, but I’ve learned that all of it has a scientific basis in our brains. (Read more…)

She goes on to list 10 tips for applying brain science to help promote better learning. You will find that these tips dovetail nicely with what we learned from Dr. John Medina in Episode 37.

Read Laurie’s complete post.

Filed under: Podcast Show Notes, announcements, blogs to check out, developmental psychology | No Comments »

Dr. Michael Britt of The Psych Files podcast has just completed an excellent two-part discussion of the so-called Mozart Effect. With his guest Dr. Kenneth Steele he examines the origins of this popular idea as well as the fact that no one has replicated the original research that suggested such an effect might exist. If you have ever wondered whether listening to classic music could make you (or your baby) smarter you will want to listen to this podcast. Also, check out his blog for a full list of references.

• Link to Part 1
• Link to Part 2

I recently started listening to The Psych Files, and  I think the style and content of The Psych Files compliments the Brain Science Podcast. For that reason I have just added the feed from Dr. Britt’s blog to our new Brain Science Podcast room in FriendFeed.

Filed under: psychology | 1 Comment »

Episode 40 of the Brain Science Podcast is a look back at the highlights from the last six months. We have talked about numerous topics including brain plasticity, mirror neurons, language, brain rhythms, and the sense of smell. We talked with 9 guests and we have also explored the practical implications of neuroscience, including the importance of sleep and exercise to brain health. This brief review episode is intended for both new listeners and long-time subscribers.

Listen to Episode 40

This episode includes a brief discussion of my plans for the coming months and review of the many internet resources I have created for listeners to enjoy between episodes. I also remind listeners that this show depends on listener contributions.

In the show notes below I provide links to the resources discussed in the episode. Hopefully these will help you find episodes you may have missed and allow you to become more active in our community. Please send me email at docartemis at gmail.com if you can’t find what you are looking for.

LINKS FOR LISTENERS

Episodes 1-26 (Year 1)

Episodes 1-39 Note that all the show notes for episodes 1-39 are archived on the old site.

List of Guests who have been interviewed on the Brain Science Podcast (with links to their episodes)

Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum

• submit questions to future guests
• suggest topics for the future
• vote on whether you want more interviews

Brain Science Podcast Community Group on Flickr

Brain Science Podcast Group on Facebook

NEW! Brain Science Podcast Room on FriendFeed

Brain Science Store on Amazon

Listen to Episode 40 of the Brain Science Podcast

Subscribe via iTunes™

Subscribe in a reader or podcatcher

Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email

Donations and Subscriptions are appreciated

Send email feedback to Ginger Campbell, MD at docartemis at gmail.com

Share your comments on the Discussion Forum

Filed under: Discussion Forum, Facebook, Flickr, Podcast Show Notes, announcements | No Comments »

The June 14 Episode of All in the Mind has a thoughtful discussion of the implications of using drugs to improve cognitive performance. Natasha Mitchell interviewed Barbara Sahakian, professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge (UK) and William Glannon, a bioethicist from the University of Calgary (Canada). Several important issues emerged including the fact that that it is unknown whether the drugs currently available are safe for long-term use. There is also the nagging question of whether the use by normal people of drugs originally intended to treat medical conditions (like ADHD) constitutes cheating? What do you think?

You can find the podcast and its transcript here.

If you want to share you opinion with Natasha go to her All in the Mind Blog.

Filed under: Other links, Podcasts | No Comments »