Brain Science Podcast » Podcast Show Notes

Thomas Metzinger explores Consciousness on BSP 67

Ginger Campbell, MD — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:29:54 +0000

The free podcast version of Brain Science Podcast 67 is now available. It is an interview with German philosopher Thomas Metzinger, author of The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self and Being No One. Dr. Metzinger argues that any credible model for how the brain generates the mind must incorporate unusual human experiences, such as so-called out of body experiences (OBE), and psychiatric conditions. In this interview we explore how OBE and virtual reality experiments shed light on how the brain generates the sense of self that characterizes normal human experience.

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Links:

Thomas Metzinger: University of Mainz, Wikipedia entry
Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC)
Olaf Blanke: Swiss scientist and physician who has demonstrated that out of body experiences (OBE) can be generated by electrical stimulation of the brain
YouTube video of Thomas Metzinger’s Being No One lecture
For more links download the free transcript of BSP 67.

Related Episodes of the Brain Science Podcast:

BSP 21: A look at how our brain create body maps that may incorporate tools
BSP 22: Interview with Christof Koch, author of The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach
BSP 35: An introduction to Mirror Neurons
BSP 55: Interview with philosopher Patricia Churchland
BSP 57: (mention in the podcast)Interview with neuropsycologist Chris Frith, author of Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental World

References:

The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self by Thomas Metzinger
Being No One: The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity by Thomas Metzinger
How the Body Shapes the Mind by Shaun Gallagher
Blanke, et al., “Stimulating Illusory Own-Body Perceptions,” Nature, 419:269-270 (2002) Click here for more papers by Olaf Blanke.
Beyond the Body: An Investigation of Out of Body Experiences by Susan Blackmore (click here for more publications from Susan Blackmore)
O Blanke & T. Metzinger,”Full-Body Illusion and Minimal Phenomenal Selfhood,” Trends in Cognitive Neuroscience 13(1):7-13 (2009)
T. Metzinger, “Out of Body Experiences as the Origin of the Concept of a ‘Soul,’” Mind and Matter 3(1):57-84 (2005) Click for more papers by Thomas Metzinger.

Announcements:

BSP 68 will be an interview with geriatric neurologist Peter Whitehouse, author of The Myth of Alzheimer’s: What You Aren’t Being Told About Today’s Most Dreaded Diagnosis. The premium version will be available on April 1 and will include an additional interview with his co-author Daniel George. The free podcast will come out the second week of April. Click here to learn more about the new premium versions of the Brain Science Podcast.
The latest episode of my Books and Ideas podcast is an interview with best-selling horror writer Scott Sigler. We discuss the challenges of incorporating accurate science into fiction writing. (Listen to the end to get a coupon code for his book The Rookie.)
Read episode transcripts right on your iPhone® or Touch® with the BSP application
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Memory: Challenging Current Theories with Randy Gallistel, PhD

Ginger Campbell, MD — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:49:49 +0000

Episode 66 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Randy Gallistel, PhD, Co-Director of the Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science and co-author (with Adam Philip King) of Memory and the Computational Brain: Why Cognitive Science will Transform Neuroscience. We discuss why read/write memory is an essential element of computation with an emphasis on the animal experiments that support the claim that brains must possess read/write memory. This is significant because current models, such as neural nets, DO NOT incorporate read/write memory in their assumptions about how brains work. It is not necessary to have any background in information theory or computation to appreciate the experiments that are discussed in this episode. Episode 3 and Episode 12 of the Brain Science Podcast provide background information for this episode.

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References and Links:

Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code by Fred Rieke, David Warland, Rob de Ruyter van Steveninck, William Bialek
Memory and the Computational Brain: Why Cognitive Science will Transform Neuroscience by C. R. Gallistel, Adam Philip King
Claude E. Shannon: His paper (A Mathematical Theory of Communication, Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 27, pp. 379–423, 623–656, 1948) is a cornerstone of information theory.
Rüdiger Wehner: Swiss researcher who has studied dead reckoning in insects
Nicky Clayton and Tony Dickinson: these researchers have performed elegant experiments that study scrub jay caching.
Christof Koch: was interviewed in Episode 22 of the Brain Science Podcast

Announcements:

This was Dr. Campbell’s 100th podcast (BSP 66 plus Books and Ideas 34)! How long have you been listening?
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Premium versions (CD and mp3 downloads) are now available for Episode 65. The premium version of this episode (coming soon!) will contain extra content.
Coming Soon: subscribe to the premium version of your choice (CD or download) and premium versions of previous episodes. We need your feedback: which episodes do you want? Which ones would you like to give as gifts?

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Podcast Extra: Bruce Hood on Believing the Unbelievable

Ginger Campbell, MD — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:05:09 +0000

Episode 34 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Bruce M Hood, author of SuperSense: Why We Believe in the Unbelievable.Dr. Hood is a developmental psychologist with a long-standing interest in why people believe weird things. In SuperSense he argues that innate cognitive structures (how we think without being taught) give people a natural tendency toward belief in the supernatural. Our intuitive sense of how the world works is often at odds with the findings of modern science.

In this interview we discuss the evidence for these conclusions and their implications.

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Click here for detailed show notes and to learn more about Books and Ideas.

BSP 65: Affective Neuroscience with Jaak Panksepp

Ginger Campbell, MD — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:40:39 +0000

Episode 65 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Jaak Panksepp, PhD, author of Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions. Dr. Panksepp has done pioneering work on the neural origins of emotions. In this interview we discuss how his work challenges some of the common assumptions about emotions and some of the important implications of his discoveries. New listeners may want to go back and listen to Episode 11 for an introduction to the neuroscience of emotion.

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References:

Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions by Jaak Panksepp.
“How to Undress the Affective Mind: An Interview with Jaak Panksepp,” S Gallagher, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 15, Number 2, 2008 , pp. 89-119(31).
“Affective consciousness: Core emotional feelings in animals and humans,”J Panksepp, Consciousness and Cognition 14 (2005)30-80. Elsevier. (available on-line via ScienceDirect.com)
Visit Dr. Panksepp’s faculty page for more references.

Scientists Mentioned in this Episode:

John Bowlby: studied the effects of maternal deprivation, helped develop attachment theory
John Cacioppo: developed the concept of social neuroscience.
Antonio Damasio: neurologist and author of several books including The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness.
Walter Hess: work in the 1930’s showed that stimulation of the cat hypothalamus led to anger. He shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1949.
Tom Insel: Director of the National Institutes for Mental Health (NIMH)
William James: early pioneer of scientific psychology. The James-Lange Theory of emotion is an outdated theory that emotion result from the brain’s interpretation of signals coming from the body.
Eric Kandel: won the Nobel Prize in 2000 for his work with memory in the Aplysia.
Brian Knutson: former student of Panksepp
Joseph Ledoux: well-known for his work with fear and memory
Endel Tulving: memory researcher at the University of Toronto
For all the scientists mentioned see the episode transcript.

Announcements:

Reminder: sign-up for the BSP Newsletter to get show notes and other updates via email.
I am working on a CD version of this episode. It will be divided into multiple track to make it easier for you to find the parts you want to listen to again, and allow you to find your place if you are interrupted. It will also have most of the announcements and music removed.
Don’t forget to check out the BSP iPhone/Touch application.

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BSP Fans are enthusiastic about Newsletter

Ginger Campbell, MD — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:11:56 +0000

I have been getting a great response to the BSP Newsletter, but those of you who receive blog posts via email don’t seem to be getting the sign-up form. If you want to sign up just Click Here to go the sign-up page or go to http://docartemis.com/brainsciencepodcast/newsletter/.

BSP 64: Year 3 Review Episode

Ginger Campbell, MD — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:00:24 +0000

Episode 64 of the Brain Science Podcast is our Third Annual Review Episode.

It includes a review of some of the major ideas we talked about in 2009 and a look ahead to what I have planned for 2010.

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Main Books Discussed in 2009:

Teenagers: A Natural History by David Bainbridge (BSP 63)
Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown, MD (BSP 60)
Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental World by Chris Frith (BSP 57)
Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?: Philosophical and Neurobiological Perspectives on Moral Responsibility and Free Will by Nancey Murphy and Warren S. Brown (BSP 53 and BSP 62)
Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness by Alva Noë (BSP 58)

Guests who appeared on the Brain Science Podcast in 2009:

David Bainbridge, PhD: University Clinical Veterinary Anatomist from Cambridge University (BSP 63)
Stuart Brown, MD: retired psychiatrist and founder of the National Institute for Play (BSP 60)
Warren S Brown, PhD: experimental psychologist from Fuller Theological Seminary (BSP 62)
Guy Caldwell, PhD: molecular biologist from the University of Alabama (BSP 59)
Patricia Churchland, PhD: neurophilosopher from University of California at San Diego (BSP 55)
Chris Frith, PhD: neuropsychologist from University College London (BSP 57)
Allan Jones, PhD: Chief Science Officer at the Allen Institute for Brain Research (BSP 61)
Eve Marder, PhD: neuroscientist from Brandeis University (BSP 56)
Michael Merzenich, PhD pioneer in neuroplasticity (BSP 54)
Alva Noë, Phd: philosopher from the University of California (BSP 58)

Reminders:

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Coming in 2010:

Episodes about emotion and memory, plus many other topics
Newletters
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BSP-63: David Bainbridge on The Teenage Brain.

Ginger Campbell, MD — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:00:37 +0000

Episode 63 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with David Bainbridge, author of Teenagers: A Natural History. Our focus is on how the brain changes during the teenage years. Bainbridge teaches vetinary anatomy and reproductive biology at Cambridge University and has published several other popular science books including Beyond the Zonules of Zinn: A Fantastic Journey Through Your Brain, which I discussed back in Episode 32.

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Additional Show Notes:

Links:

David Bainbridge’s home page
Teenagers: A Natural History by David Bainbridge
Beyond the Zonules of Zinn: A Fantastic Journey Through Your Brain by David Bainbridge
Episode 32: Introduction to Neuroanatomy based on Beyond the Zonules of Zinn by David Bainbridge

Announcements:

New iPhone app available in the iTunes Store
New voice mail number: 206-984-0358

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BSP-62: Warren Brown on “Did my neurons make me do it?”

Ginger Campbell, MD — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:00:26 +0000

Warren Brown and Nancey Murphy

Episode 62 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Warren Brown, PhD, co-author (with Nancey Murphy) of Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?: Philosophical and Neurobiological Perspectives on Moral Responsibility and Free Will. This book was discussed in detail back in Episode 53, but this interview gave me a chance to discuss some of the book’s key ideas with Dr. Brown. We focused on why a non-reductive approach is needed in order to formulate ideas about moral responsibility that are consistent with our current neurobiological understanding of the mind.

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Additional Links and References:

Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?: Philosophical and Neurobiological Perspectives on Moral Responsibility and Free Will by Nancey Murphy and Warren S. Brown
Episode 53 of the Brain Science Podcast: a detailed discussion of Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?
Tom Clark’s review of Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?
Episode 30 of Books and Ideas: Dr. Campbell interviews Tom Clark about Naturalism and Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?
“Neuroscience and the Soul,” letter in Science 2/27/09 Vol. 323, page 1168 (available on-line to AAAS members)
Additional References are included in the episode transcript.

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Brain Science Podcast 61: Allen Institute for Brain Research

Ginger Campbell, MD — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:35:42 +0000

Allan Jones, PhD

Episode 61 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Allan Jones, PhD, the Chief Science Officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Research in Seattle, Washington. The Allen Institute is a non-profit research organization founded by Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft) and is best known for its Mouse Brain Map, which is being used by researchers around the world. The Institute has several other on-going projects including a project to create a map of the human cortex that shows which genes are active in each area.

In this interview we discuss both the mouse brain project and the human cortex project with an emphasis on the importance of these projects to neuroscience research. All the maps created by The Allen Institute are freely available on the internet. Dr. Jones also shares his own story and the challenges and rewards of pursuing a career in the non-profit biotech world.

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SHOW NOTES

“Scientists Map the Brain, Gene by Gene,” Wired Magazine, 03-28-09.

Previous Episodes mentioned in this podcast:

BSP-59: Interview with Guy Caldwell, PhD who studies the dopamine neurons in C. Elegans.
BSP-60: Interview with Stuart Brown, MD about the importance of play. This is an excellent episode for new listeners.

Announcements:

Next’s month’s episode will be an interview with Warren Brown, PhD, co-author of Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? which was discussed in Episode 53.
This month’s book winner is Ernest S. Croot, from the School of Mathematics at Georgia Tech. He will be receiving a copy of Memory and the Computational Brain: Why Cognitive Science Will Transform Neuroscience, by C. R. Gallistel and Adam Philip King.
Don’t forget to join the Brain Science Podcast Fan Page on Facebook.
Click here to learn how to enter the drawing for a free book.

Listen to Episode 61 now

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BSP 60: Stuart Brown, MD talks about “Play”

Ginger Campbell, MD — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:00:06 +0000

In Episode 60 of the Brain Science Podcast Ginger Campbell, MD interviews Dr. Stuart Brown, author of Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. Our focus is on the importance of play for normal mental development and psychological health. We also explore the importance of play in adults.

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SHOW NOTES

Scientists Mentioned in the Podcast:

Anthony Pellegrini, PhD (University of Minnesota): Studies rough and tumble play.
Brian Sutton-Smith, PhD (Strong Museum of Play, NY): studies the storytelling aspects of play.
John Ratey, MD (Harvard Medical School): author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.
Sergio Pellis, PhD (Canadian Centre for Behavioral Neuroscience): has studied rough and tumble play in mice and rats for many years.
Marian C Diamond, PhD (University of California-Berkeley): pioneer in the study of effects of enrichment on the mammalian brain. Recent Video.
Richard Feynman, PhD (1918-1988): Nobel physicist who is also remembered for finding the cause of the Challenger disaster. (see the video)
Roger Guillimen, PhD (The Salk Institute): won the 1977 Nobel Prize in Medicine for “discoveries concerning the peptide hormone production of the brain.”

Books about Play and Related Topics:

Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown, MD with Christopher Vaughn
A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting by Hara Estroff Marano
The Gift of Play: Why Adult Women Stop Playing And How To Start Again by Barbara Brannen
Exuberant Animal: The Power of Health, Play, and Joyfill Movement by Frank Forenich
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey

Useful Links:

Listen to Episode 60

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