Consciousness with Christof Koch (BSP 22)

Brain Science Podcast #22 is an interview with Dr. Christof Koch of Cal Tech, one of the pioneers in the neurobiological study of consciousness.  About two decades ago, when Koch and Francis Crick began looking for what they called the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC), such a quest was considered controversial; but now the field is increasing in popularity.  In our interview, we talked a little about his book,The Quest for Consciousness, as well as his on-going research and his thoughts about what the future might bring.

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Here is a list of some of the topics we discussed:

• Why Francis Crick was an outstanding mentor and colleague.

• A Working definition of consciousness.

• How consciousness relates to awareness.

• What are neural correlates of consciousness.

• Why vision is the focus of Koch's research.

• The search for the "footprints" of consciousness.

• The role of functional imaging and the use of monkeys.

• Neurons-"the atoms of perception".

• Why we need a theory of consciousness.

• The role of the frontal lobes in consciousness.

• Is consciousness an emergent property?

• What about zombies?

• Why do we need consciousness?

• Will artificial intelligence become conscious?

• The hard problem:  how does the brain generate subjective experience  (qualia).

Links:

• Christof Koch's homepage.

• The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach (2004)

Update on 2012-05-03 15:42 by Ginger Campbell, MD

Christof Koch returned to the Brain Science Podcast in Episode 84.

A review of "The Body Has a Mind of Its Own" (BSP 21)

Featured in this episode: The Body has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better (2007), by Sandra Blakeslee and Matthew Blakeslee.  (Also available on from Audible.com)

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SHOW NOTES

Topics:

• Body maps and the role of embodiment.

• Basic ideas about the body maps in the brain.

• Mapping the world around us.

• How body maps differ between species.

• Body schema and body image.

• The role of body maps in disease.

• The role of belief in health and illness.

• How body maps explain non-traditional healing methods and unusual experiences.

• The role of motor imagery in improving motor skills.

• Mirror Neurons and grid neurons in the hippocampus  (see more on Scholarpedia).

• How sensation and emotions come together (the role of the insula).

Scientists mentioned in the podcast:

• Wilder Penfield:  Discovered the maps of the primary sensory and primary motor cortex.

• Sir Henry Head and Gordon Holmes:  British neurologists who first proposed the idea of the body schema in 1911.

• Arthur Craig:  First to study the unique wiring of the insula.

• Antonio Damasio: studies the role of emotion in intelligent decision-making.

• Marco Iacoboni:  Demonstrated the role of the right angular cingulate gyrus in our sense of self versus others.  (Dr. Iacoboni has PDF's available on his site).

Other scientists mentioned in The Body has a Mind of Its Own:

• William Straub: Sports psychologist who demonstrated that students could improve at darts through mental imagery.

• Alvaro Pascual-Leone:  Used 5 finger piano exercise to show changes in motor maps both from actual practice and from imagery.

• Michael Merzenich:  Classic experiments showing changing in motor maps in monkeys.

• Scott Frey:  Using imagery in stroke rehab.

• Jennifer Stevens:  Use of mirror boxes in stroke rehab.

• Edoardo Bisiach:  Theories about spatial awareness and neglect.

• Jamie Ward:  Documented a patient with color-emotion synesthesia as possible explanation for auras.

• Olaf Blanke:  Studies the anterior cingulate gyrus, which map be important in out-of-body experiences.

• Atsushi Iriki:  Has demonstrated how the parietal lobes in monkeys change with tool use.

• Christian Keysters:  Thinks mirror neurons may be a key precursor for the development of abstract thought and language

• Hugo Critchley:  Expert in brain imaging who is interested in the relationship between emotional intelligence and interoception (visceral awareness).

• John Allman:  Studies the role of the frontal insula and anterior cingulate gyrus in intuition (quick decisions).

• Sara Lazar:  Has demonstrated that the right frontal insula and left prefrontal cortex increase in size in experienced meditators.

Note: This list is not exhaustive.  I know I left off VS Ramachandran and several others, but those listed above did work that was addressed, directly or indirectly, in my podcast.

Brain Structures (links include diagrams of the brain):

• Primary Sensory Cortex.

• Primary Motor Cortex.

• Premotor Cortex.

• Frontal Insula.

• Parietal lobe.

• Amygdala.

• Anterior Cingulate Gyrus.

"The Female Brain" with Dr. Louann Brizendine (BSP 20)

Episode 20 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Dr. Louann Brizendine of the Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic at the University of California at San Francisco.   Her book, The Female Brain, was just released in paperback, and it is on the New York Times Bestseller list.

We explore how hormones and neurotransmitters effect our brains, and how these effects are different in men and women.  This episode has interesting stuff for listeners of both sexes.

If you would like to learn more, visit Dr. Brizendine's website at http://louannbrizendine.com.

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Review of "Gut Feelings" (BSP 19)

Show Notes forBrain Science Podcast #19: Gut Feelings

This episode is a discussion of Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious (2007), by Gerd Gigerenzer.

Dr. Gigerenzer argues that unconscious decision-making or intuition is actually based on the use of heuristics(rules of thumb) that can be explored, and even brought into awareness.  In this episode, I discuss his basic arguments with an emphasis on the differences between intuitive reasoning and formal logic.  Then we explore some examples including the application of these ideas to more controversial areas like morality and social instincts.

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References

• Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious (2007), by Gerd Gigerenzer.

• Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), by Malcolm Gladwell.

• See also Brain Science Podcast #13: Unconscious Decision Making.

Links of Interest:

• Gerd Gigerenzer: Wikipedia.

• Gerd Gigerenzer:  Home page at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

• Jonathan Haidt:  Social psychologist mentioned  in this episode.

The Wisdom of the Aging Brain (BSP 17)

This week we discuss another book by Elkonon Goldberg, Ph.D.  I highly recommend this book to everyone, because it is an excellent review of many of the topics we have discussed over the last several months including memory, emotion, and neuroplasticity.   In this episode, we continue our discussion of the role of the pre-frontal lobes in intelligence, as well as what happens to our brain as we age.

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Show Notes

I want to thank Matthew Lofton for pointing out to me that there is evidence that elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror.  This means I was wrong when I said (in #16) that only humans and some primates can do this. He referred us to "I, Elephant," by Kaspar Mossmanin in the February 2007 issue of Scientific American Mind.  The original article was "Self-recognition in an Asian elephant," by:Plotnik, Joshua M.; de Waal, Frans B. M.; Reiss, Diana. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 11/7/2006, Vol. 103 Issue 45, p17053-17057.  He posted this information as a comment, but I wanted to bring this to everyone's attention.

Episodes that are referred to in this episode:

• BSP #10: Neuroplasticity.

• BSP #11: Emotion.

• BSP #12: Memory.

• BSP #16: The Frontal Lobes.

Note: You should have no problem listening to Episode #17 first, but I have provided these references for those who want to review or go back for more details.

Definitions used in this episode:

• Attractor: a cognitive template that enables pattern recognition. An attractor is thought to be a concise set of neurons with strong interactions among themselves. A unique and important quality of attractors is that a broad range of inputs activate the same set of neurons. This is thought to be the mechanism of pattern recognition.

• Cognitive competence: the ability to relate the old to the new so as to recognize the similarities between a new problem and one that has been previously solved.

• Cognitive wisdom: an enhanced capacity for problem solving

• Generic memory: memory for patterns

Brief list of topics discussed in this episode:

• Review of important ideas about the prefrontal lobes from #16.

• An hypothesis about the differing roles of the right and left hemispheres.

• How the brain changes in normal aging.

• Mechanisms that protect the brain from degenerative changes:

  • Generic memory-why this type of memory is more robust.

  • Pattern expansion-how parts of the cortex expand with use.

  • Effortless experts-why familiar tasks are less demanding.

  • Why vigorous mental activity is important throughout life.

For more links related to Dr. Goldberg's work see the show notes for Episode 16.

Is Free Will a Myth?

I have posted Episode 12 of Books and Ideas.  It is my response to The Myth of Free Will (2007), which was edited by Cris Evatt.

• Download mp3 of B&I 12

Listen in your Favorite Audio app: Audible, Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and many more.

A review of "The Executive Brain" (BSP 16)

Brain Science Podcast #16 is a discussion of The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind (2002), by Elkhonon Goldberg.

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Show Notes

This episode is an introduction to the role of the pre-frontal lobes in decision-making, and the other "executive" functions of our brain.  The functions of the pre-frontal lobes are not only the keys to what makes us human, but also the keys to our individual personality.

In this episode, using Dr. Goldberg's book, we discuss how the frontal lobes relate to the other structures of the brain.  We also, discuss some ideas about why the left and right sides of the brain differ, as well as several important ways in which the cortex, and especially the pre-frontal lobes differ from some of the older parts of the brain.

We discuss briefly the vulnerability of the frontal lobes to damage and disease, and we consider the implications of frontal lobe dysfunction.  Questions are introduced that will be considered in more detail in future podcasts.

Links:

• Phineas Gage-constructor worker who suffered severe frontal lobe injury in 1848.

• Herbert Simon-won 1978 Nobel Prize in economics (short autobiography) He did pioneering work on decision-making.

• Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg:

• His website.

  1. On YouTube.com

  2. Interview from Sharp Brains

"Why Choose this Book?" with Read Montague (BSP 15)

Show Notes

Episode #15 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Dr. Read Montague of the Baylor School of Medicine.  We discuss his recent book, Why Choose this Book? How we Make Decisions (2006).

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Here are some of the questions we discussed:

• What is computational neuroscience?

• What is the computational theory of the mind (CTOM)?

• How isthe objection that the CTOM doesn't account for meaning answered ?

• What about choice and responsibility?

• Is there room for free will in this model?

Listen in your Favorite Audio app: Audible, Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and many more.

Unconscious Decisions! (BSP 13)

Show Notes

The Brain Science Podcast usually focuses on a single book devoted to neuroscience, but Episode 13 begins with a discussion of Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, and then explores the ideas from several other sources. The key idea is that we do make some decisions without conscious thought and that neuroscience is discovering how this works.

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• Transcripts: BSP 1-14

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References:

Consciousness: An Introduction (2003), by Susan Blackmore:  Experiments from pages 38-43, 57-63, and 127-132.
Consciousness Explained  (1992), by Daniel C. Dennett
Freedom Evolves (2003) by Daniel C. Dennett: Quote in episode is from page 223
On Intelligence (2005) by Jeff Hawkins

Other Links for this episode:

Vic Braden
Antonio Damasio

The new Brain Science Podcast Community group on Flickr.com:  Please post your pictures here!

"Memory: From Mind to Molecules" (BSP 12)

This episode of the Brain Science Podcast is a discussion of memory based on the book, Memory: From Mind to Molecules (2000), by Larry R. Squire, and Eric R. Kandel.

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Show Notes

I highly recommend that you get this book for yourself if you want to read the details of the experiments.  The book contains excellent illustrations.

Some of the experimental animals mentioned in this episode include Aplysia (giant sea snails), drosophila (fruit flies), and mice.

Mechanisms of memory formation and storage seem to be shared from the simplest non-vertebrates up through humans.

Types of Memory:  declarative and non-declarative. Non-declarative memory is generally NOT subject to conscious awareness or control.

There are many different types of non-declarative memory including:

• motor skills

• habituation and sensitization

• classical and operant conditioning

• priming

• perceptual skills

Declarative memory, which seems to be unique to animals that have a hippocampus and cerebral cortex, includes short-term (immediate and working memory) and long-term memory.  Much research has been devoted to discovering how and where long-term memory occurs.  The answer may surprise you.

This episode includes a discussion of some of the unanswered questions in memory research.

Emotion (BSP 11)

Emotion: The Science of Sentiment, by Dylan Evans, is the featured book for this episode of the Brain Science Podcast.  Thanks to Kate from the UK for suggesting this book.

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Show Notes

This episode is a short introduction to the idea that our emotions are an essential part of our intelligence.

• We discuss the basic emotions, based on the work of anthropologist Paul Eckman.

• We learn about culturally-learned emotions, such as "being a wild pig," which is observed among the Gurumba people of New Guinea.

• Paul Griffiths introduced the idea of "higher cognitive emotions."

• Emotions seem to exist on a continuum from the highly innate basic emotions to the culturally specific emotions.

• The work of Joseph Ledoux and Antonio Damasio reveal that our emotions are an important element of normal intelligence.

• We consider how fear actually follows two pathways in the brain.

• We consider the role of the limbic system including the amygdala.

• We consider the relationship between emotions and mood.

• We consider how mood affects memory and decision making.

• This includes Robert Zajonc's discovery of the "mere exposure" effect.

• We briefly consider the question of whether computers could ever display emotions.

Further Reading:

The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness (2000), by Antonio Damasio.

Neuroplasticity: A Review of its Discovery (BSP 10)

In this episode of the Brain Science Podcast we explore the recent research that has established, contrary to long-standing dogma, that our brains our able to change throughout our lives, based on our experience.

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Show Notes

The reference for this episode is Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves, by Sharon Begley.  This book describes the 2004 meeting between the Dalai Llama and several leading neuroscientists.  To learn more about these meetings, go to the Mind and Life Institute website.  All the studies that I mention in the podcast are referenced in the back of the book.

List of the some of the scientists and their work:

• Michael Meany- McGill University: He has shown that the way that a mother rat treats her babies determine which genes in the baby's brain are turned on and which are turned off.

• Fred Gage- the Salk Institute:  His work with lab animals showed that adult brains do change.  (more from Google)

• Helen Neville-University of Oregon: She has shown that the auditory and visual cortices are rewired in people who are born blind or deaf.

• Phillip Shaver-UC-Davis: He is a pioneer in attachment theory: how people's sense of emotional security, acquired in childhood, affects their adult behavior, including their response to other ethnic groups and their willingness to help others.

• Richard Davidson-Wisconsin:  He has done studies showing how the brain is changed by meditation.

• Edward Taub- University of Alabama in Birmingham:  He helped develop a revolutionary treatment for stroke victims.

• Jeffery Schwartz-UCLA:  He has used mindfulness meditation to treat obsessive compulsive disorder, showing that meditation can change the brain in beneficial ways.

• Jon Kabat-Zinn- University of Massachusetts:  He has done many years of work using mindfulness meditation to treat stress related diseases.

• Michael Merzenich:  Pioneer researcher who also founded FastForward™ and Posit Science™.

More Links of Interest:

• Fast Forword™ Treatment for Dsylexia.

• Imposed Constraint Treatment for Stroke.

• Auto CITE at the VA.

  1. Stroke Registry Clinical Trials.

  2. Taub Therapy at UAB.

• Treatment of anxiety disorders with Mindfulness Meditation.

• Dr. Jeffery Schwartz.

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression.

• Brain Changes are different from those caused by medications.

  1. more Google links on how the brain changes.

I am sure this list is incomplete.  If you have a question or comment about a topic mentioned on the show, leave a comment below, or send me email at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com.

Review: "The Future of the Brain" (BSP 9)

Show Notes for Episode 9

This episode is a discussion of The Future of the Brain: The Promise and Perils of Tomorrow's Neuroscience, by British neuroscientist, Steven Rose.  Unlike most episodes of the Brain Science Podcast, the emphasis of this episode is on asking what kind of ethical dilemmas might be posed by our increased knowledge of how the brain works.

Topics discussed:

• Why the mind is more than the brain.

• Why the mind is more than genetics and biochemistry.

• How we still have a long way to go before we can fully understand how the brain-body generates the mind.

• Problems and dangers of reductionism.

• Implications for freedom and personal responsibility.

• Examples from the history of science that demonstrate why these concerns are valid.

• The "Paradox of Memory."

• Some email from listeners.

One issue I only mention briefly on the podcast is Rose's attack on evolutionary psychology.  If you are interested in learning more about this, you might want to read the transcript of a debate between Steven Rose and Stephen Pinker, which was held in 1998.  It is on the Edge website, which is an interesting website even though it lacks an RSS feed.

How to get this episode:

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• Buy BSP 1-10 (zip file of mp3 files)

• Transcripts: BSP 1-14

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How Neurons Communicate: A Detailed Introduction (BSP 8)

When I started preparing for this week's episode I realized that before I could discuss neurotransmitters (brain chemicals) I would need to discuss some basic information about how neurons work. Thus this episode is rather long and technical, but hopefully understandable to those who are new to the field. I am including more detailed show notes than I usually do, along with the approximate times for the main sections, in case there is a particular topic you want to go back and review.

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The main source for this episode was the textbook, From Neuron to Brain: A Cellular and Molecular Approach to the Function of the Nervous System, Fourth Edition (2001)

Topic Outline:

2:39-11:33 Neuronal signaling-the basics of electrical and chemical signaling types of signaling-electrical and chemical introducing the synapse the importance of membrane proteins

11:55 - 13:03   A bried discussion of how the brain differs from a  digital computer

13:3 3-13:50   Definition of neurotransmitters-

13:56 -22:10   How neurotransmitters interact with receptors in the synapse

-direct and indirect  chemical synapses-why they are important

-neuromuscular junction-an example of a direct chemical synapse

-the importance of synaptic delay

-the role of second messengers in indirect chemical synapses

-release and recycling of neurotransmitters

22:25 -29:42 Types of Neurotransmitters and how they work-with examples

-how neuropeptides differ from low molecular weight neurotransmitters

-a little about how drugs work

29:58 - 41:54  How Neurotransmitters function in the Central Nervous System-with examples

-Glutamate is the key excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain

-an aside about Nutrasweet™ (30:33)

-glycine and GABA are inhibitatory

-acetycholine (33:32-34:34)

-discussion of Molecules of Emotion by Candace Pert (35:30-36:55)

-serotonin

-histamine

-dopamine and Parkinson's disease

42:07 - 43:36  Closing Summary

Latest Episode of Books and Ideas Posted in Brain Science Podcast Feed

This week's episode of Books and Ideas is a discussion of the book, Challenging Nature: The Clash of Science and Spirituality at the New Frontiers of Life , with author Lee M. Silver of Princeton University.  I have inserted it into the Brain Science Podcast feed so that listeners can sample my second podcast. If you are already subscribed to both podcasts this will be a duplicate, which you can delete.

Review of "The First Idea" by Shanker & Greenspan (BSP 6)

Episode 6 of the Brain Science Podcast is a discussion of The First Idea: How Symbols, Language, And Intelligence Evolved from Our Primate Ancestors to Modern Humans, by Stanley I. Greenspan, MD and Stuart G. Shanker, DPhil.

I wanted to talk about emotion, but I generally base the Brain Science Podcast on my current reading; which is why I chose this rather difficult book that touches on psychology, child development, evolution, and theories about the emergence of language and intelligence.

The basic premise which is discussed in the podcast is that emotional signaling is the basis for the emergence of language and intelligence.  Evidence supporting this hypothesis is discussed, as is how the theory challenges long-standing theories about language and intelligence.

How to get this episode:

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• Buy BSP 1-10 (zip file of mp3 files)

• Transcripts: BSP 1-14

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Review of "The Great Brain Debate" (BSP 4)

The debate about the relative contributions of nature versus nurture has probably been going on as long as humans have wondered about the origins of human behavior.  In his 2004 book, The Great Brain Debate: Is it Nature or Nurture?, Harvard neuroscientist, John E Dowling, describes how recent discoveries about brain development shed light on this controversy.  Episode 4 of the Brain Science Podcast discusses the main ideas of Dowling’s book.

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Send me feedback at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com.

Review of Eric Kandel's "In Search of Memory" (BSP 3)

Show Notes for Episode 3:  In Search of Memory, by Eric R Kandel

Dr. Eric R. Kandel won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2000 for his work with the giant marine snail Aplysia.  His work helped uncovered the molecular mechanisms of short- and long-term memory.

In this episode, I talk about Dr. Kandel’s autobiography, In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind.  The focus of the podcast is what has been learned about how memory works.  A key principle is that the molecular mechanisms of memory are the same in all animals, including people.

There is lots of good information on the web about Aplysia’s role in understanding learning and memory.  If you know of a particularly good website for non-specialists, please leave a comment on this page.  

How to get this episode:

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Send me feedback at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com.

Review of "On Intelligence" by Jeff Hawkins (BSP 2)

I first reviewed On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins for The Sci Phi Show.  I am including that review here.  Also in this episode, I consider some of the topics I hope to discuss in future episodes.  Besides intelligence, we will be considering consciousness, emotions and feelings, the role of vision in brain research, and what we can learn from people with brain damage and memory.

Please send me email or leave comments suggesting what topics you want to here about.

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Review of "Mind Wide Open" (BSP 1)

This episode is a review of Mind Wide Open: Your Brain and the Neuroscience of Everyday Life (2005) by Steven Johnson.

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• Click here to learn more about Premium content.

Here are some other podcasts worth listening to:

• Futures in Biotech Episode 10: Dr. Carla Shatz on the Human Brain: Interview with Dr. Carla Shatz, Department Chair and Nathan Marsh Pusey, Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School.

• Antonio Damasio, University of Southern California: “Advances on the Neurobiology of Emotion: Taking Stock”   Recorded for the Princeton University Podcasts 2006 on 11/16/2006.

Send me feedback at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com.