The Brain Science Podcast recently passed 4 million downloads and it remains entrenched at or near the top of the iTunes rankings for Science and Medicine. So now it's time for our 6th Annual Review Episode. The purpose of this year-ending podcast is to review some of the year's highlights and key ideas. As I reviewed the transcripts of this year's episodes, I was struck by the fact that although each episode stands alone, they also inform one another. One unifying theme was the importance of taking an evolutionary approach to understanding how the human brain generates complex features like mind and consciousness.

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Interviews have become an outstanding feature of the Brain Science Podcast. This year I interviewed 10 scientist, including five who have appeared in past podcasts.

Scientists Interviewed in 2012:

• Patricia Churchland, PhD (Professor Emeritus, University of California-San Diego)#*

• William Uttal, PhD (Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan)*

• Christof Koch, PhD (Chief Science Officer, Allen Institute for Brain Research)#*

• Sebastian Seung, PhD (Masschusetts Institute of Technology)*

• Rachel Herz, PhD (Brown University)#*

• Pamela Greenwood, PhD (George Mason University)*

• Terrence Deacon, PhD (University of California-Berkeley)*

• Bruce Hood, PhD (University of Bristol, UK)#*

• Evan Thompson, PhD (University of Toronto, Canada)*

• Jaak Panksepp, PhD (Washington State University)#* 

#Indicates returning guest. See Guest List for previous episode.

*See the Bibliography page for books featured on the Brain Science Podcast.

In addition to discussing the books by these guests, I also reviewed Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain, by Michael S. Gazzaniga, and Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, by Antonio Damasio.

Related Episodes: 

• BSP 32: Brief Introduction to brain anatomy.

• BSP 47: Basics of brain evolution.

• BSP 57: Chris Frith, author of Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental World.

• BSP 67: Thomas Metzinger, author of The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self.

Announcements:

• I am closing down the website SCIENCEPODCASTERS.ORG, which I founded back in2008. If you are looking for more high quality science podcasts I suggest the NSF-funded Science 360 Radio.

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• Donations via PayPal, check, or wire transfers: click here to learn how.

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