Magic and the Brain (BSP 72)

Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde

Neuroscientists Dr. Stephen Macknik and Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde have an unusual hobby: Magic!  Actually, it is more than a hobby since for the last several years they have been working with leading magicians from around the world to create a new field: the neuroscience of magic.  In Episode 72 of the Brain Science Podcast, I talked with them about their new book Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions, which is the first book to explore the neuroscience of magic.

With the help of their co-author Sandra Blakeslee, Macknik and Martinez-Conde provide an excellent overview of this new and exciting field.  Their book also provides an excellent review of many of the principles that I have introduced in the last 4 years.

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 Links and References

• Stephen Macknik, PhD: Director, Director, Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona.

• Susan Martinez-Conde: Director, Laboratory of Visual Science, Barrow Neurological Institute.

• Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions, by Stephen L. Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Sandra Blakeslee.

• http://sleightsofmind.com: for videos and links to their Scientific American articles.

Scientists mentioned during the podcast

• David Hubel: Nobel Prize for vision research.

• Margaret Livington (Harvard).

• Zachary Mainen (Cold Springs Harbor, NY).

• Daniel Simons (University of Illinois): change blindness.

• Derren Brown (London): memory fallibility.

• Jose-Manual Alonso (SUNY): neural basis of visual attention.

Magicians mentioned during the interview

• James Randi: famous proponent of skeptical thinking.

• Juan Tamariz: This Spanish magician is an important magic theorist.

• Penn and Teller: Go to http://sleightsofmind.com to see a video of the balls and cup illusion discussed in BSP 72..

Announcements:

• I will be giving a live talk at the London Skeptics in the Pub on May 11, 2011. Stay tuned for more details or visit http://london.skepticsinthepub.org/.

• The Brain Science Podcast  Discussion Forum is moving to Goodreads.com. Click here to visit our new group.

Send me feedback at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com.