Brain Science Podcast Celebrates 8 Years of Neuroscience

Ginger CampbeLL, host of the Brain Science Podcast (L>R: Greta, Rusty, & Jake)

The first episode of the Brain Science Podcast appeared on December 5, 2006, which makes it one of the longest running shows in any genre, not just science or medicine. I am especially proud of the fact that we have reached listeners in 219 different countries. BSP 114 is our 8th annual review episode and as a part of our year-end celebration all previous annual review episodes have been added to the FREE feed that also includes our most recent 25 episodes.

The goal of our annual review episode is to highlight some of the key ideas that we have explored during the last years. For 2014 this included discussions of brain plasticity with Dr. Michael Merzenich, the integration of cognition and emotion with Dr. Luis Pessoa, the science of sleep with Dr. Penny Lewis, the hazards of neuromania, consciousness with Dr. Michael Graziano, exercise and the brain with Dr. John Ratey, neurobiology with Dr. Frank Amthor, and mirror neurons with Dr. Greg Hickok. We ended the year with highlights from the event "Neuroplasticity and Healing," which featured the Dalai Lama and three previous Brain Science Podcast guests.

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2014 Episodes:

• BSP 105: interview with Michael Merzenich, author of Soft-Wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life

• BSP 106: interview with Luiz Pessoa, author of The Cognitive-Emotional Brain: From Interactions to Integration

• BSP 107: interview with Penelope Lewis, author of The Secret World of Sleep: The Surprising Science of the Mind at Rest

• BSP 108: interview with Michael Graziano, author of Consciousness and the Social Brain

• BSP 109: Avoiding Neuromania (see original show notes for references)

• BSP 110: interview with Frank Amthor, author of Neurobiology For Dummies

• BSP 111: interview with John Ratey, author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

• BSP 112: interview with Greg Hickok, author of The Myth of Mirror Neurons: The Real Neuroscience of Communication and Cognition

• BSP 113: Highlights from "Neuroplasticity and Healing," featuring the Dalai Lama

• Announcements:

• Upcoming episodes of the Brain Science Podcast will feature Evan Thompson, Norman Doidge, and Edward Taub.

• All Annual Review Episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are now free. Check the episode listing in your podcasting app to find the ones you may have missed.

• The most recent 25 episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE. Older episodes and episode transcripts are available for $1 each. Premium subscribers have unlimited access to all 100+ episodes and transcripts.

• Reminder: The Brain Science Podcast mobile app is now FREE for iOS, Android and Windows Mobile.  Check newer episodes for extra free content!

• Don't forget to check out my other podcast Books and Ideas.

• Please share your feedback about this episode by sending email to brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com or going to the Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com. You can also post to our fan pages on Facebook or Google+. I am looking for help with these community pages so please email me at brainsciencepodcast.com if you are interested.

"The Cognitive-Emotional Brain" (BSP 106)

Luiz Pessoa of the University of Maryland

In The Cognitive-Emotional Brain: From Interactions to Integration neuroscientist Luiz Pessoa argues that emotion and cognition are deeply intertwined throughout many levels of the brain. In a recent interview (BSP 106) Pessoa and I focused on recent discoveries about the amygdala and Thalamus that challenge traditional assumptions about what these structures do. The amygdala processes more than fear (and other negative stimuli) and the Thalamus is more than  a mere relay station.

This a fairly technical discussion but Pessoa did a good job of making the material accessible to all listeners. The reason I think these concepts matter is that not only do they challenge overly simplistic notions of how the brain works, but they also challenge our tendency to see emotion and cognition as separate and often opposing processes.

How to get this episode:

• Buy Audio MP3 for $2.

• Buy Episode Transcript for $1.

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

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE. The 50 most recent episodes are also free. Just subscribe in your favorite podcasting app.

References and Additional Reading

• The Cognitive-Emotional Brain: From Interactions to Integration by Luiz Pessoa

• Pessoa L, Adolphs R. (2010) "Emotion processing and the amygdala: from a 'low road' to 'many roads' of evaluating biological significance.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(11):773-83. doi: 10.1038/nrn2920.

• Networks of the Brain by Olaf Sporns

• In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric R. Kandel (BSP 3)

• Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines---and How It Will Change Our Lives by Miguel Nicolelis (BSP 79)

• Visit Dr. Pessoa's lab at emotioncognition.org to learn more.

Related Episodes

• BSP 11: Emotion

• BSP 32: a brief introduction to Neuroanatomy

• BSP 65 and BSP 91 are interviews with Jaak Panksepp about the subcortical origins of emotion

• I spoke with Olaf Sporns about the Human Connectome and the use of Network Theory in BSP 74 and BSP 103.

• BSP 90: a discussion of Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain by Antonio Damasio.

Announcements

• Please check out my other podcast Books and Ideas. I will be posting a new episode by the end of February.

• Visit the Brain Science Podcast Group on Goodreads to learn what books are coming and to post comments about this or any other episode.

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