Embodied Intelligence with Rolf Pfeifer (BSP 25)

How the Body Shapes the Way We Think, by Rolf Pfeifer and Josh Bongard

Brain Science Podcast  Episode 25 is an interview of author Rolf Pfeifer, director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Zurich.  The focus of our conversation was the importance of embodiment.  Brains (and intelligence) cannot be understood separate from their interaction with the body and the physical world.  Pfeifer explains how this realization has led the field of artificial intelligence away from a pure computational approach to one he calls embodied artificial intelligence.  His interview is spiced with numerous examples that demonstrate why this approach is relevant to those of us who are interested in the human brain. 

How to get this episode:

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

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

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

Episode Highlights:

• A brief overview of artificial intelligence.

• Introduction to biorobotics.

• Why artificial intelligence and biorobotics are relevant to understand the brain.

• The meaning of complexity and emergence.

• Why the close coupling of the sensory and motor systems is essential to intelligence.

• Applying design principles to understanding intelligence.

• Numerous examples make these potentially intimidating topics accessible to all listeners.

• I also introduced a new way for listeners to support the Brain Science Podcast 

Related episodes of the Brain Science Podcast:

• BSP #2 On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins (listen to Episode 2) - this brief review does not get into Hawkin's discussion of the problems with traditional artificial intelligence, but I highly recommend On Intelligence for more on the subject.

• BSP #15 Interview with Dr. Read Montague (listen to episode 15).

• Dr. Montague introduces the computational theory of mind, which is a different way of approaching some of the problems I discussed with Dr. Pfeifer.

Scientists mentioned in the podcast:

• Rodney Brooks 1986 published the paper that launched the embodied approach to artificial intelligence, Brooks, R.A. (1986). A robust layered control system for a mobile robot. IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation, 2(1): 14–23.

Books by Rodney Brooks:

• Flesh and Machines: How Robots will Change US.

• Cambrian Intelligence: The Early History of the New AI.

• Interview on Talking Robots podcast (download mp3).

• Gerald M.Edelman, MD, PhD.
  won the Nobel Prize in 1972 for work in understanding the structures of antibodies.
  developed a theory know as Neural Darwinism, which he describes in several books including Wider Than the Sky: The Phenomenal Gift of Consciousness.
  was just interviewed on Talking Robots (November 23, 2007)

Where to learn more about Pfeifer's work:

• his home page.

• Pfeifer's interview on  Talking Robots (Download mp3).

• Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Zurich.

• How the Body Shapes the Way We Think: a new view of Intelligence (2007), Rolf Pfeifer and Josh Bongard.

• Understanding Intelligence (1999), Rolf Pfeifer and Christian Scheier.

Sandra Blakeslee (BSP 23)

This episode is an interview with Sandra Blakeslee, co-author (with her son Matthew) of The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps Help You Do (almost) Everything Better, which we discussed in Episode 21.

How to get this episode:

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

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

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

Show Notes

I asked Blakeslee to tell me a little bit of her background as a science writer.  She wrote for the New York Times for many years and was the co-author of both Jeff Hawkins groundbreaking book, On Intelligence, and VS Ramachandran's modern classic Phantoms in the Brain (1998), which was one of the first books to explore neuroplasticity.

In this interview, we explored the relationship between body maps and neuroplasticity, as well as questions from listeners about out of body experiences and other oddities once considered "paranormal."  We talked about how body maps are relevant to understanding why some methods of alternative healing appear to be effective.

I asked her to tell me which scientist she met made the biggest impression.  Here are a few of those she mentioned:

• Marco Iacoboni at UCLA.

• Atsushi Iriki-cyberspace.

• Olaf Blanke in Switzerland, who has discovered how the angular gyrus is involved in out-of-body experiences.

• Arthur "Bud" Craig who is the pioneer of mapping the insula.

• Michael Merzenich-a pioneer in the field of neuroplasticity who also helped design the first cochlear implant.

Blakeslee told me about some of the pioneering work that Merzenich is doing to apply his discoveries to help people, both those with disabilities and those who just want to combat aging.  You can learn more about his work at http://www.positscience.com/.

If you would like to contact Sandra Blakeslee to give her feedback or ask her questions, she has a contact form on her books website at http://www.thebodyhasamindofitsown.com/.  She is going to let me know when she gets the references posted on the site.

• Interview of Sandra Blakeslee (Episode 23).

• Discussion of her latest book (Episode 21).

• Brief Review of On Intelligence (Episode 2).

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.

How to get this episode:

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

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

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.

"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.

How to get this episode:

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

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

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

Interview with Elkhonon Goldberg, PhD (BSP 18)

Episode 18 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, PhD.

Show Notes:

• I apologize for the uneven sound quality of this episode.  If any one out there has any suggestions, please drop me an email.

• Dr. Goldberg shared a little bit about the breadth of his work as a neuropsychologist.

• We talked about his rather unique perspective on the difference between the right and left brain hemispheres.  He explained why he feels that as we get older we move from reliance on the right hemisphere, which he feels is the novelty hemisphere, to a reliance on the left hemisphere, where our lifetime store of patterns enables us to use pattern recognition as a short cut in problem solving.

• We talked about the importance of constant mental challenge, and Dr. Goldberg gives his advice about how we can keep our brains healthy through out our lives.

Links:

The following are two companies that Dr. Goldberg is working with to provide information to the public and also tools for cognitive enhancement:

• SharpBrains:  This is a clearing house for information, and they evaluate many of the products currently being offered.

• HeadStrong Cognitive Fitness:  This Australian company offers a net-based program for cognitive enhancement based on Dr. Goldberg's research.  I am hoping to test their products in the near future.

How to get this episode:

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

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

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

"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).

How to get this episode:

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

• Buy mp3 for $1

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

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.

The Sci Phi Show: Interview of David Chalmers about Consciousness

On the Brain Science Podcast #5 I talked about Consciousness and mentioned that David Chalmers is a proponent of a modern version of dualism and also quite concerned with what he calls the "hard problem;" which is explaining the subjective nature of consciousness, which he has called qualia.  If you would like to hear him explain some of these ideas himself, I suggest you listen to Jason Rennie's interview of David Chalmers on The Sci Phi Show  Outcast #36.

One thing that surprised me in the interview was that he actually defined consciousness as subjective awareness.

I  don't share Chalmers' views on these issues, but I think is a good interview, because Jason always lets his guest speak for themselves.

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.