Year-end Review for 2007 (BSP 27)

Episode 27 is a look back on the first 26 episodes of the Brain Science Podcast.

I look back on some of the main topics that we have explored including memory, consciousness, emotions, decision-making, body maps, and plasticity.  Then I talk a little about what I hope to do in the covering year.  This episode is a little more personal than most, and will mainly be of interest to regular listeners.  It includes some ideas about how you can help the Brain Science Podcast grow and prosper.

However, in preparing this episode, I went back over the past year's episodes, and I have prepared a list of all the episodes so far and the main topics.  This should help both new listeners and regulars to find episodes that pertain to particular topics.

How to get this episode:

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

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• 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.

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Dr. Robert Schleip Discusses Fascia on Books and Ideas

Books and Ideas Podcast #15 is an interview with Robert Schleip, PhD, from the University of Ulm in Germany.  Dr. Schleip is an experienced practitioner of the body work method known as Rolfing, but several years ago he went back and earned his PhD in Biology and began a second career as a research scientist.

In our interview, we discuss some of the recent discoveries that may revolutionize the way we look at the connective tissue that is commonly called fascia.  We also talk about the importance of applying the scientific method to the evaluation of alternative and complimentary healing methods (CAM).  Dr. Schleip's enthusiasm for science made this a very enjoyable interview.

• Download mp3 of B&I 15

• Download Free Episode Transcript

References and Links:

Dr. Schleip recommends the Wikipedia entry on fascia if you would like to learn the basics.

To learn more about Dr. Schleip's work, visit the Fascia Research Project website at http://www.fasciaresearch.de/

The First International Congress International Research Congress was held in October, 2007 in Boston, MA.

You can find some of the scientists Dr. Schleip mentions this.

Click here for more references, including those written in German.

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

Neuroplasticity with Dr. Norman Doidge (BSP 26)

Episode 26 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Dr. Norman Doidge, MD, author of The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (2007).  Dr. Doidge and I agree that neuroplasticity is the most important discovery about the brain that has been made in several hundred years.  In his interview, Dr. Doidge talks about some of the obstacles that delayed this discovery including what he calls the "plastic paradox," which is the fact that plasticity itself can contribute to the development of rigid behaviors, including addictions and bad habits.

The Brain That Changes Itself includes the work of the key scientists of neuroplasticity.  In my conversation with Dr. Doidge, we talked about the work of Paul Bach-y-Rita, Edward Taub, and VS Ramachandran.  Dr. Doidge also shared how his own work is being affected, and why he thinks neuroplasticity has the potential to lead to more important discoveries.

I will be talking to Dr. Taub in Episode 28.  If you are new to the Brain Science Podcast, you may want to go back and listen to Episode 10, which is where I first introduced neuroplasticity in my discussion of Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves, by Sharon Begley.

You can learn more about Dr. Doidge's work at his website: http://normandoidge.com

How to get this episode:

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

• Buy mp3 for $1.

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• 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.

Additional Show Notes for BSP 25

On the last episode of the Brain Science Podcast, I promised to list previous episodes that related to the discussion of embodied artificial intelligence.  For the sake of those of you who rely on the RSS feed to get the show notes, I am going to list those below. They have also been added to the original show notes.

Related Episodes of the Brain Science Podcast::

• #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


• #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.

Another thing I did not get into the original notes was a reference for the pivotal paper by Rodney Brooks. Here is  that reference:

• • Brooks, R.A. (1986). A robust layered control system for a mobile robot. IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation, 2(1): 14–23.

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.

"All in the Mind" Has a New blog

All in the Mind is one of my favorite podcasts, and I am happy to report that host, Natasha Mitchell, has recently launched a companion blog, which generally talks a little bit more about each episode, as well as providing some content in between shows. Best of all there is now a link there for sending her email.

Neuropod Reviews the 2007 Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience

Nature recently relaunched its neuroscience podcast under the new name: Neuropod with host Keri Smith.  The show is supposed to come out once a month, and while there is some overlap in content with the main Nature Podcast, the focus on neuroscience allows them to expand the coverage of related topics.

I got an email from Keri Smith today that said there is a special episode available on the website that is devoted to coverage of the recent Society for Neuroscience meeting that was held in San Diego.  I have enjoyed all the episodes so far and look forward to more.

The Reading Brain (BSP 24)

Episode 24 of the Brain Science Podcast is a discussion of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, by Maryanne Wolf.

How to get this episode:

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

• Buy mp3 for $1.

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• 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.

Show Notes:

Dr. Wolf's book, Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, is divided into three main topics: the history of how writing and reading developed over the last few thousand years, the developmental stages involved in learning how to read, and what happens when the brain can't learn to read.  My podcast concentrates on the main ideas from the first two topics.

History of Writing:

• The discovery of symbols.

• Early writing systems- cuneiform and hieroglyphics.

• Why Chinese gives us a window into the past.

• Importance of the alphabet.

• Why Socrates opposed literacy.

The stages of becoming a reader:

• The early pre-reader-with emphasis on language development.

• The novice reader-connecting letters to the sounds of language.

• The decoding reader.

• The fluent comprehending reader-learning to "read between the lines."

• The expert reader-why reading continues to change us throughout our lives.

• What goes wrong when the brain can't learn to read: how new findings are leading to new solutions.

Links and References

• Maryann Wolf, Director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University.

• Her book Proust and the Squid contains extensive references to various scientific studies in the area.

  1. information for teachers.

  2. interview of Dr. Wolf.

• FastForward -a successful approach to treating dyslexia.

• Michael Posner - a psychologist who used PET scans to study what happens during shifts of attention (a necessary first step in reading).

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

Follow-up interview with Dr. Wolf (BSP 29)

Check Out Deric Bownd's Mind Blog

Thanks to listener Ian Stevens I have discovered a blog that you might enjoyed. It is Deric Bownd's MindBlog.  He does a great job of keeping up with news on the neuroscience front. 

Bownds is retired from the University of Wisconsin where he spent many years exploring how vision works and then the evolution of the human brain.

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).

Nature Relaunches its Neuroscience Podcast

I am happy to report that Nature has relaunched its neuroscience podcast under the new name NeuroPod.  If you like the Nature podcast but would rather hear a show devoted to the latest Nature articles on neuroscience, you will want to check this out at http://www.nature.com/neurosci/neuropod.

If you prefer blogs, you might want to check out Action Potential (also from the editors of Nature).  I am not very good at keeping my blogroll up-to-date, but another site worth checking out (suggested to me by Adam Rutherford at Nature) is Mind Hacks.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Eric Kandel Talks About Memory on Futures in Biotech

The latest episode of Futures in Biotech (FiB 20) is an interview with Dr. Eric Kandel, who won a Nobel Prize in 2000 for his discoveries about how memory works.  I think you will enjoy listening to Dr. Kandel's interview.

I discussed Dr. Kandel's book, In Search of Memory, in Episode 3 of the Brain Science Podcast.  I also discussed his textbook, Memory: From Mind to Molecules in Episode 12.

For anyone who would like to go back and listen to these episodes, I have provided direct links to the audio files below:

#3: In Search of Memory

#12: Memory: From Mind to Molecules

Author Sharon Begley Talks About Neuroplasticity

Science writer, Sharon Begley, was interviewed about neuroplasticity. on the August 7 episode of Science Talk, the podcast from Scientific American.

I discussed her book, Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves, on Episode 10 of the Brain Science Podcast.

Listen to Science Talk interview of Sharon Begley

Listen to the Brain Science Podcast #10: Neuroplasticity

You can also find more on neuroplasticity, including links to some of the scientists she mentions in her interview here.

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.

Some Recent Podcasts Worth Listening To

I haven't done a very good of posting about other podcasts that are relevant to the Brain Science Podcast, but here are a few you might enjoy: 

The July 27 edition of Science Friday included a discussion of discoveries related to depression and language acquisition.

The July 14 episode of All in The Mind addresses the nature versus nurture question.

The July 13 episode of the Science Magazine Podcast includes recent research on autism, and a discussion of the question of memory suppression.

There is also an interesting discussion of depression on the July 14 episode of the Science Show.

I have mentioned all of these podcasts in the past.  It is interesting that both All in the Mind and the Science Show come from Australia.  These shows are both consistently worthwhile. Transcripts are available on their websites.