Robert Burton Returns to the Brain Science Podcast (BSP 96)

The latest episode of the Brain Science Podcast (BSP 96) marks the return of one of my favorite guests: retired neurologist and author Dr. Robert Burton. We discussed his new book A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind: What Neuroscience Can and Cannot Tell Us About Ourselves. In this book Dr. Burton expands on the ideas he first presented in On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not. He also argues that because mental sensations like certainty, agency, and causation originate outside of conscious awareness there are inherent limits in our ability to use neuroscience to understand the Mind. This is a somewhat controversial and definitely thought-provoking position, which I invite you to explore further by listening to this interview.

Listen to BSP 96

Go to Brain Science Podcast website for complete show notes and free episode transcripts.

Brain Science Podcast Update

Last month we launched a completely redesigned website for the Brain Science Podcast. It is intended to be more accessible to people on mobile devices, but it also makes it easier for visitors to submit feedback directly from the site.

 Here is a brief summary of our most recent episodes:

Pain Part 2 (BSP 95):

Click image to listenBSP 95 is the second part of our discussion of Understanding Pain: Exploring the Perception of Pain by Fernando Cervero, who is the current president of the International Society for the Study of Pain. Dr. Cervero was interviewed in BSP 93 and in this episode I discuss additional key ideas from his book. (BSP 93 and 95 can be enjoyed in any order.

Listen to BSP 95 

Click here for the detailed show notes.

How the Brain Understands Language (BSP 94):

Dr. Benjamin BergenBSP 94 was an interview with linguist Benjamin Bergen author of Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning.

Listen to BSP 94

Go to the complete show notes.

Why Animal Emotions Matter (podcast)

Dr. Jaak Panksepp (click for audio)Episode 51 of Books and Ideas is actually a followup of Dr. Jaak Panksepp's recent interview on the Brain Science Podcast. There we talked in depth about the scientific evidence that humans share basic emotional circuitry with other mammals. In this interview we talk about the implications of this discovery,  focusing on how it should impact the treatment of laboratory animals. We also consider our relationships with pets and other domestic species.

Listen to Episode 51 of Books and Ideas

Episode Transcript (Download Free PDF)

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Recommended Reading: 

• Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions by Jaak Panksepp
• The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions  by Jaak Panksepp and Lucy Biven
• Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain by Antonio Damasio
• Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson
• Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals by Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson
• Why Animals Matter: Animal Consciousness, Animal Welfare, and Human Well-being by Marian Stamp Dawkins
• Project Nim (Video) directed by James Marsh

Related Podcasts:

• Jaak Panksepp on the Brain Science Podcast: BSP 65 and BSP 91
• Kyla Duffy of Happy Tails Books (dog rescue): B&I 33
• Stuart Brown on the importance of Play: BSP 61

Announcements:

• Books and Ideas has its own Facebook Fan Page.
• You can also post your feedback about Books and Ideas within the BSP Group on Goodreads.
• A new version of the Books and Ideas website will be launching soon. The URL will not change.

Meet Dr. Campbell:

• Atlanta, Georgia: February 19-21, 2013
• South by SouthWest in Austin, Texas: March 7-10, 2013
• Johannesburg, South Africa: April 8-10, 2013
• I love to meet listeners when I travel so if you will be at any of these places just drop me an email at gincampbell at mac dot com.

Neuroscience of Pain (BSP 93)

Click Logo to ListenDr. Fernando Cervero of McGill University has been studying pain since the beginning of his career back in the 1960's. These decades have seen tremendous advances in our neuroscientific understanding of what causes different types of pain as well as changing attitudes. Pain was once regarded as something that most people had to endure, but now most of us demand adequate pain relief, sometimes even to the point of not tolerating minor pain. Dr. Cevero's new book Understanding Pain provides an accessible account of both the history of pain research and a thoughtful consideration of the challenges facing the field.

The latest episode of the Brain Science Podcast (BSP 93) is an interview with Dr. Cervero. This is Part 1 of a planned two part series.

Listen to Episode 93

Click Here for Detailed Show Notes and Episode Transcripts

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Brain Science Podcast is 6 years old

Ginger Campbell, MDThe 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.

Listen to Episode 92

Click here for detailed shownotes and episode transcript.

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