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Sebastian Seung, author of "Connectome" (BSP 85)

2012-05-25T14:50:53Z

Dr. Sebastian SeungDr. Sebastian Seung (MIT) is an ambitious young scientist; his goal is to unravel the entire wiring diagram of the human brain. Considering that it took over a decade to determine the wiring diagram for the roundworm C elegans, which has a mere 302 neurons, it is clear that scientists can't leap directly to the 80 billion neuron human brain. Even so, in his new book Connectome: How the Brain's Wiring Makes Us Who We Are, Seung makes a very good argument for the value of this long term project. In Episode 85 of the Brain Science Podcast I talked with Dr. Seung both about the challenges and potential benefits of this work.

Listen to Episode 85

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Christof Koch returns to the Brain Science Podcast

2012-04-25T20:38:59Z

Christof Koch, PhDThe scientific study of consciousness was once viewed with skepticism, but this has changed dramatically in recent years. According to pioneering neuroscientist Christof Koch, "the great thing is we’re not condemned to just sort of philosophical speculation, but we can make some predictions, and then go out and measure them. And those are the things I talk about in this book, Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist." In Brain Science Podcast #84 Koch reflects on the progress that has been made since I interviewed him back in 2007 (BSP 22), and he also talks about the latest initiatives at the Allen Institute for Brain Research, where he as recently become the chief science officer.

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William Uttal on "Mind and Brain" (BSP 83)

2012-03-24T15:53:49Z

William Uttal, PhD"There is nothing more exciting than the mind/brain problem" according to Dr. William Uttal, author of Mind and Brain: A Critical Appraisal of Cognitive Neuroscience. In the latest episode of the Brain Science Podcast (BSP 83) I talked with Dr. Uttal about why he feels that brain imaging can not solve this mystery. First, there is the problem that brain imaging represents the wrong level of analysis because every spot you see on a brain scan actaully represents thousands of neurons. This means that the activity and interaction between individual neurons has been lost. Then there is the problem of reproducibility, with divergent results between studies. The evidence is accumulating that "much of the brain responds to any stimulus, and every area of the brain participates in multiple functions." This means that asking where a given function occurs may be the wrong question.

BSP 83 represents an on-going discussion of these issues, so I have included links to related episodes in the show notes.

Listen to Episode 83

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Free Will and Brain Science (BSP 82)

2012-02-29T14:34:37Z

In his latest book Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain respected neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga explores how the discoveries of neuroscience impact how we see ourselves as human beings. After providing a brief review of 20th century neuroscience, and even some of the work from the past decade, Dr. Gazzaniga concludes that nothing neuroscience has discovered changes the fact that "we are personally responsible agents and are to be held accountable for our actions."

Gazzaniga's position contrasts with those who think that recent discoveries show that the brain creates the mind in solely "upwardly causal" way, and who argue that since much of what our brain does is outside our conscious awareness or control, we should not be held responsible for our actions. Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain presents what I think is a convincing argument against this common position.

In the latest episode of the Brain Science Podcast (BSP 82) I present a detailed discussion of Dr. Gazzaniga's book.

Listen to Episode 82

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Philosopher Patricia Churchland returns to the Brain Science Podcast

2012-01-30T19:21:31Z

Patricia Churchland (photo by Nines Minequez)BSP 81 marks the return of philosopher Patricia Churchland, who I first interviewed back in Episode 55. Our recent conversation focuses on her latest book, Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality. We discuss the historical background and contrast Churchland's approach to that of Sam Harris in The Moral Landscape. Then Professor Churchland discusses how recent discoveries in neuroscience are shedding light on the evolutionary origins of morality.

It's a fascinating conversation that you won't want to miss.

Listen to BSP 81 (Free mp3)

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Exploring Alabama with Roger Reid (BI 46)

2012-01-12T18:39:16Z

Roger ReidRoger Reid has a job that every kid and most adults would find fascinating. He works for the Alabama Museum of Natural History and travels all over Alabama as a writer and producer for the Emmy Award winning TV show, Discovering Alabama with Dr. Doug Phillips . He also shares his passion for natural history in a series of novels written for middle school age readers. I decided to interview him for Books and Ideas because I wanted to share these novels with my listeners. They combine mystery and science in an original way, but they also contain compelling characters that readers will care about.

Episode 46 of Books and Ideas is an unusual episode because we don't just talk about Reid's novels. We also explore some of the little known treasures of Alabama's natural history. I guarantee surprises, even for those of you who call Alabama home. But I also hope that listeners around the world will gain a new appreciation for the natural resources of Alabama.

Listen to Episode 46 of Books and Ideas

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Books by Roger Reid:

Longleaf (2006): set in the Conecuh National Forest
Space (2008): set at the Swanson Observatory on Monte Sano in Huntsville, Alabama.
Time (2011): set at the Stephen C Menkin Paleozoic Footprint Site, near Jasper, Alabama

See the episode transcript for additional links.

Tell Me What You Think!

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Send me email at gincampbell at mac dot com.

Brain Science Podcast: 5th Annual Review Episode

2011-12-31T00:25:00Z

Original Logo from 2006I launched the Brain Science Podcast in December 2006, so to celebrate I am posting my Fifth Annual Review Episode (BSP 80). This podcast includes a review of the highlights from this year's episodes along with my reflections on what we have learned about brain health over the last few years. I also take a look ahead to 2012 when I hope to continue to produce a Brain Science Podcast every month.

Listen to BSP 80

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Ginger Campbell Celebrates Five Years of Podcasting (BI 45)

2011-12-19T16:17:55Z

Ginger Campbell and GretaIn December 2006 I launched 2 podcasts: Books and Ideas and the Brain Science Podcast. In Episode 45 of Books and Ideas I take a few minutes to look back on my five years in podcasting and to thank some of my many guests.

Listen to Episode 45 of Books and Ideas

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Show Notes:

The focus of this episode was to thank each of the 33 people who have been featured on Books and Ideas so far.

Historians: Matthew Cobb, Holly Tucker, and Jennifer Michael Hecht
Scientists: Lee Silver, Pamela Gay, Robert Schleip, Eugenie Scott, Les Johnson, Daniel George, Sheril Kirshenbaum, and Frank Wilczek
Philosophers: Massimo Pigliucci and Tom Clark
Physicians: Paul Offit, Robert Martenson, Neel Varshney, and Steven Novella
Fiction Writers: Mur Lafferty, Christiana Ellis, Scott Sigler, Tabitha Grace Smith, Skyler White, and Karen Traviss
Psychologists: Delany Dean, Eric Maisel, Bruce Hood and Carol Tavris
Other Writers: Dan Ariely, Sue Bailey, and Carmen Flowers
Special Guests: Patrick Pricken, Kirk McElhearn and Kyla Duffy

Click here for a complete list of guests (in alphabetical order).

Click here for a complete list of episodes.

Announcements:

In addition to its Facebook Fan Page, Books and Ideas now has a page on Google+.
The Books and Ideas app is now available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices.
Sign up for my newsletter so that you don't miss any podcasts.
Both of my podcasts are supported by listener donations.
Send me feedback at gincampbell at mac dot com.

Miguel Nicolelis on Brain-Machine Interfaces (BSP 79)

2011-12-03T20:28:20Z

Dr. Miguel NicolelisMiguel Nicolelis at Duke University is pioneering brain-machine interfaces. In his book Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines---and How It Will Change Our Lives he puts his groundbreaking work into an historical context. I discussed his book briefly in BSP 78, but I have now posted an in depth interview. The focus of our conversation is on why his work challenges longstanding assumptions about the primacy of the single neuron in brain function.

Listen to Episode 79

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Karen Traviss on Writing for Gears of War (BI 44)

2011-11-11T15:32:26Z

Karen TravissThe thing that draws me to novels by Karen Traviss is her characters and her recent series of novels based on the popular Gears of Wars videogame delivers a character-driven story of surprising depth. In fact, even though the recently released game Gears of War 3 (also written by Traviss) brings the games to an end, Traviss is still working on the 5th and final Gears of War novel, which is scheduled for release next spring.

I was fortunate to interview Traviss last month, shortly after the release of Gears of War 3. The interview is spoiler free, but even if you don't play video games this interview will give you a new insight the role of writing in this emerging genre.

Listen to Karen Traviss (BI 44)

Episode Transcript (Free PDF)

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References and Links:

KarenTraviss.com
Aspho Fields by Karen Traviss
Dr. Campbell's mini-review of Hard Contact (Star Wars: Republic Commando, Book 1) by Karen Traviss
"Mad World" video from YouTube (embedded below)

More Fiction Authors:

BI 17: Mur Lafferty, podcasting pioneer and author of Playing for Keeps
BI 18: Tabitha Grace Smith lead writer of Buffy Between the Lines
BI 35: Scott Sigler, best-selling author of Contagious and Galactic Football League series
BI 38: Christiana Ellis (Nina Kimberly the Merciless) and Skyler White (and Falling, Fly)