Listen to the Interview NowShow NotesEpisode 23 of the
Brain Science Podcast 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.
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 class
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:
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.
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Friday, February 13, 2009 at 6:44PM 
Brain Science Podcast #54 is an interview with Dr. Michael Merzenich, one of the pioneers of neuroplasticity. We talk about how the success of the cochlear implant revealed unexpected plasticity in adult brains and about how brain plasticity can be tapped to improve a wide variety of problems including dyslexia, autism, damage from disease and injury. Healthy people of all ages can also tap the resource of brain plasticity to help maintain and improve their mental functions.
Listen to Dr Merzenich’s Interview
