The Importance of Play (BSP 60)

In Episode 60 of the Brain Science Podcast Ginger Campbell, MD interviews Dr. Stuart Brown, author of Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. Our focus is on the importance of play for normal mental development and psychological health. We also explore the importance of play in adults.

listen-to-audio Listen to Episode 60

Episode Transcript (Download PDF)

Click here for Detailed Show Notes and Links

Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast: itunes-badge-30 zunelogo-70 feed-icon32x32 mail-sticker-tiny

Join our Discussion Forum: discussionforum

Send email to Dr. Campbell at gincampbell at mac.com.

Read More

Guy Caldwell, PhD on C. elegans (BSP 59)

BSP-logo-75-thumb2.jpgEpisode 59 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Dr. Guy Caldwell who is a molecular biologist at the University of Alabama. Since moving to Alabama ten years ago he has done groundbreaking work in applying the green florescent protein techniques developed by his mentor, Nobel Laureate Martin Chalfie to the study of dopamine neurons in the tiny worm C. elegans. In this interview Dr. Campbell and Dr. Caldwell discuss the growing role of molecular biology as a tool in neuroscience. Dr. Caldwell explains why he thinks there is a good chance that a cure for Parkinson's Disease will be found within the next 10 years.

This interview also contains practical information for students interested in pursuing a career in science.

Play Episode 59

Click here for complete show notes and links

Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast: itunes-badge-30 zunelogo-70 feed-icon32x32 mail-sticker-tiny

Announcements:

Learn more at http://brainsciencepodcast.com or send Dr. Campbell email at gincampbell at mac.com.

Read More

Neurophsychologist Chris Frith, PhD (BSP 57)

frith Episode 57 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with neuropsychologist Dr. Chris Frith, author of Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental World. Our brain processes information about the world outside us (via our senses) in the same way that it processes information from within our bodies and from our own mental world. In this interview Dr. Frith and I explore the implications from recent discoveries about how our brain generates our mental world.

listen-to-audio Listen to Episode 57

Episode Transcript (Download PDF)

Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast: itunes-badge-30 zunelogo-70 feed-icon32x32 mail-sticker-tiny

For detailed show notes and links go to http://brainsciencepodcast.com.

Send feedback to Dr. Campbell at gincampbell at mac.com or join the Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com.

Read More

Pioneering Neuroscientist Eve Marder, PhD (BSP 56)

evemarder2 Episode 56 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with neuroscientist, Eve Marder, PhD. Dr. Marder has spent 35 years studying the somatogastric ganglion of the lobster. In this interview we talk about how she got into neuroscience during its early days, her recent tenure as president of the Society for Neuroscience, and how some of her key discoveries have implications for studying more complex nervous systems.

listen-to-audio Listen to Episode 56

Episode Transcript (coming soon)

Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast: itunes-badge-30 feed-icon32x32 zunelogo-70 mail-sticker-tiny

podtrac_survey_125x60_v2

Read More

Philosopher Patricia Churchland (BSP 55)

bsp-300-hi Episode 55 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with highly respected philosopher Patricia Churchland. Churchland is the author of Neurophilosophy and Brain. She is currently on the faculty of the University of California at San Diego and she was a featured speaker at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in 2008. In this interview we talked about neurophilosophy, which is an approach to philosophy of mind that gives high priority to incorporating the empiric findings of neuroscience. We also talk about the evolving relationship between philosophy and neuroscience. Churchland shares her enthusiasm for how the discoveries of neuroscience are changing the way we see ourselves as human beings. We also talked a little about the issues of reductionism that I first brought up in Episode 53.

listen-to-audio Listen to Episode 55

Episode Transcript (Download PDF)

Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast: itunes-badge-30 zunelogo-70 feed-icon32x32 mail-sticker-tiny

Click here for additional show notes and links.

Read More

Dr. Michael Merzenich on Brain Plasiticity (BSP 54)

bsp-300-hi 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-audio Listen to Dr Merzenich’s Interview

Episode Transcript (Coming Soon)

Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast:   itunes-badge-30 zunelogo-70 mail-sticker-tiny feed-icon32x32

Go to Brain Science Podcast website for show notes and links.

Read More

Neuroscience and Free Will (BSP 53)

bsp-300-hi Episode 53 of the Brain Science Podcast is a discussion of Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?: Philosophical and Neurobiological Perspectives on Moral Responsibility and Free Will by Nancey Murphy and Warren S. Brown. This book challenges the widespread fear that neuroscience is revealing an explanation of the human mind that concludes that moral responsibility and free will are illusions created by our brains. Instead the authors argue that the problem is the assumption that a physicalist/materialistic model of the mind must also be reductionist (a viewpoint that all causes are bottom-up). In this podcast I discuss their arguments against causal reductionism and for a dynamic systems model. We also discuss why we need to avoid brain-body dualism and recognize that our mind is more than just what our brain does. The key to preserving our intuitive sense of our selves as free agents capable of reason, moral responsibility, and free will is that the dynamic systems approach allows top-down causation, without resorting to any supernatural causes or breaking any of the know laws of the physical universe. This is a complex topic, but I present a concise overview of the book's key ideas.

listen-to-audio Listen to Episode 53

Episode Transcript (Coming Soon)

Visit the Brain Science Podcast website for detailed show notes and links.

Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast: itunes-badge-30 zunelogo-70 feed-icon32x32 mail-sticker-tiny

Donations and Subscriptions are appreciated

Send email feedback to Ginger Campbell, MD at docartemis at gmail.com

Share your comments on the Discussion Forum

Read More

Brain Science Podcast Celebrates its 2nd Anniversary (BSP 52)

gin-bud08-100 Brain Science Podcast #52 is our Second Annual Review Episode. We review some of the highlights from 2008. I also discuss the various other on-line resources that I have created for listeners. Then we look ahead to what I have planned for 2009. This episode is aimed at all listeners, including those who are new to the show.

listen-to-audio Listen to Episode 52

itunes-badge-30 Subscribe in iTunes™

Read More

Synapse Evolution with Dr. Seth Grant (BSP 51)

Episode 51 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Dr. Seth Grant from Cambridge University, UK.  Dr. Grant's work focuses on the proteins that make up the receptors within synapses. (Synapses are the key structures by which neurons send and receive signals.) By comparing the proteins that are present in the synapses in different species Dr. Grant has come to some surprising conclusions about the evolution of the synapse and the evolution of the brain. (Read more...)

Play Episode 51

Subscribe via iTunes™ Show notes and Links for Episode 51
Read More

Dr. Brenda Milner: Pioneer of Memory Research (BSP 49)

Brain Science Podcast #49 is an interview with pioneering neuroscientist, Brenda Milner, PhD. Dr. Milner is known for her contributions to understanding memory and her work with split-brain patients. Her work as an experimental psychologist has been fundamental to the emergence of the field of cognitive neuroscience. This interview is a follow-up of Dr. Milner's recent interview with Dr. Marc Pelletier on Futures in Biotech. I highly recommend listening to both interviews.

Listen to Episode 49 of the Brain Science Podcast

Listen to Dr. Milner on Futures in Biotech (Episode33)

Click here for detailed show notes and links.

Read More

Our "Big Brain" with Dr. Gary Lynch (BSP 48)

Episode 48 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Gary Lynch, PhD, co-author of Big Brain: The Origins and Future of Human Intelligence. While it is generally agreed that one of the most striking features of the human brain is its large size, not everyone agrees about how and why our brains came to be so large. In this interview Dr. Lynch presents some rather radical theories about how the human brain evolved. We discuss the pros and cons of his theories as well as the challenges faced by researchers trying to work in this field.

Listen to Episode 48

Visit the Brain Science Podcast website for detailed Show Notes and Links.

The next episode of the Brain Science Podcast will be an interview with Dr. Brenda Milner. This interview will is a follow-up to Marc Pelletier's excellent interview of Dr. Milner on Futures in Biotech: http://www.twit.tv/fib33.

Read More

Why do so many women like Sarah Palin?

I am mystified by the polls that show how popular Sarah Palin with women voters, but today I got an email from a fan of the Brain Science Podcast who pointed me to a piece by Sam Harris that may shed some light on the phenomena. Harris is a neuroscientist and he observes that when people listen to politicians like Palin what they say may bypass the frontal lobes (where logical thinking occurs) and go straight to the limbic (emotional) brain. Harris started with this chilling observation:
Let me confess that I was genuinely unnerved by Sarah Palin's performance at the Republican convention. Given her audience and the needs of the moment, I believe Governor Palin's speech was the most effective political communication I have ever witnessed. Here, finally, was a performer who—being maternal, wounded, righteous and sexy—could stride past the frontal cortex of every American and plant a three-inch heel directly on that limbic circuit that ceaselessly intones "God and country." If anyone could make Christian theocracy smell like apple pie, Sarah Palin could. (Click here to read more.)

However, what is probably even more disturbing is that modern neuroscience also suggests that once people choose a candidate (even if the choice is emotional) they seldom change their minds, even when confronted with negative facts about the candidate. Does that mean that women don't care about global warming or the fact that Palin is less competent to be president than I am? (At least I have a passport and have actually visited Europe!)

Robert Burton,MD who was interviewed in Episode 43 of the Brain Science Podcast has excellent blog post in Salon reviewing the neuroscience of voter behavior: http://www.salon.com/env/mind_reader/2008/09/22/voter_choice/index.html.

There are at least two excellent books available on this topic:

One point that Lakoff makes that I think resonates with Dr. Burton's book On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not is that Democrats need to let go of the Enlightenment myth of the rational mind. People vote with their hearts (emotions and unconscious parts of the brain) not with their heads, which ironically can even lead them to vote against their own ideals. As for me, when I think about Sarah Palin, my amygdala fills me with fear, disgust and dread! Note: this last sentence seems to have provoked a lively discussion. You can join in the comments over on the Brain Science Podcast website: http://docartemis.com/brainsciencepodcast/2008/09/22/why-do-so-many-women-like-sarah-palin/#comments

Read More

Recorded LIVE at Dragon*Con 2008 (BSP 46)

Dragon*Con 2008 Dragon*Con 2008 Brain Science Podcast #46 is a discussion of brain imaging with Dr. Shella Keilholz and Dr. Jason Schneiderman. The focus of our discussion is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which is revolutionizing neuroscience. We talked about both the strengths and weaknesses of this technique. Both of my guests agree that mainstream coverage of this technique tends to exagerate what we can actually tell from this kind of brain scan. An important principle is that the scan of any single individual can vary greatly from day-to-day, which means that valid conclusions require data from a large number of people.

Listen to Episode 46 of the Brain Science Podcast

Click here for links and detailed show notes

Send email feedback to Ginger Campbell, MD at docartemis at gmail.com

Share your comments on the Discussion Forum

Read More

Attention Deficit Disorder with Dr. John Ratey (BSP 45)

Have you ever wondered why a child with ADD can play videos games for hours but can’t concentrate on his homework for a few minutes? This is one of the paradoxes of attention-deficit disorder that  John J Ratey, MD, co-author of Driven To Distraction : Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood, explains in Episode 45 of the Brain Science Podcast. During this interview Dr. Ratey discusses the latest findings about the biological basis of what he calls “attention variability disorder.” He also offers practical advice for patients and parents dealing with ADD/ADHD. One very important, and somewhat surprising, fact that he shares is that patients who are treated with medications during adolescence have a significantly lower risk of developing problems with addiction and drug abuse later on compared to those who are not treated. Also, successful “ADDers” like Michael Phelps show that “having a mission” makes a huge difference. Dr. Ratey’s most recent book is Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, which he discussed with me (Dr. Campbell) in Episode 33.

Listen to Episode 45 of the Brain Science Podcast

Links and Show Notes for Episode 45

Read More

Daniel Siegel, MD on Meditation and the Brain (BSP 44)

Daniel Siegel, MD In Episode 44 of the Brain Science Podcast I talk with Daniel Siegel, MD about meditation and the brain. Dr. Siegel is the author of several books including The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being. In this interview we review the scientific evidence about how mindfulness meditation changes the brain, both in terms of short term activity and in terms of long-term structural changes. The evidence is convincing that a regular mindfulness practice can be an important element of brain health.

Listen to Episode 44 of the Brain Science Podcast

Click here for detailed show notes and links

Read More

Part 2 of "On Being Certain" with Robert Burton, MD (BSP 43)

Episode 43 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Robert A Burton, MD, author of On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not, which I discussed in Episode 42. Dr. Burton tells us what inspired him to write this book and we explore some of the implications of the fact that what he calls the "feeling of knowing" comes from our unconscious, including the fact that it is not as reliable as it feels.

Listen to Episode 43 of the Brain Science Podcast

Show Notes and Links

Robert A Burton, MD

Previous Episodes of the Brain Science Podcast:
  • Episode 42: Part 1 of our discussion of On Being Certain
  • Episode 13: Unconscious Decisions-featuring Blink by Malcom Gladwell
  • Episode 15: Interview with Read Montague about unconscious decisions
Other scientists/writers mentioned in this episode: Other terms mentioned in the interview: Cotard's Syndrome: when the patient believes they do not exist or that they are dead cognitive dissonance: a mismatch between what one believes and what the evidence supports

Listen to Episode 43 of the Brain Science Podcast

Fill out survey before August 31, 2008 to be eligible to win an iPod Touch! itunes-chicklet.gif Subscribe via iTunes™ Subscribe in a reader or podcatcher Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email Donations and Subscriptions are appreciated

brainsciencestore.gif

Send email feedback to Ginger Campbell, MD at docartemis at gmail.com

Share your comments on the Discussion Forum

Read More

Review: "On Being Certain" (BSP 42)

Episode 42 of the Brain Science Podcast is a discussion of On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not by Robert Burton, MD. This part 1 of a two part discussion of the unconscious origins of what Dr. Burton calls "the feeling of knowing." In Episode 43 I will interview Dr. Burton. Today's episode provides an overview of Dr. Burton's key ideas. In past episodes I have discussed the role of unconscious decision-making. On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not by Robert Burton, MD takes this topic to a new level. First, Dr. Burton discusses the evidence that the "feeling of knowing" arises from parts of our brain that we can neither access or control. Then he discusses the implications of this finding, including the fact that it challenges long-held assumptions about the possibility of purely rational thought.

Listen to Episode 42 of the Brain Science Podcast

References and Links:

On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not by Robert Burton, MD

Neisser, U., and Harsh, N. "Phantom Flashbulbs: False Recollections of Hearing the News about Challenger,"  in Affect and Accuracy in Recall: Studies of "Flashbulb" Memories, Winograd, E., and Neisser, U., (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992)

The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers by Daniel L. Schacter

The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness by Antonio Damasio

Philosophy in the Flesh : The Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson

Other Scientists Mentioned in this Episode:

  • Leon Festinger-proposed the theory of cognitive dissonance in 1957
  • Joseph Ledoux-research with rats and the role of the amygdala in the fear response
  • Michael Merzenich-showed how the auditory cortex in young rats is affected by experience

Listen to Episode 42 of the Brain Science Podcast

itunes-chicklet.gif Subscribe via iTunes™ Subscribe in a reader or podcatcher Subscribe to Brain Science Podcast with Dr. Ginger Campbell by Email Donations and Subscriptions are appreciated

brainsciencestore.gif

Send email feedback to Ginger Campbell, MD at docartemis at gmail.com

Share your comments on the Discussion Forum

Read More