How Storytelling Makes Us Human (podcast)

/

Jonathan GottschallWhat do fiction, dreams, and children's make believe have in common? Why is storytelling found in every human culture? These are among the fascinating questions explored in The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Makes Us Human by Jonathan Gottschall.

I have just posted an interview with Jonathan Gottschall (Books and Ideas #48) in which we talk about some of the key ideas in his new book. Gottschall's goal is to look for clues about why storytelling is such an universal behavior. He also argues that it should be possible to form testable theories about the purpose of storytelling.

 

listen-to-audio-20 Listen to Episode 48 of Books and Ideas

Episode Transcript (Download Free PDF)

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast: itunes-badge-30 feed-icon32x32 zunelogo-70 mail-sticker-tiny

Announcements:

 

 

Brain Aging Update (BSP 87)

/

Pamela Greenwood, PhDNuturing the Older Brain and Mind by Pamela M. Greenwood and Raja Parasuaman provides a comprehensive review of the current research in cognitive aging.  In the latest Brain Science Podcast  Dr. Greenwood explains that brain aging and cognitive aging are not the same thing; the typical brain changes that are associated with normal brain aging (such as shrinkage) are not reliable predictors of cognitive declince. Fortunately, even though normal brain aging is still not well understood, the discovery of brain plasiticity is shifting the focus of research. Not only does brain plasticity offer new hope for people who suffer strokes and other brain injuries, it also suggests that life style choices influence cognitive function at all ages.

Nurturing the Older Brain and Mind is intended for an academic audience but it is accessible to everyone. This month's interview with Dr. Greenwood (BSP 87) focuses is on dispelling the most stuborn myths about brain aging. We also talk about the practical steps we can all take to help maintain our cognitive performance.

listen-to-audio Listen to Episode 87

Click here for complete show notes and a free episode transcript.

 

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

"Incomplete Nature" with Terrence Deacon (podcast interview)

/

Terrence Deacon, PhDIn his new book Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter Terrence Deacon writes that his goal is “demonstrate how a form of causality depending specifically on absent features and unrealized potential can be compatible with our best science.” (page 16). But in a recent interview (Books and Ideas #47) he also contends that his book "grew out of a dissatisfaction with the systems theory approach." He feels strongly that "to understand the origin of end-directed phenomena, representational phenomena, or mental phenomena, you need to take one further step; you need to figure out what’s beyond self-organization that needs to be explained to account for these things." Thus, his ambitious goal is to find a place for meaning within in science.

Incomplete Nature is a dense but compelling book, and the goal of this interview is to introduce listeners to the idea that life and meaning are compatible with a scientific world view. 

Listen to Books and Ideas #47

Free Episode Transcript (Download PDF)

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast: itunes-badge-30 feed-icon32x32 zunelogo-70 mail-sticker-tiny

References: 

 Announcemements:

 

Disgust with Rachel Herz (BSP 86)

/

Disgust is an universal emotion, but unlike emotions like fear and anger, disgust must be learned. This is the main conclusion of Dr. Rachel Herz's latest book That's Disgusting: Unraveling the Mysteries of Repulsion. In a recent interview (BSP 86) Dr. Herz told me why she spent the last several years studying this rather unusual subject. We also discussed what the study of disgust can tell us about how our brains process emotion.

This is Dr. Herz's second visit to the Brain Science Podcast. Back in BSP 34 we talked about her first book The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell.

Listen to Episode 86

Episode Transcript (Free PDF)

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

  

 

Annoucements:

 

"Are You Sure?" now out for Kindle

/

I have just published my first eBook: Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty. It is available for the Kindle now, and will be out for iBooks and Nook shortly. This is based on two of my favorite episodoes of the Brain Science Podcast.

A free PDF version is available to anyone who sends me a copy of their Amazon receipt.

This is Volume 1 of a new series called Brain Talk: Conversations with Neuroscientists, which I hope will bring the content of the Brain Science Podcast to a broader audience.

I have also started a newsletter for people who only want news about my writing, but who don't want to get podcast announcements.

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

/

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

Click here for full show notes and free episode transcript.

 

 

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

 

Christof Koch returns to the Brain Science Podcast

/

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. 

 Listen to Episode 84

Episode Transcript (Free PDF)

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

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

/

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

Click here for full show notes and free episode transcript.

 

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

Free Will and Brain Science (BSP 82)

/

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-audio Listen to Episode 82

Click here for detailed show notes and FREE episode transcript.

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

Philosopher Patricia Churchland returns to the Brain Science Podcast

/

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)

Click here for details show notes and free episode transcript.

 

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

Exploring Alabama with Roger Reid (BI 46)

/

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-audio-20 Listen to Episode 46 of Books and Ideas

Episode Transcript (Download PDF)

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast: itunes-badge-30 feed-icon32x32 zunelogo-70 mail-sticker-tiny

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

References and Links:

Tell Me What You Think!

Brain Science Podcast: 5th Annual Review Episode

/

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-audio Listen to BSP 80

Click here for full show notes and free episode transcript.

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

Ginger Campbell Celebrates Five Years of Podcasting (BI 45)

/

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-audio-20 Listen to Episode 45 of Books and Ideas

Episode Transcript (Download Free PDF)

 

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast: itunes-badge-30 feed-icon32x32 zunelogo-70 mail-sticker-tiny

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:

 

Miguel Nicolelis on Brain-Machine Interfaces (BSP 79)

/

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-audio Listen to Episode 79

Click here for show notes and episode transcript.

 

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

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

/

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-audio-20 Listen to Karen Traviss (BI 44)

Episode Transcript (Free PDF)

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast: itunes-badge-30 feed-icon32x32 zunelogo-70 mail-sticker-tiny

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)

Announcements:

listen-to-audio-20 Listen to Karen Traviss (BI 44)

Episode Transcript (Free PDF)

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast: itunes-badge-30 feed-icon32x32 zunelogo-70 mail-sticker-tiny

 

 

Latest Brain Science Podcast looks at Brain-Machine Interfaces

/

In his book Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines---and How It Will Change Our Lives neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis puts his recent work with brain machine interfaces into historical context and explains why this work should change the way we understand how brains work. Nicolelis challenges several long-standing assumptions including the primacy of the single neuron and strict localization, which is the idea that each area of the brain has a relatively fixed function.

Episode 78 of the Brain Science Podcast is a brief discussion of the key ideas presented in Beyond Boundaries, including a look at the implications of experiments such as the wide publicized work that culminated in demonstrating that a monkey in Nicolelis' lab at Duke (North Carolina, USA) could control a robot arm in Japan using only its brain. 

 

listen-to-audio Listen to Episode 78 

Click here for complete show notes and free episode transcript.

 

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

Cognitive Dissonance with Carol Tavris, PhD (Books and Ideas #43)

/

Carol Tavris, PhD Click for audioThe theory of cognitive dissonance is not new but Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson makes cognitive dissonance accessible to everyone, and, more importantly, Tavris and Aronson make it clear why we should care. As Dr. Tavris explained in a recent interview (Books and Ideas #43), "cognitive dissonance is a theory of blind spots." Appreciating how our brains automatically strive to decrease the discomfort we feel when faced with conflicting beliefs, can help us become aware of how these blind spots effect our behavior and attitudes.

listen-to-audio-20 Listen to Episode 43 of Books and Ideas

Episode Transcript (Download PDF)

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast: itunes-badge-30 feed-icon32x32 zunelogo-70 mail-sticker-tiny

Cognitive dissonance is also revelevant to anyone with an interest in science because as Dr. Tavris noted: "the scientific method is designed to create dissonance—in a way, we could say this.  This is one of the reasons science is so unpopular—I should say is so difficult—because scientists are humans, and scientists don’t like it when their predictions are disconfirmed.  But, you see, as we now understand, the mind is designed for consistency, for consonance; it’s designed to notice, and remember, and confirm evidence that supports our beliefs, and to forget and ignore information that is dissonant with our beliefs.

It’s such an interesting thing for those of us interested in skepticism and science, because the scientific method is designed to create dissonance—in a way, we could say this.  This is one of the reasons science is so unpopular—I should say is so difficult—because scientists are humans, and scientists don’t like it when their predictions are disconfirmed.  But, you see, as we now understand, the mind is designed for consistency, for consonance; it’s designed to notice, and remember, and confirm evidence that supports our beliefs, and to forget and ignore information that is dissonant with our beliefs."

Links and References

Listener donations help make Dr. Campbell's podcasts possible. 

Announcements

 

 

listen-to-audio-20 Listen to Episode 43 of Books and Ideas

Episode Transcript (Download PDF)

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast: itunes-badge-30 feed-icon32x32 zunelogo-70 mail-sticker-tiny

Neurobiology of Placebos with Fabrizio Benedetti (BSP 77)

/

Fabrizio Benedetti, MD (click for audio)Dr. Fabrizio Benedetti is one of the world's leading researchers of the neurobiology of placebos. In a recent interview (BSP 77) he explained to me that he believes that "today we are in a very good position to describe, from a biological and from an evolutionary approach, the doctor-patient relationship, and the placebo effect, itself."

To appreciate Dr. Benedetti's work one must first realize that his approach differs from that of the typical clinical trial. As he observed, "To the clinical trialist, a placebo effect means any improvement which may take place after placebo administration.  To the neurobiologist, a placebo response, or placebo effect means only something active in the brain happening after placebo administration: learning, anxiety reduction, activation of reward mechanisms."

In contrast, he explains "The real placebo response, the real placebo effect is a psychobiological phenomenon.  It is something active happening in the brain after placebo administration: like learning, like anxiety reduction, and such like." Brain Science Podcast 77 provides an introduction to this complex, but fascinating topic.

listen-to-audio Listen to Episode 77

Click here for full show notes, including references and episode transcripts.

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

How to Avoid Choking with Sian Beilock (BSP 76)

/

Sian Beilock, PhDIn her book Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To, University of Chicago psychologist Sian Beilock explores the dreaded phenomena of choking (ie. the failure to perform as expected under pressure). More importantly she provides practical suggestions for preventing poor performance.

In the latest episode of the Brain Science Podcast (BSP 76) I talk with her about the different types of choking; it turns out that the failure mechanisms between blowing the big test and missing the key shot in sports are significantly different. Understanding both how they differ and what they have in common is the key to better performance.

Learn more by listening to BSP 76 (right click to download)

Click here for full show notes and episode transcript

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

David Eagleman talks about "the secret lives of the brain" (BSP 75)

/

In his new book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain neuroscientist David Eagleman describes consciousness as "the smallest player in the operations of the brain" (page 5) because most of what the brain does is outside conscious awareness (and control). In a recent interview (BSP 75) Dr. Eagleman reviews some of the evidence for this startling position as well as the implications both for the average person and for social policy.

 

listen-to-audio Listen to BSP 75

Click here for full show notes and free episode transcript.

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