Brain Science with Ginger Campbell, MD: Neuroscience for Everyone

This month's episode of Brain Science features David Badre, author of " On Task: How Our Brain Gets Things Done ." He gives us an overview of recent research in the field of cognitive control, which has has actually overturned some popular assumptions about things like willpower. Our focus is on the practical implications of this research. Links and References: On Task: How Our Brain Gets Things D...

Neurologist and best-selling author Antonio Damasio is one of our most requested guests. This month we finally had the opportunity to talk about his newest book " Feeling & Knowing: Making Minds Conscious ," which he explained is somewhat different from his previous efforts. His goal was to write something "briefer" and more accessible. Thus it is definitely a book that requires no background in n...

BS 188 features neuroscientist Anil Seth discussing his new book "Being You: A New Science of Consciousness." We have had many guests talk about consciousness, but Seth represents the newer generation who have actually been able to devote their careers to this fundamental question: How does the brain generate conscious experience. His perspective is both practical and illuminating. Links and Refer...

BS 187 features bestselling author and neuroscientist David Eagleman . We talk about his latest book "Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain." It is a great overview of the current science of brain plasticity appropriate for both new listeners and longtime fans.  Links and References: Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain by David Eagleman More from David Eagleman...

This month's episode features Mark Humphries, author of " The Spike: An Epic Journey Through the Brain in 2.1 Seconds." We explore how the brain uses electrical signaling in surprising ways, beginning with a look at how an action potential (aka. "the spike") is produced. Then we consider what Humphries calls "the dark neurons," which are neurons that rarely generate spikes. We explore their role a...

This month's episode of Brain Science is an interview with Dr. Stephen Fleming , author of "Know Thyself: The Science of Self-Awareness." We explore the concept of metacognition and learn that while explicit metacognition (thinking about thinking) may be unique to humans, it is built on building blocks shared with other species. We also explore what can go wrong and why it matters. Special Offer:...

In this month's episode of Brain Science , neuroscientist Mark Solms talks about his new book "The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Origins of Consciousness ." Solms was inspired by the pioneering work of Jaak Panksepp who argued that the origins of consciousness can be traced to the brainstem. In his new book Solms presents the evidence for this viewpoint and explains how the work of computational...

Jeff Hawkins has spent nearly twenty years on a quest to discover how the brain's cortex generates intelligence. In this episode he talks about his new book A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence , which describes some of his most recent research in a way that is accessible to readers of all backgrounds. Links and References: A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins...

This month's episode of Brain Science features Iris Berent , author of " The Blind Storyteller: How We Reason About Human Nature ." We explore how our deeply entrenched biases toward dualism and essentialism impact our attitudes toward neuroscience and toward problems like mental illness. Links and References: The Blind Storyteller: How We Reason About Human Nature by Iris Berent A Skeptic's Guide...

This month's episode of Brain Science features Sir Simon Baron-Cohen , one of the world's leading researchers on the neuroscience of autism. We discuss his latest book " The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention ." This book reminds us that many different kinds of science can enrich our lives and our understanding of what it means to be human. Sir Baron-Cohen explores the overlap betw...

This month's episode of Brain Science is an interview with neuroscientists E. Bruce Goldstein, author of "The Mind: Consciousness, Prediction, and the Brain." We review some key ideas about how the brain creates the Mind, the important role of unconscious processes and prediction. It is a great starter episode for new listeners and a concise review for longtime fans. Links and References: The Mind...

It's time for our 14th Annual Review Episode ! Despite the challenges of 2020, it has been an outstanding year for Brain Science:  the show passed 11 million downloads and Dr. Campbell released of second edition of Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty. This episode is also a great introduction for new listeners. It can be enjoyed even if you haven't listened to the episodes being dis...

This month's episode of Brain Science features neuroscientist Peter Sterling sharing the key ideas for his new book What Is Health? Allostasis and the Evolution of Human Design .  In recent years neuroscientists have developed a growing appreciation of the predictive functions of the brain. Sterling takes this principle to the next level by asking what this means for human health. He argues that m...

Bernard Baars is a pioneer in the neuroscience of consciousness. He first proposed Global Workspace Theory back in 1980, which was before consciousness was considered an acceptable topic of scientific research. His approach inspired others including the current Global Neuronal Workspace Theory, which I discussed briefly in episode 160 . This episode is an interview with Dr. Baars that focuses on h...

This is my fifth interview with molecular biologist and neuroscientist Dr. Seth Grant from The University of Edinburgh. Dr. Grant was recently recognized for his pioneering work by the  Federation of European Neuroscientists. He continues to make fundamental discoveries about the structure and function of the synapse and this month we discuss the discovery that synapse complexity and diversity is...

This is the transcript of BS 175 with Carol Tavris co-author of "Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) Third Edition: Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts." Scroll up/down for free audio and shownotes © Copyright 2020 Virginia A Campbell, MD

This extremely timely episode of Brain Science features an interview with Dr. Carol Tavris , co-author of the newly released third edition of Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts . Cognitive Dissonance was actually discovered back in 1956 and it is one of the most well-replicated phenomena in experimental psychology. It  also impacts m...

BS 174 is an interview with neuroscientist and philosopher Georg Northoff about his fascinating book "The Spontaneous Brain: From the Mind–Body to the World–Brain Problem." We explore the significance of the growing evidence that most of the brain's activity occurs independently of external stimuli with a focus on the implications of this finding for our understanding of how the brain generates co...

In this special episode of Brain Science host Dr Ginger Campbell reads an excerpt from her bestseller "Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origin of Certainty." While it might seem ironic to talk about certainty during these extremely uncertain times, understanding how our brain generates the feeling of knowing or certainty is actually more relevant than ever. Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Ce...

In this episode I talk with neuroscientist György Buzsáki about his new book The Brain from Inside Out . We explore how abandoning what he calls the "Outside In" approach to understanding the brain can lead to surprising new insights.   Links and References: Buzsaki's Lab The Brain from Inside Out by György Buzsáki MD PhD Rhythms of the Brain by György Buzsáki ( BSP 31 ) Please visit http://brains...

This is the Premium episode transcript for BS 171 with Matthew Cobb, author of The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience . Scroll to find audio mp3.

This episode of Brain Science is an interview with neuroscientist Matthew Cobb author of "The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience." Cobb approaches the history of neuroscience from a different perspective than previous writers. He writes from the perspective of a working scientist with a deep interest in the history of ideas and the interaction between science and culture. This...

BS 170 is an interview with Andreas Nieder, author of "A Brain for Numbers: The Biology of the Number Instinct." We talk about the surprising discovery that a wide variety of animals have a number instinct, which is called the approximate number system. This appears to provide the basis for the more abstract mathematical abilities that are seen in humans. We also explore the relationship between m...

This episode is an exploration of glial cells with R Douglas Fields, author of " The Other Brain: The Scientific and Medical Breakthroughs That Will Heal Our Brains and Revolutionize Our Health ." Glial Cells outnumber the neurons in our nervous system, but until the last few years they were thought to merely support cells. Dr. Fields takes us through the discovery that they have their own signali...

BS 168 is an interview with psychologist Cecilia Heyes from Oxford University in the UK. We talk about her fascinating book " Cognitive Gadgets: The Cultural Evolution of Thinking ." Our focus is on exploring the evidence that several cognitive skills that appear to be unique to humans are learned from other people rather than being inherited genetically as is often assumed. The proposal that lang...