Iris Berent author of "The Blind Storyteller" (BS 182)

Iris Berent author of "The Blind Storyteller" (BS 182)

Brain Science 182 features an interview with Iris Berent, author of The Blind Storyteller: How We Reason About Human Nature. We explore how our inborn biases toward dualism and essentialism influence our response to both science and mental illness.

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Sir Simon Baron-Cohen talks about "The Pattern Seekers" (BS 181)

Sir Simon Baron-Cohen talks about "The Pattern Seekers" (BS 181)

BS 181 features Sir Simon Baron-Cohen who was recently knighted for his contributions to autism research. We talk about his new book The Pattern Seekers: How Autism Drives Human Invention.

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Bruce Goldstein on "The Mind" (BS 180)

Bruce Goldstein on "The Mind" (BS 180)

BS 180 features E Bruce Goldstein, author of The Mind: Consciousness, Prediction, and the Brain. It is a great episode for listeners of all backgrounds and highly recommended to share with potential new listeners.

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Bernard Baars: "On Consciousness" (BS 177)

Bernard Baars: "On Consciousness" (BS 177)

BS 177 is an interview with Dr. Bernard Baars, creator of the Global Workspace Theory that lead to many contemporary theories about how the brain generates conscious experience. He is joined by his colleague Dr. David Edelman.

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"Cognitive Gadgets" with Cecilia Heyes (BS 168

"Cognitive Gadgets" with Cecilia Heyes (BS 168

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 language is a cognitive gadget NOT a cognitive instinct is controversial and has very important implications.

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Stanislas Dehaene on "How We Learn" (BS 167)

Stanislas Dehaene on "How We Learn" (BS 167)

BS 167 is an interview with neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene about his new book How We Learn: Why Brains Learn Better Than Any Machine . . . for Now. The surprising discoveries about how babies learn are extremely relevant to teachers, parents, and all life-long learners.

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Stephen Macknik works on Prosthetic Vision (BS 166)

Stephen Macknik works on Prosthetic Vision (BS 166)

Brain Science 166 is an interview with neuroscientist Stephen Macknik about recent efforts to development a new visual prosthesis based on recent discoveries about vision. His technique also involves tools like optogenetics. This week’s episode is more technical than usual but Dr. Macknik makes his work accessible to all listeners.

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What is Consciousness? (BS 160)

What is Consciousness? (BS 160)

What is consciousness? BS 160 is an overview of the current neuroscience of consciousness. I take a deep dive into 5 recent books on the topic. We explore questions such as What is the definition of consciousness? Which non-human animals are conscious? Could AI become conscious? and the big one: Can neuroscience solve the so-called “Hard Problem” of subjectivity.

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"Remembering" with Donald MacKay (BS 157)

"Remembering" with Donald MacKay (BS 157)

Brain Science 157 is an interview with Donald Mackay, author of Remembering: What 50 Years of Research with Famous Amnesia Patient H.M. Can Teach Us about Memory and How It Works. We explore the experiments that revealed that the hippocampus also plays a critical role in language.

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Biological Mind with Alan Jasanoff (BS 146)

Biological Mind with Alan Jasanoff (BS 146)

BS 146 is an interview with Dr. Alan Jasanoff, author of The Biological Mind: How Brain, Body, and Environment Collaborate to Make Us Who We Are. We talk about how what he calls “the cerebral mystique” causes people to forget that the brain is not autonomous, but relies on its interaction with the body and its environment to create the Mind.

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Jeff Hawkins Explores a New Theory of Cortical Function (BS 139)

Jeff Hawkins Explores a New Theory of Cortical Function (BS 139)

Jeff Hawkins, author of the bestseller On Intelligence tells us about his latest research into how the neocortex produces intelligence. He proposes an exciting new model that could change the way we imagine cortical function.

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Why Reading Science Matters (BS 136)

Why Reading Science Matters (BS 136)

Brain Science 136 is a discussion of Language at the Speed of Sight: How We Read, Why So Many Can’t, and What Can Be Done About It by Mark Seidenberg. We explore some recent discoveries from reading science and ponder why there is such a large gap between these scientific discoveries and current educational practices in the US. 

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