BSP 115: Eastern Philosophy and Western Neuroscience

Evan Thompson (click photo to buy BS 115 audio)

Scientific interest in the Mind and Consciousness is relatively new, but both Western and Eastern Philosophy have a long tradition of exploring these topics. In his new book Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy, Evan Thompson explores how these diverse traditions can inform and enrich one another.

Thompson goes beyond a narrow view of consciousness, which focuses only on the waking state. Instead he considers how dreaming, lucid dreaming, and even near death experiences can advance our understanding of how our brain's generate both consciousness and our sense of Self. 

 How to get this episode:

• Buy audio mp3 for $2.

• Episode Transcript [Buy for $1]

• Premium Subscribers have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE. The most recent 6 years of content is free. See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

Related Episodes:

• BSP 5: Very brief introduction to Philosophy of Mind.

• BSP 55: Patricia Churchland, PhD, discusses Neurophilosophy.

• BSP 58: Alva Noë, PhD, discusses Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness.

• BSP 67: Thomas Metzinger discusses The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self.

• BSP 73: Embodied Cognition with Lawrence Shapiro, PhD.

• BSP 81: Patricia Churchland discusses Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality.

• BSP 89: Evan Thompson discusses Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind.

• BSP 96: Robert Burton, MD discusses A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind: What Neuroscience Can and Cannot Tell Us About Ourselves.

Announcements:

• This month's Audible recommendation: The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults byFrances E. Jensen, MD

• The next episode of the Brain Science Podcast will feature Dr. Norman Doidge talking about his new book The Brain's Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity.

• Reminder: the 25 most recent episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always free, but Premium subscribers have unlimited access to all back episodes and transcripts. The Brain Science Podcast Mobile App is FREE. It is a great way to consume both free and premium content (since this will not appear in iTunes or other podcasting apps).

• Please share your feedback about this episode by sending email to brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com or going to the Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com. You can also post to our fan pages on Facebook or Google+. I am looking for help with these community pages so please email me at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com if you are interested.

Neuroscience Highlights for 2012 (BSP 92)

The Brain Science Podcast recently passed 4 million downloads and it remains entrenched at or near the top of the iTunes rankings for Science and Medicine. So now it's time for our 6th Annual Review Episode. The purpose of this year-ending podcast is to review some of the year's highlights and key ideas. As I reviewed the transcripts of this year's episodes, I was struck by the fact that although each episode stands alone, they also inform one another. One unifying theme was the importance of taking an evolutionary approach to understanding how the human brain generates complex features like mind and consciousness.

How to get this episode:

• FREE: audio mp3 (click to stream, right click to download)

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files. 

Listen in your Favorite Audio app: Audible, Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and many more.

Interviews have become an outstanding feature of the Brain Science Podcast. This year I interviewed 10 scientist, including five who have appeared in past podcasts.

Scientists Interviewed in 2012:

• Patricia Churchland, PhD (Professor Emeritus, University of California-San Diego)#*

• William Uttal, PhD (Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan)*

• Christof Koch, PhD (Chief Science Officer, Allen Institute for Brain Research)#*

• Sebastian Seung, PhD (Masschusetts Institute of Technology)*

• Rachel Herz, PhD (Brown University)#*

• Pamela Greenwood, PhD (George Mason University)*

• Terrence Deacon, PhD (University of California-Berkeley)*

• Bruce Hood, PhD (University of Bristol, UK)#*

• Evan Thompson, PhD (University of Toronto, Canada)*

• Jaak Panksepp, PhD (Washington State University)#* 

#Indicates returning guest. See Guest List for previous episode.

*See the Bibliography page for books featured on the Brain Science Podcast.

In addition to discussing the books by these guests, I also reviewed Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain, by Michael S. Gazzaniga, and Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, by Antonio Damasio.

Related Episodes: 

• BSP 32: Brief Introduction to brain anatomy.

• BSP 47: Basics of brain evolution.

• BSP 57: Chris Frith, author of Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental World.

• BSP 67: Thomas Metzinger, author of The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self.

Announcements:

• I am closing down the website SCIENCEPODCASTERS.ORG, which I founded back in2008. If you are looking for more high quality science podcasts I suggest the NSF-funded Science 360 Radio.

Ways to Support the BSP:

• Donations via PayPal, check, or wire transfers: click here to learn how.

• Buy the BSP app for your iOS or Android mobile device: a great way to get ALL the episodes and transcripts.

• Buy my eBook: Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty from Amazon or get the PDF version HERE.

• Buy T-shirts and other Brain gear here.

• Share the show with everyone you know!

Tell me what you think:

• Join the brain Fan Page on Facebook, Google+, and share your thoughts in our Discussion Forum on Goodreads. Of course you can also send me email at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com.

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Review of "Self Comes to Mind" by Antonio Damasio (BSP 90)

Episode 90 of the Brain Science Podcast is a discussion of Self Comes To Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, by Antonio Damasio. Damasio's book focuses on the answer to two key questions: How does the brain generate the Mind? and, How does the Brain generate Consciousness? His approach is unusual because many scientists and writers treat the Mind and Consciousness as identical. In contrast, Damasio argues that Mind precedes Consciousness. Listen to this podcast to learn how the Mind becomes Conscious.

How to get this episode:

• Buy audio mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE. All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free. See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

Listen in your Favorite Audio app: Audible, Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and many more.

References:

• Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, by Antonio Damasio.

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

• Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions, by Jaak Panksepp.

• The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions, by Jaak Panksepp and Lucy Biven.

• Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind, by Evan Thompson

• Psychology (10th Edition) by Carole Wade and Carol Tavris.

• I of the Vortex: From Neurons to Self, by Rodolfo R. Llinas.

• For more references see the episode transcript.

Related Episodes of the Brain Science Podcast: 

• BSP 21 and BSP 23 How the Brain Creates Maps of the Body

• BSP 65: Jaak Panksepp talks about the subcortical origins of emotions

• BSP 89: Evan Thompson talks about his book, Mind in Life

Announcements:

• Next month's Brain Science Podcast will be a return interview with Jaak Panksepp to talk about his new book, The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions.

• Please check out my other podcast, Books and Ideas.

• The earliest episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are no longer available from iTunes but you can get them here or by buying the Brain Science Podcast app, which is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android.

• Get my eBook, Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty, from Amazon.com for only $3.99.

• Social Websites for the Brain Science Podcast: Discussion Forum on Goodreads, Facebook Fan Page, Google+ page.

• Don't forget to get some high quality Brain Science Podcast Logo gear from Printfection.

• Sign up for the Brain Science Podcast Newsletter so you never miss a new episode.

Send me feedback at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter (@docartemis).

"Mind in Life" with Evan Thompson (BSP 89)

Evan Thompson, PhD

Embodied Cognition is a movement within cognitive science that argues that the mind is inseparable from the fact that the brain is embedded in a physical body. This means that everything that the brain does, from the simplest perception to complex decision-making, relies on the interaction of the body with its environment.  Evan Thompson's book, Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind, is an in-depth look at what he calls the "enactive" approach to embodied cognition. The enactive approach was pioneered by Thompson's mentor Francisco Varela, and it emphasizes the importance of the body's active engagement with its environment.

In a recent interview (BSP 89) I talked with Thompson about some of the key ideas in Mind in Life. Unlike most episodes of the Brain Science Podcast, this is not really a stand-alone episode. It is part of my ongoing exploration of both embodied cognition and the controversial topic of emergence. It is also intended as a follow-up to my recent interview with Terrence Deacon.

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How to get this episode:

• Buy audio mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE. All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free. See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

• 

References:

• Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind, by Evan Thompson (2007).

• The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience, by Francisco J. Varela, Evan T. Thompson, & Eleanor Rosch (1991).

• Embodied Cognition, by Lawrence Shapiro (2010).

• Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged from Matter, by Terrence W. Deacon (2011).

• Dynamic Patterns: The Self-Organization of Brain and Behavior, by J. A. Scott Kelso (1995).

• Friston, K.J. (1995) "Transients, Metastability, and Neuronal Dynamics."Neuroimage 5 (164-171).

Related Episodes: 

• BSP 5: A bried introduction to philosphy of mind

• BSP 25: Embodied Intelligence with Rolf Pfeifer

• BSP 36: Art Glenberg on Embodied Cognition

• BSP 53: Discussion of Did My Neurons Make Me Do It? (emergence and free will)

• BSP 62: Warren Brown, co-author of Did My Neurons Make Me Do It?

• BSP 73: Lawrence Shapiro, author of Embodied Cognition.

• Books and Ideas #47: Terrence Deacon, author of Incomplete Nature.

Announcements:

• Continuing education credit is now available for selected episodes of the Brain Science Podcast. Click here to learn more.

• I will be in Philadelphia, PA October 16-21 to attend the annual meeting of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Please contact me if you would like to get together.

• My eBook Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty is on sale for only $2.99. Please post your review.

• Next month's Brain Science Podcast will be a discussion of Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain by Antonio Damasio. Self Comes to Mind is also available from our sponsor Audible.com.

• Please visit the Brain Science Podcast on Facebook or Google+, or join the BSP Discussion Forum at Goodreads.com.

• Never miss an episode of the Brain Science Podcast! Sign up for the Newsletter.

• Send me (Dr. Campbell) email at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter (@docartemis).

Embodied Cognition with Lawrence Shapiro (BSP 73)

In his new book, Embodied Cognition, Dr. Lawrence Shapiro provides a balanced introduction to embodied cognition's attempts to challenge standard cognitive science.  His interview in Episode 73 of the Brain Science Podcast is a discussion of a few of his book's key ideas. It also continues our ongoing exploration of the role of embodiment. 

How to get this episode:

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

Listen in your Favorite Audio app: Audible, Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and many more.

Related Episodes:

• BSP 25: Embodied Artificial Intelligence with Dr. Rolf Pfeifer.

• BSP 36: Introduction to Embodied Cognition with Dr. Art Glenberg.

• BSP 58: "Extended Mind" with philosopher Alva Noë.

• BSP 66: Computational cognitive science with Dr. Randy Gallistel.

Some scientists mentioned in this episode:

• Lawrence Shapiro (University of Wisconsin).

• James J Gibson: founder of ecological psychology and the theory of affordances.

• Jerry Fodor: a proponent of standard cognitive science.

• Noam Chomsky: linguist who greatly influenced standard cognitive science.

• Rodney Brooks (MIT): pioneer of embodied artificial intelligence.

• Rolf Pfeifer: embodied AI (interviewed in BSP 25).

• Art Glenberg: discussed embodied cognition in BSP 36.

• Andy Clark: along with David Chalmers he has proposed the idea of "extended mind".

• Alva Noë: philosopher intervied in BSP 58.

• Randy Gallistel: discussed the computational approach to cognitive science in BSP 66.

References:

• Embodied Cognition, by Lawrence Shapiro.

• Radical Embodied Cognitive Science, by Anthony Chemero.

• How the Body Shapes the Way We Think: A New View of Intelligence, by Rolf Pfeifer and Josh C. Bongard.

• Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness, by Alva Noë.

• Memory and the Computational Brain: Why Cognitive Science will Transform Neuroscience, by C. R. Gallistel and Adam Philip King.

• Held, R. Hien, A. (1963) "Movement-Produced Simulation in the Development of Visually Guided Behavior," Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 56: 872-6. (Discussion)

• Brooks, R. (1991) "New Approaches to Robotics," Science 253: 1227-32.

• Brooks, R. (1991) "Intelligence without Representation," Artificial Intelligence 47: 139-59.

• Clark, A. and Chalmer, D. (1998) "The Extended Mind." Analysis 58: 7-19.

• Glenberg, A. and Kaschak, M. (2002) "Grounding Lanquage in Action," Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 9: 558-65.

• Ehrlich, S., Levine, S., and Golden-Meadows, S. (2006) "The Importance of Gesture in Children's Spatial Reasoning," Developmental Psychology 42: 1259-68.

• Thelan, E. and Smith,L. (1994) A Dynamical Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action (Cambridge: MIT Press).

• See Episode Transcript for additional references.

Announcements:

• Join the discussion of this episode in our new Discussion Group at Goodreads.com.

• Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast newsletter to get detailed show notes for every episode.

• The next episode of the Brain Science Podcast will be an interview with Dr. Olaf Sporns, author of Networks of the Brain. I am also hoping to interview Antonio Damasio later this spring.

• The Brain Science Podcast application is now available for iPhone, iPad Touch, and Android Devices.

• Please listen to my other podcast Books and Ideas, which comes out in the alternate months between episodes of this podcast.

• I will be giving a live talk in London, UK on May 11. Visit the London Skeptics in the Pub website for more details, or send me email.

• For more science podcasts visit http://sciencepodcasters.org.

• Follow me on Twitter or join the Brain Science Podcast Fan Page on Facebook.

Send feed back to Dr. Campbell at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com

Thomas Metzinger Explores Consciousness (BSP 67)

The free podcast version of Brain Science Podcast 67 is now available.  It is an interview with German philosopher Thomas Metzinger, author of The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self , and Being No One.   Dr. Metzinger argues that any credible model for how the brain generates the mind must incorporate unusual human experiences, such as so-called out of body experiences (OBE), and psychiatric conditions.  In this interview we explore how OBE and virtual reality experiments shed light on how the brain generates the sense of self that characterizes normal human experience.

How to get this episode:

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

Listen in your Favorite Audio app: Audible, Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and many more.

Links:

• Thomas Metzinger: University of Mainz, Wikipedia entry.

• Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC).

• Olaf Blanke: Swiss scientist and physician who has demonstrated that out of body experiences (OBE) can be generated by electrical stimulation of the brain.

• YouTube video of Thomas Metzinger's Being No One lecture.

• For more links download the free transcript of BSP 67.

Related Episodes of the Brain Science Podcast:

• BSP 21: A look at how our brain create body maps that may incorporate tools.

• BSP 22: Interview with Christof Koch, author of The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach.

• BSP 35: An introduction to Mirror Neurons.

• BSP 55: Interview with philosopher Patricia Churchland.

• BSP 57: (mention in the podcast)Interview with neuropsycologist Chris Frith, author of Making up the Mind: How the Brain Creates Our Mental World.

References:

• The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self, by Thomas Metzinger.

• Being No One: The Self-Model Theory of Subjectivity, by Thomas Metzinger.

• How the Body Shapes the Mind, by Shaun Gallagher.

• Blanke, et al., "Stimulating Illusory Own-Body Perceptions," Nature, 419:269-270 (2002)  Click here for more papers by Olaf Blanke.

• Beyond the Body: An Investigation of Out of Body Experiences by Susan Blackmore (click here for more publications from Susan Blackmore).

• O. Blanke & T. Metzinger,"Full-Body Illusion and Minimal Phenomenal Selfhood," Trends in Cognitive Neuroscience 13(1):7-13 (2009).

• T. Metzinger, "Out of Body Experiences as the Origin of the Concept of a 'Soul,'"  Mind and Matter 3(1):57-84 (2005) Click for more papers by Thomas Metzinger..

Announcements:

• BSP 68 will be an interview with geriatric neurologist, Peter Whitehouse, author of The Myth of Alzheimer's: What You Aren't Being Told About Today's Most Dreaded Diagnosis.  The premium version will be available on April 1 and will include an additional interview with his co-author Daniel George.  The free podcast will come out the second week of April.  

• The latest episode of my Books and Ideas podcast is an interview with best-selling horror writer Scott Sigler.  We discuss the challenges of incorporating accurate science into fiction writing. (Listen to the end to get a coupon code for his book The Rookie.) 

• Read episode transcripts right on your iPhone® or Touch® with the BSP application.

• Get episode show notes automatically via the free Brain Science Podcast Newsletter.

• Leave your feedback in the Discussion Forum or on our Facebook Fan Page or send email to brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com.