Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde

Neuroscientists Dr. Stephen Macknik and Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde have an unusual hobby: Magic!  Actually, it is more than a hobby since for the last several years they have been working with leading magicians from around the world to create a new field: the neuroscience of magic.  In Episode 72 of the Brain Science Podcast, I talked with them about their new book Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions, which is the first book to explore the neuroscience of magic.

With the help of their co-author Sandra Blakeslee, Macknik and Martinez-Conde provide an excellent overview of this new and exciting field.  Their book also provides an excellent review of many of the principles that I have introduced in the last 4 years.

How to get BSP 72:

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

• Buy mp3 for $1.

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• 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.

 Links and References

• Stephen Macknik, PhD: Director, Director, Laboratory of Behavioral Neurophysiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona.

• Susan Martinez-Conde: Director, Laboratory of Visual Science, Barrow Neurological Institute.

• Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions, by Stephen L. Macknik, Susana Martinez-Conde, Sandra Blakeslee.

• http://sleightsofmind.com: for videos and links to their Scientific American articles.

Scientists mentioned during the podcast

• David Hubel: Nobel Prize for vision research.

• Margaret Livington (Harvard).

• Zachary Mainen (Cold Springs Harbor, NY).

• Daniel Simons (University of Illinois): change blindness.

• Derren Brown (London): memory fallibility.

• Jose-Manual Alonso (SUNY): neural basis of visual attention.

Magicians mentioned during the interview

• James Randi: famous proponent of skeptical thinking.

• Juan Tamariz: This Spanish magician is an important magic theorist.

• Penn and Teller: Go to http://sleightsofmind.com to see a video of the balls and cup illusion discussed in BSP 72..

Announcements:

• I will be giving a live talk at the London Skeptics in the Pub on May 11, 2011. Stay tuned for more details or visit http://london.skepticsinthepub.org/.

• The Brain Science Podcast  Discussion Forum is moving to Goodreads.com. Click here to visit our new group.

Send me feedback at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com.