Patricia Churchland on Neuroscience and Morality (BSP 81)

Patricia Churchland (photo by Nines Minquez)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)

Episode Transcript (Free PDF)

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References:

• On Liberty (1859) by John Stewart Mill (Available free from Project Gutenberg)
• Neurophilosophy: Toward a Unified Science of the Mind-Brain by Patricia Smith Churchland
• Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells Us about Morality by Patricia S. Churchland
• The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values by Sam Harris

Links: 

• Brain Science Podcast 55: my first interview with Patricia Churchland (2009).
• Churchland's appearance on recent Charlie Rose Show (12/5/2011)
• Interview with social psychologist Carol Tavris (2011).
• Check the free episode transcript for links to the numerous scientists mentioned in this interview.

Announcements:

• Coming Soon! Enter the new drawing to win a free copy of Braintrust by Patricia Churchland by completing the new Brain Science Podcast Audience Survey.
• Post feedback to the BSP Fan Page on Facebook, or the Brain Science Podcast page on Google+.
• Join the Discussion in the BSP Group on Goodreads or send me email at gincampbell at mac dot com.

Brain Science Podcast turns Five Years Old (BSP 80)

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 BSP 80

Episode Transcript (Free PDF)

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This Year's Episodes:

• BSP 72:  Stephen L. Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde, authors of Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions
• Extra: Books and Ideas with  Dr. Paul Offit, author of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
• BSP 73: Lawrence Shapiro, author of Embodied Cognition
• BSP 74: Olaf Sporns, author of Networks of the Brain
• BSP 75: David Eagleman, author of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain
• BSP 76: Sian Beilock, author of Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To 
• BSP 77: Fabrizio Benedetti, author of Placebo Effects and The Patient's Brain
• Extra: Books and Ideas with Carol Tavris, co-author of Mistakes were Made (but not by me)
• BSP 78: Review of Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines---and How It Will Change Our Lives by Miguel Nicolelis
• BSP 79: Interview with Miguel Nicolelis

Free Transcripts are available for all episodes. This is made possible by donations from listeners.

Announcements:

• Check out the new BSP page on Google+
• We also have a BSP Fan Page on Facebook and a Discussion Forum at Goodreads.com.
• Please check out the new Brain Science Podcast T-shirts.
• Read episode transcripts on your iPhone, Ipad, or Android device with the BSP app.
• Your iTunes reviews are greatly appreciated.
• Get the Free Episode Transcript for additional links and more information about 2012.

Send your feedback to Dr. Campbell at gincampbell at mac dot.com.

Miguel Nicolelis, MD, PhD (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 Episode 79

Episode Transcript (Free PDF)

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References:

• Don't miss Dr. Nicolelis interview on Triangulation.
• Detailed references are available in the show notes for BSP 78.
• Additional references are included in the episode transcript.

Announcements:

• Post your comments on the BSP Fan Page on FaceBook or in the discussion thread on Goodreads.
• Listener donations are greatly appreciated.
• Please check out my other podcast Books and Ideas.
• Send feedback to me at gincampbell at mac dot com.

Brain Machine Interfaces (BSP 78)

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 Episode 78 

Episode Transcript (FREE PDF)

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References:

•  Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with Machines---and How It Will Change Our Lives by Miguel Nicolelis (2011).
• In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric R. Kandel (2006).
• Nicolelis, Miguel A.L., Rick C. S. Lin, et al. "Peripheral block of ascending cutaneous information induces immediate spatiotemporal changes in thalamic networks.: Nature 361 (1993): 533-536. (Abstract)
• Nicolelis, Miguel A.L, and John K. Chapin. "Controlling robots with the Mind." Scientific American 287, no. 4 (2002) 24-31.

Related Episodes:

• BSP 3: a discussion of In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric Kandel.
• BSP 21: introduction to Body Maps
• BSP 23: interview with Sandra Blakeslee author of The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better.
• BSP 74: interview with Olaf Sporns, author of Networks of the Brain.

Announcements:

• I hope to interview Miguel Nicolelis for a future episode of the Brain Science Podcast. If you would like to ask him a question please post it in the thread I have started on our GoodReads page.
• I will be attending ScienceOnline 2012. If you want to come be sure to sign up NOW.
• The Brain Science Podcast is supported by donations from listeners like you.

Cognitive Dissonance (BSP Extra)

I am putting Episode 43 of Books and Ideas into the Brain Science Podcast feed because it should be of interest to BSP fans. This episode is an interview with psychologist Carol Tavris. We talk about the relationship between psychology and neuroscience as well as cognitive dissonance, which is the subject of Dr. Tavris's recent book Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Click here for detailed for the detailed show notes and episode transcript.

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast:

Post your comments in the thread on the BSP Discussion Forum in Goodreads or send me feedback at gincampbell at mac dot com.