A Podcast that Explores how neuroscience is unraveling the mystery of how our brain makes us human
Brain Science is a monthly podcast Brain Science, hosted by Ginger Campbell, MD. We explore how recent discoveries in neuroscience are helping unravel the mystery of how our brain makes us human. The content is accessible to people of all backgrounds.
BS 183 features the return of Jeff Hawkins and we talk about his new book A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence, which shares the results of nearly two decades of research.
Read MoreJeff 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.
Read MoreHow the Body Shapes the Way We Think, by Rolf Pfeifer and Josh Bongard
Brain Science Podcast Episode 25 is an interview of author Rolf Pfeifer, director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Zurich. The focus of our conversation was the importance of embodiment. Brains (and intelligence) cannot be understood separate from their interaction with the body and the physical world. Pfeifer explains how this realization has led the field of artificial intelligence away from a pure computational approach to one he calls embodied artificial intelligence. His interview is spiced with numerous examples that demonstrate why this approach is relevant to those of us who are interested in the human brain.
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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.
A brief overview of artificial intelligence.
Introduction to biorobotics.
Why artificial intelligence and biorobotics are relevant to understand the brain.
The meaning of complexity and emergence.
Why the close coupling of the sensory and motor systems is essential to intelligence.
Applying design principles to understanding intelligence.
Numerous examples make these potentially intimidating topics accessible to all listeners.
I also introduced a new way for listeners to support the Brain Science Podcast
BSP #2 On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins (listen to Episode 2) - this brief review does not get into Hawkin's discussion of the problems with traditional artificial intelligence, but I highly recommend On Intelligence for more on the subject.
BSP #15 Interview with Dr. Read Montague (listen to episode 15).
Dr. Montague introduces the computational theory of mind, which is a different way of approaching some of the problems I discussed with Dr. Pfeifer.
Rodney Brooks 1986 published the paper that launched the embodied approach to artificial intelligence, Brooks, R.A. (1986). A robust layered control system for a mobile robot. IEEE Journal of Robotics and Automation, 2(1): 14–23.
Interview on Talking Robots podcast (download mp3).
Gerald M.Edelman, MD, PhD.
won the Nobel Prize in 1972 for work in understanding the structures of antibodies.
developed a theory know as Neural Darwinism, which he describes in several books including Wider Than the Sky: The Phenomenal Gift of Consciousness.
was just interviewed on Talking Robots (November 23, 2007)
Pfeifer's interview on Talking Robots (Download mp3).
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Zurich.
How the Body Shapes the Way We Think: a new view of Intelligence (2007), Rolf Pfeifer and Josh Bongard.
Understanding Intelligence (1999), Rolf Pfeifer and Christian Scheier.
I first reviewed On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins for The Sci Phi Show. I am including that review here. Also in this episode, I consider some of the topics I hope to discuss in future episodes. Besides intelligence, we will be considering consciousness, emotions and feelings, the role of vision in brain research, and what we can learn from people with brain damage and memory.
Please send me email or leave comments suggesting what topics you want to here about.
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