BS 181 Sir Simon Baron-Cohen

At the end of last month's episode I announced that it was the last regular episode of Brain Science. It has been 17 years since episode 1 was released on December 15, 2023 and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has listened and supported the show over all these years. I am also grateful that others have taken up the challenge of sharing neuroscience via podcasting. The main reason I have chosen to bring the show to an end is that I want to have the time and energy to immerse myself into my new life in New Zealand. I moved here from the US in August 2023. The main purpose of this post is to emphasize that Brain Science will still be available to new listeners so I hope you will continue to share it with others. All episodes released after 2016 will remaining FREE along with the annual review episodes going back to 2007. MyLibsyn Premium will continue to provide unlimited access to the entire catalogue and episode transcripts. The income from Premium subscribers will allow me to continue to pay for web hosting and the other expenses of keeping the show available. If you aren't already subscribed, please sign up for the free Brain Science Newsletter so I can send you future updates. Thank you so much for your support! I would love to hear from you at [email protected].

This is the 17th Annual Review episode of Brain Science, celebrating the first episode which aired on December 15, 2006. We review the highlights of 2023, which included both new guests and the return of several favorites. Episodes Released in 2023: BS 204 (Encore) and BS 205 featured molecular biologist Guy Caldwell, PhD from the University of Alabama. Caldwell uses the tiny roundworm C. Elegans to search for potential treatments of Parkinson's Disease. BS 206: Paco Calvo, PhD, author of Planta Sapiens: The New Science of Intelligence. BS 207 (Encore): Luiz Pessoa, author of The Cognitive-Emotional Brain: From Interactions to Integration. BS 208 Sander Van der Linden, author of Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity. BS 209 Luiz Pessoa returned to talk about his new The Entangled Brain: How Perception, Cognition, and Emotion Are Woven Together. BS 210 Basics of Neurotransmitters: a detailed introduction to neurotransmitters and the importance of receptor proteins. BS 211 Seth Grant returned for a record 6th time. We reviewed his career and discussed recent discoveries about how synaptic proteins change as we age. Grant is my favorite guest because he makes complex ideas accessible to listeners of all backgrounds. BS 212 (Encore) Thomas Metzinger, PhD, author of The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self. BS 213 Kevin J Mitchell, PhD returned to talk about his new book Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will. Please visit http://brainsciencepodcast.com for the FREE episode transcript. Announcements: This is the last scheduled episode of Brain Science, but all episodes will continue to be available. Free content includes all review episodes, encore episodes and all episodes since December 2016. The entire back catalogue of Brain Science is available to Premium MyLibysn subscribers. This includes episode transcripts. Patreon supporters will continue to have access more recent transcripts and other content.

In the this episode of Brain Science we talk with neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell about his new book Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will. While many neuroscientists and philosophers argue that free will is an illusion, Mitchell argues that the ability to make meaningful choices is part of our evolutionary heritage. He also addresses the important issue of determinism, siding with those physicists who argue that the fundamental nature of our universe is NOT deterministic. These issues are crucial to how we see ourselves and others. Links and References: Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will by Kevin J. Mitchell Helgoland: Making Sense of the Quantum Revolution by Carlo Rovelli Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are by Kevin J. Mitchell Mitchell discusses this book in BS 159.

This month's episode of Brain Science features Thomas Metzinger, author of "The Ego Tunnel: The Science of the Mind and the Myth of the Self." Metzinger is a philosopher with a longstanding interest in Philosophy of Mind with a focus on incorporating the findings of neuroscience. We discuss the implications of the discovery that consciousness is a biological process generated by the interaction of the brain, body, and external world. Metzinger also emphasized the importance of considering altered states including dreaming, out of body experiences, and even virtual reality. Links and 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. Blanke, et al., "Stimulating Illusory Own-Body Perceptions," Nature, 419:269-270 (2002) 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) Beyond the Body: An Investigation of Out of Body Experiences by Susan Blackmore Please visit http://brainsciencepodcast.com for additional references and episode transcripts. Announcements: Please FOLLOW the Brain Science podcast channel on YouTube. The mobile app has been updated and is now called Brain Science Podcast. The app is free and MyLibsyn Premium subscribers can use it to access transcripts and other premium content. Dr. Campbell's arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on August 10, 2023. She is working at Tōtara Hospice. Please reach out if you live in New Zealand or Australia. Please subscribe or follow Brain Science in your favorite audio app and please share it with others. Get free gift "5 Things You Need to Know about YOUR Brain when you sign up for the free Brain ScienceNewsletter to get show notes automatically every month. You can also text brainscience to 55444 to sign up. Support Brain Science by buying Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty by Virginia "Ginger" Campbell, MD. (Autographed copies are available) Learn more ways to support Brain Science at https://brainsciencepodcast.com/premium

This episode of Brain Science features the return of molecular biologist Seth Grant. We briefly review his decades of research into the complexity of the protein structure of the synapse and then we focus on his most recent paper, which describes how the life-span of synapse proteins appears to change as animals age. Grant reflects of the significance of this finding both for animal research and human medicine. Papers discussed in this episode: Bulovaite, E., Qiu, Z., Kratschke, M., Zgraj, A., Fricker, D. G., Tuck, E. J., Gokhale, R., Koniaris, B., Jami, S. A., Merino-Serrais, P., Husi, E., Mendive-Tapia, L., Vendrell, M., O'Dell, T. J., DeFelipe, J., Komiyama, N. H., Holtmaat, A., Fransén, E., & Grant, S. G. N. (2022). A brain atlas of synapse protein lifetime across the mouse lifespan. Neuron, 110(24), 4057–4073.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2022.09.009 Cizeron, M., Qiu, Z., Koniaris, B., Gokhale, R., Komiyama, N. H., Fransén, E., & Grant, S. G. N. (2020). A brainwide atlas of synapses across the mouse life span. Science (New York, N.Y.), 369(6501), 270–275. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba3163 Seth Grant has previously appeared on Brain Science several times including BSP 51, BSP 101, BS 137, BSP 150 and BS 176.