Iain McGilchrist— It might seem reductive to link the highest achievements of the human mind, in philosophy and the arts, to the structure of the brain. I believe it is not. For one thing, even if it were possible for mind to be ‘reduced’, as we say, to matter, this
Michael D. Mauk— Artificial minds are all the rage in books and movies. The popularity of characters such as Commander Data of Star Trek Next Generation reveals how much we enjoy considering the possibility of machines that think. This idea is made even more captivating by real-world artificial intelligence successes
Kelly Lambert, Ph.D.— Although scholars have debated the exact meaning of Thomas Jefferson’s reference to the pursuit of happiness in the Declaration of Independence, the phrase can be traced to seventeenth-century philosopher John Locke’s “life, liberty, and property” philosophical trinity and his declaration that the pursuit of happiness was our
Jason Tougaw— The concept of neurodiversity—the idea that every brain is a little different, some more than others—could transform neuroscience education and public perceptions about the brain. The concept is socially and politically valuable. And it’s intellectually honest. In his book Neuro-Tribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of
David J. Linden— Scientists are trained to be meticulous when they speak about their work. That’s why I like getting my neuroscience colleagues tipsy. For years, after plying them with spirits or cannabis, I’ve been asking brain researchers the same simple question: “What idea about brain function would you most
A look inside the human brain with neuroscientist David Linden who helps explain some of its mysteries. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Soundcloud | Spotify
Ian Tattersall and Rob DeSalle— Asking, with the comedian George Carlin, “What wine goes with Cap’n Crunch?” might not actually be as trivial as it sounds. In fact, many people spend a lot of time worrying about which foods go best with which wines. This concern is not frivolous: the
Although he encountered enormous skepticism, Dr. Stanley B. Prusiner persevered in his research on the causes of degenerative brain diseases, convinced the scientific community of his findings, and, in 1997, received the Nobel Prize. He argued that conditions including scrapie in sheep and goats, mad cow disease in cattle, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans were
Follow @yaleSCIbooks We have a popular notion that the human brain is neatly divided: the right side dealing with emotion, the left side, with reason. In his acclaimed book, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, Iain McGilchrist suggests that there is
Follow @yaleSCIbooks How do we know how many eggs are in a dozen? How do we tell red from blue? How can we imagine tomorrow when the sun has not even begun to set on today? These are just a few of the mysteries associated with the human brain, the