CogNation

Episode 38: Flawless Predictions for 2022

January 14th, 2022  |  Season 2  |  41 mins 43 secs

2022, cognition, future, neuroscience, predictions, technology

Joe and Rolf once again scry the future with bold and entirely accurate predictions about the year 2022

Episode 37: Dr. Joshua Miele: The Blind Arduino Project

August 29th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  54 mins 13 secs

@berkeleyblink, arduino, audition, blind, blind arduino project, blind scientist, inventor, josh miele, joshua miele, scientist

Joshua Miele is a blind scientist and inventor living in the Bay Area. Amongst his many initiatives is the Blind Arduino Project, where participants learn how to navigate a world of maker electronics designed for the sighted.
@BerkeleyBlink

Episode 36: The Extended Mind with Annie Murphy Paul

June 21st, 2021  |  Season 2  |  54 mins 20 secs

annie murphy paul, brain, cognition, embodied cognition, extended cognition, extended mind, thinking

In Annie Murphy Paul's new book, "The Extended Mind", the philosophical idea of our minds extending beyond the physical boundaries of the body are explored. Rolf and Joe talk to Annie about the implications of this idea, and how it might be used to improve the way we think in a number of contexts.

Episode 35: NIH Toolbox with Dr. Julie Hook

April 25th, 2021  |  Season 2  |  52 mins 56 secs

cognition, neuropsychology, psychology

CogNation talks with Dr. Julie Hook about her work developing a comprehensive test of cognition and other key abilities as part of the NIH Toolbox project.

Episode 34: Tom Vanderbilt: Beginners

March 22nd, 2021  |  Season 2  |  51 mins 30 secs

beginners, book, brain, cognition, learning, neuroscience, psychology, skill, tom vanderbilt, vanderbilt

We talk with author Tom Vanderbilt about his new book, Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning.

Episode 33: Flawless Predictions For 2021

January 22nd, 2021  |  Season 2  |  47 mins 58 secs

2021, brain, cognition, cognitive science, future, jet pack, predictions

Enough with 2020. Rolf and Joe present their predictions for what lies ahead in 2021.....

Episode 32: On Consciousness with Bernard Baars

January 2nd, 2021  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 14 mins

baars, bernard baars, brain, cognition, cognitive science, consciousness, global workspace theory, philosophy

Joe and Rolf talk to Dr. Bernard Baars, a leader in the field of consciousness research. Dr. Baars has recently published "On Consciousness", which is a compendium on his work integrating research in psychology and neuroscience on what consciousness is and how it functions.

Episode 31: Music and the Brain: Guests David Rosen and Scott Miles

December 7th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  49 mins 55 secs

brain, cognition, david rosen, eeg, music, scott miles, secret chord laboratories, surprise

David Rosen and Scott Miles of Secret Chord Laboratories (secretchordlaboratories.com) talk to Joe and Rolf about musical preference, the role of surprise in these preferences, what's going on in the brain, and how COVID is affecting the way we listen to music.

Episode 30: When Microwaves Continue to Attack

November 23rd, 2020  |  Season 2  |  28 mins 41 secs

brain, china, cognition, cuba, embassy, frey effect, microwave, pulsed microwave radiation

An update on Episode 4, where we first discussed the phenomenon of the "Frey Effect" in which sounds are heard as a result of pulsed microwave radiation. Does this give a clue about further incidents in the US embassy in China?

Episode 29: Time Perception and Dopamine

October 12th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  29 mins 51 secs

Rolf and Joe discuss research on a dopamine-enhancing drug that improves time perception.

Episode 28: Chris Baty: National Novel Writing Month, Creativity, and Life as a Narrative

August 10th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  1 hr 3 mins

baty, brain, chris baty, cognition, creative, creativity, nanowrimo, national novel writing month, novel

Chris Baty, the founder of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) talks with us about why creativity feels good, the way it can spread to other aspects of our life, and in what ways life is (or is not) like a narrative.

Episode 27: The Connectome

May 12th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  31 mins 23 secs

brain, c elegans, cognition, connectome, fruit fly, neuron, neuroscience

30 min episode
A connectome is a representation of every connection between neurons in the brain. Recent brain-slicing technology, in addition to image recognition tools, has begun to make this science-fiction idea become a reality. Rolf and Joe discuss the recent publication of the largest completed connectome to date, that of the fruit fly drosophilia. The database for the connectome is publicly available, and includes huge amounts of data about every one of the approximately 25,000 neurons mapped to date.

Episode 26: COVID-19 and the Behavioral Immune System: Joshua Ackerman

March 24th, 2020  |  Season 2  |  55 mins 35 secs

behavior, behavioral immune system, brain, cognition, corona virus, covid-19, evolutionary psychology, joshua ackerman, michigan, pandemic, psychology, social psychology

How do people behave in a pandemic? Joshua Ackerman of the University of Michigan talks about how we alter our behavior in the face of pathogens from the perspective of social and evolutionary psychology. A repertoire of responses (such as avoidance) referred to as the "behavioral immune system" is discussed as a way for humans to avoid pathogens BEFORE our biochemical immune system encounters them.