Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryNeuroscience

neurocomputational-modeling-electrophysiological-encoding-an-966665260-stockpack-adobestock
Neurocomputational modeling electrophysiological encoding and signal decoding pathways digital brain emitting wave like signals symbolizing thought processing and neural data transmission

Successfully Deciphering the Thoughts of Speechless People

The new technology may be a great advance for persons with disabilities but it raises serious issues about privacy once it gets into the wrong hands

Though no one discusses it directly, while the researchers designed the device to avoid invading privacy, others will doubtless have the opposite intent.

Read More ›
a-large-symphony-orchestra-performs-in-a-majestic-concert-ha-758496004-stockpack-adobestock
A large symphony orchestra performs in a majestic concert hall, led by a conductor, under grand chandeliers

Missing Brains and the “Music Model” of Consciousness

Gazzaniga and Queenan’s new model accounts for missing brain parts but it leaves out the very thing that creates the music

Even so, Michael Egnor sees it as a “radical shift in the discussion about neuroscience and consciousness, at the highest levels of the neuroscience community.”

Read More ›
split gold head
Abstract concept illustration from 3D rendering of a golden female head sculpture cut divided showing black interior halves and isolated on grey background.

Conundrum: Split Human Brain But Unified Perception

1500 papers later, current research suggests that a non-materialist approach to the neuroscience of the human mind is quite viable

Researcher Yair Pinto summed it up: In split-brain, patients, perception is split, but consciousness is unified.

Read More ›
head-of-a-woman-showing-different-states-of-mind-and-being-through-tranparency-stockpack-adobe-stock
Head of a woman - showing different states of mind and being through tranparency

Science: Slowly Accepting a Non-Materialist View of the Mind?

Ken Francis’s comments at New English Review brought back memories

If the evidence suggests that aspects of the human mind are immaterial, what does it mean to say that “science” says it can’t be true?

Read More ›
ability-stockpack-adobe-stock-406704449-stockpack-adobestock
Ability.

Does the Mind Have a Specific Location in the Brain?

A rabbi asks neurosurgeon Michael Egnor how consciousness can exist without a place in the brain

The conventional assumption today is that consciousness has a material source. Yet no one has found a place where it lives in the brain.

Read More ›
Two Scientists in the Brain Research Laboratory work on a Project, Using Personal Computer with MRI Scans Show Brain Anomalies. Neuroscientists at Work.
Two Scientists in the Brain Research Laboratory work on a Project, Using Personal Computer with MRI Scans Show Brain Anomalies. Neuroscientists at Work.

Can Faith and Neuroscience Align? Yes, Says Science Writer

If both faith and neuroscience are honestly seeking the truth, says Denyse O’Leary, they will find much that is mutually supportive

That is the key message behind the new book, The Immortal Mind (2025), of which she is neurosurgeon Michael Egnor’s co-author.

Read More ›
brain-psychology-mind-soul-and-hope-concept-art-3d-illustrat-477180129-stockpack-adobe_stock
Brain psychology mind soul and hope concept art, 3d illustration, surreal artwork, imagination painting, conceptual idea

Podcast: Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor Reads From The Immortal Mind

He followed the evidence and came to see that the human mind has a spiritual and immortal dimension

About existential questions, he says, “I no longer settled for the stock answers that many scientists, like me, had naively accepted for so long.”

Read More ›
operating-doctor-in-hospital-neurosurgery-specilaists-workin-588448824-stockpack-adobestock
Operating doctor in hospital. Neurosurgery specilaists working in emergency room.

A Podcast Host Asks, How Many Neurosurgeons Are Materialists…?

Will Spencer asked neurosurgeon Michael Egnor how he responds to colleagues who believe that we are just meat puppets

In Egnor’s view, materialism does not seem nearly as prevalent among neurosurgeons as among neuroscientists, who face more grant-driven pressure to conform.

Read More ›
wooden-bubble-speech-and-signs-yes-and-no-stockpack-adobe-st-643715319-stockpack-adobestock
Wooden Bubble speech and signs yes and no.

Science Dilemma: Bucking the Trend and Searching for Truth

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor tells host Allan CP about the risks scientists face if they say that human beings have souls

The discussion touched on many areas covered by the new book, The Immortal Mind, but one scientist’s dilemma stood out.

Read More ›
dynamic-illustration-of-electrical-currents-coursing-between-1575104158-stockpack-adobestock
Dynamic illustration of electrical currents coursing between neurons reflecting the essential biological processes that drive human thinking emotions and memory formation.

Researchers: Adult Human Brains Can Grow New Neurons

The Karolinska Institutet-based team found early-stage brain cells in older people in the hippocampus, the memory area of the brain

Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor urges caution: Making a difference in neurodegenerative diseases will be more difficult than simply growing new neurons.

Read More ›
landscape-and-sky-at-sunset-stockpack-adobe-stock-145863988-stockpack-adobestock
Landscape and Sky at Sunset

Does Dementia Show That the Mind Is Simply What the Brain Does?

People with dementia have severe memory issues, along with motor, perception and emotional disabilities, and that curtails their powers of reason

But, while the mind generally depends on a healthy brain, sometimes lucidity can come surging back to a demented person briefly and unexpectedly.

Read More ›
doctor-reviews-brain-scans-stockpack-adobe-stock-1284682992-stockpack-adobestock
Doctor reviews brain scans

Burying Stories Is No Way to Advance Science

A story about a man with a severe brain defect who led an apparently normal life has been almost buried in efforts to explain it away

Michael Egnor and I wrote The Immortal Mind to show that the mind is not simply what the brain does and this story is but one example among many.

Read More ›
brain-activity-stockpack-adobe-stock-96115522-stockpack-adobestock
Brain activity

Piers Morgan Show: Michael Egnor and Michael Shermer Debate!

Near-death experiences headlined the discussion. But Dr. Egnor made clear that there is much other evidence for the reality of the human mind

One thing that stood out was the commenters’ appreciation of a cordial discussion of often-controversial topics.

Read More ›
two-brains-connected-by-a-bridge-over-darkness-in-an-artisti-1201883404-stockpack-adobestock
Two Brains Connected By A Bridge Over Darkness In An Artistic Graphic Illustration

Neuroscientist Christof Koch proposes a bold brain experiment…

… worthy of science fiction — that he and his debate opponent, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor, could share a brain via Neuralink. And what would happen then?

Koch hoped that the “shared brain” experiment would demonstrate materialism. He may have been unprepared for Egnor’s response.

Read More ›
digital-illustration-of-a-brain-split-into-blue-and-red-hemi-1557593822-stockpack-adobestock
Digital illustration of a brain split into blue and red hemispheres with a glowing connection.

Neuroscientist: Brain Surgery Can Create “Two Conscious Entities”

Dr. Egnor, who has done split-brain surgery himself, dismisses neuroscientist Christof Koch's claim

Egnor: Consciousness is not the kind of thing that can be split, and there’s no evidence that one person can ever become two people.

Read More ›
lighting-3d-infinity-symbol-beautiful-glowing-signssparkling-155531983-stockpack-adobestock
Lighting 3d infinity symbol. Beautiful glowing signs..Sparkling rings. Swirl icon on black background..Luminous trail effect. Colorful isolated sparkling loop.

Catholic Bookworm features The Immortal Mind

Michael Egnor stressed the importance of communicating reflections on the findings of neuroscience in a way that is accessible to the public

A radio version of the program is also available for download at iHeart.

Read More ›
concept-art-of-nature-freedom-dream-success-brain-and-hope-a-437939828-stockpack-adobestock
Concept art of nature freedom dream success brain and hope , ambition idea artwork, surreal painting man with happiness of landscape nature in a door , conceptual illustration

Mind: Neurosurgeon Michael Egnor vs. Neuroscientist Christof Koch

Released yesterday evening, the debate, hosted by science writer and broadcaster Michael Shermer, was cordial, and quite relatable

At one point, the discussion turned on the case of a girl who had her sense of guilt removed surgically. What does that prove about the mind and the brain?

Read More ›
composite-image-of-word-iq-test-stockpack-adobe-stock-108345746-stockpack-adobestock
Composite image of word iq test

The Reverse Flynn Effect and the Decline of Intelligence

How our modern world is making us dumber and why it doesn’t have to

A growing body of neuroscience evidence directly challenges the prevailing theory that we are merely flawed computers, to be replaced by machines.

Read More ›
multiracial-team-of-professional-medical-surgeons-performs-t-479009489-stockpack-adobestock
Multiracial team of professional medical surgeons performs the surgical operation in a modern hospital. Doctors are working to save the patient. Medicine, health and neurosurgery.

Two Neurosurgeons on Life, Death, Eternity and What Truly Matters

Lee Warren interviews Michael Egnor on the just-released book, The Immortal Mind

The two doctors turned out to share a bond of personal pain as well as immortal hope.

Read More ›
plenty-of-air-bubbles-in-blue-water-stockpack-adobe-stock-638951572-stockpack-adobestock
Plenty of air bubbles in blue water

The Boy Who Proved Most Theories of Consciousness Wrong

He was unequivocally conscious — without a cerebral cortex and even without brain hemispheres

I believe that children with hydranencephaly are conscious because all human beings have a spiritual soul and it is by virtue of our soul that we are conscious.

Read More ›