CategoryNeuroscience
Could Neanderthals Speak? It Depends on Who You Talk To
Theorists who will, sadly, never converse with a living Neanderthal imagine things they could and couldn’t do linguistically
At Scientific American, free will seems very much alive
The concept is incompatible with their “mind is just the brain” thesis but they can’t let go of it anyway
Neuroscientist: The “I” of Consciousness Cannot Be Explained Away
Skeptical philosopher David Hume tried it and, Raymond Tallis says, things collapsed almost immediately
Thinking of the “Bigger Picture”
New study on how transcendent thinking enhances and improves the brain in adolescents
Human Subject Moves Computer Mouse with Neuralink Chip
So Big Tech companies might know your inner thoughts, now. What could possibly go wrong?
Fine-Tuning of Universe Makes a Top Neuroscientist “Very Hopeful”
Allen Institute’s Christof Koch talks about the assumptions underlying his consciousness theory — which led many other neuroscientists to try to Cancel him
Neuroscientist: How the Brain-as-Computer Myth Led Science Astray
Michael Merzenich explains neuroplasticity — how the brain organizes itself in detail — to Robert Lawrence Kuhn at Closer to Truth
Neuroscientist: Human Brain More Complex Than the Models Show
The weird “homunculus” — the way the brain maps the body — was pioneer neurosurgeons’ best guess nearly a century ago
Is AI the Triumph of Left-Brained Thinking? What Follows?
Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist argues that it is and asks us to consider what its cultural lean toward the “left brain” is doing to us
Why Can’t Our Memories Be “Stored” in the Brain?
The image of storing and erasing memories is popular due to computer technology but it is not relevant to how the human mind works
A Philosopher Explains: How the Soul Relates to the Body
James Madden explains a philosophical approach to the soul called hylomorphism which, he argues, can benefit neuroscience
Hall of Mirrors: The Many Ways Consciousness Baffles Researchers
Does consciousness have a seat at the table? Wait a minute. Isn’t consciousness the table? Or is it?
How Neuroscience Disproved Free Will and Then Proved It Again
In this excerpt from Minding the Brain (2023), neuroscientist Cristi L. S. Cooper discusses the discovery of “free won’t” — the decision NOT to do something
Will Neuralink’s Brain Implant Help Paralysis Victims?
Addressing disabilities like paralysis, limb loss, and blindness seems a more realistic goal than the hyped (and feared) human–machine hybrids
Could Human Consciousness Be a Recent Historical Development?
Julian Jaynes’s bicameral mind theory, popular in the 1970s, stated that until about 3000 years ago, humans were not really conscious
Where, Exactly, Is Memory Stored in the Brain?
The hippocampus of the brain is important for memory formation but memories are immaterial and are not really “stored” anywhere
What Christof Koch Misunderstands About the Mind and the Brain
In his revealing interview at Closer to Truth, the Allen Institute neuroscientist, though he doubts physicalism, attributed subjective experiences to “brains”
Leading Neuroscientist Wavers on Physical View of Consciousness
On Closer to Truth, Christof Koch said last month, “Consciousness cannot be explained only within the framework of space and time and energy, but we need to postulate something additional”