^Tagbrain

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 29, 2023

Categorized
Psychology

Tagged
brain, Dementia, Memory loss, Michael Egnor, mind, Mind Matters News podcast}

Sparks and Flashes of Remembrance

_{An expert in memory-loss treatment recalls some tender stories about memory in the midst of forgetfulness} _{News

May 29, 2023

6

Psychology}

In a recent Mind Matters podcast episode, neurosurgeon Michael Egnor (Mike), a frequent contributor to the site, interviewed friend and colleague Stephen Post, an expert in memory-loss-related disorders. Here’s a snippet of their conversation, which you can enjoy in full by following this link. Mike Egnor: So to begin, your new book, Dignity for Deeply Forgetful People, why did you use that title and what do you mean by deeply forgetful people? Stephen Post: Well, that’s a fabulous question to begin with because the title doesn’t quite say it all, but it’s close. I’ve been working with deeply forgetful people and their caregivers since I went out to Case Medical School in 1988, and I have never felt comfortable with Read More ›

Friendly smiling nurse caregiver in geriatric clinic or retirement home helps senior man with Alzheimer's disease. Happy old man plays puzzles while sitting at table in cozy interior. Dementia concept

^{Type
podcast

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
May 18, 2023

Tagged
Alzheimer’s disease, brain, Consciousness, Dignity for Deeply Forgetful People, Memory, Michael Egnor, Stephen Post}

Caring for the Deeply Forgetful

_{Michael Egnor

May 18, 2023

1}

How can we compassionately relate to those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease? Is the mind more than the brain? Dr. Stephen Post, an expert in the field and author of Dignity for Deeply Forgetful People, speaks with neurosurgeon Michael Egnor on memory, consciousness, and whether the mind could have arisen from matter. Additional Resources

Human body with glowing neurons visualization. Generative AI illustration

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 3, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, brain, Consciousness, Mind-Brain Distinction, Non-Computable You (book), Robert J. Marks}

New Routledge Book on AI: It Won’t Take Us Over

_{The authors argue that, regardless of the benefits AI might provide in the future, it will never emulate the complex human neurocognitive system.} _{News

May 3, 2023

2

Artificial Intelligence}

A new book, Why Machines Will Never Rule the World, amplifies human exceptionalism and critiques the view that artificial intelligence will someday replace human beings. According to authors Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith, much of life and work can only be adequately navigated successfully with natural, not computerized, intelligence. They give two reasons for thinking that AI will never exceed human ingenuity: Echoing similar sympathies as Robert J. Marks in his book Non-Computable You: What You Do That Artificial Intelligence Never Will, Landgrebe and Smith argue that the concept of artificial general intelligence is mathematically impossible. A part of the book’s summary reads: Landgrebe and Smith show how a widespread fear about AI’s potential to bring about radical changes in Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
March 6, 2023

Categorized
Free will

Tagged
Aristotle, brain, causation, free will, Materialism, Matter, mind, Sean Carroll}

Sean Carroll: “How Could an Immaterial Mind Affect the Body?”

_{The well known physicist thinks free will is nonsense. But has he investigated the classical understanding of causation?} _{Michael Egnor

March 6, 2023

5

Free will}

Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist at Johns Hopkins University who takes an atheist and materialist philosophical perspective on nature and on science. I have disagreed with him often — I’m in no position to judge his scientific acumen, but his philosophical acumen leaves a lot to be desired. An example of this is a question he asks in a recent documentary about free will (which I haven’t watched yet). In the trailer for the movie, Carroll asks, How in the world does the immaterial mind affect the physical body? Carroll’s denial of libertarian free will is based on this question, and of course, he believes that the immaterial mind does not exist and, if it did exist, could not Read More ›

Law of Universal Gravitation education funny concept. Isaac Newton under an apple tree

^{Type
post

Author
Eric Holloway
Date
January 31, 2023

Categorized
Physics

Tagged
Atoms, brain, Democritus, Ghosts, gravity, Isaac Newton, machine, Materialism, Matter, mind, Mind Brain, Particles, Physics}

Blinded by a Defunct Theory

_{The "interaction problem" is everywhere we look in physics, but the dogma of materialism remains} _{Eric Holloway

January 31, 2023

5

Physics}

Materialism. What a weird word. It sounds like a ghost, materializing in front of me. And it is sort of like a ghost, one that has mysteriously taken over the minds of many intelligent people. Because they believe in materialism, these smart people don’t believe in ghosts. Especially the ghost in the machine. The problem is there is no way for the ghost to interact with the machine. This is known as the “mind-body interaction problem”. The great thing about materialism is at least that theory doesn’t have an interaction problem. Any material thing can interact with any other material thing. Yet there is a deep irony. Let’s explore the idea of materialism to see why. Materialism is the idea that reality only consists of matter. Read More ›

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 19, 2023

Tagged
Andrew Knox, brain, Brain as computer, Brain Upload, Brain uploading to computer, computer, Memory, mind, Mind Uploading, Mind vs. brain, Robert J. Marks, uploading consciousness}

Is The Mind an Illusion?

_{Robert J. Marks

January 19, 2023

1}

Perhaps you’ve heard of the “mind-body problem,” but what about the relationship between the mind and the brain? Is the mind just an illusion produced by the brain or is it something totally separate? Robert Marks talks with neurologist Andrew Knox on these topics and more in this week’s Mind Matters podcast episode. Additional Resources

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 12, 2023

Tagged
After (book), Andrew Knox, brain, brain function, Bruce Greyson, Elon Musk, epilepsy, Imagine Heaven, Neuralink, neurology, Robert J. Marks}

Ways the Brain Can Heal

_{Robert J. Marks

January 12, 2023

1}

Robert Marks and Andrew Knox continue their conversation on neurology, epilepsy, and mental illness. In this episode, they focus on the medications and practices that can help restore proper brain function, from antidepressants to forms of surgery to Elon Musk’s potential “Neuralink.” Additional Resources

Brain Nervous System concept.Science is something that children should study and learn.Thinking process and Psychology of Kids.

^{Type
podcast

Author
Robert J. Marks
Date
January 5, 2023

Tagged
Andrew Knox, Anesthesia, Artificial Intelligence, artificial neural networks, brain, Dementia, Neurologists, Neuroscience, neurosurgeon, Parosyxmal, Robert J. Marks, seizures, Strokes}

Ways the Brain Can Break

_{Robert J. Marks

January 5, 2023

1}

The brain is a marvelous organ still not understood. Artificial neural networks are supposed to be a simulation of the human brain. But comparing the brain to an artificial neural network is like comparing the human heart to a pump handle. Dr. Andrew Knox and Dr. Robert J. Marks discuss the brain, aging, and neurology. Additional Resources

^{Type
podcast

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
December 23, 2021

Tagged
Andrew Newberg, brain, Dr. Andrew Newberg, Dr. Michael Egnor, LSD, mental disorders, Michael Egnor, Mind Brain, Mind-Brain Distinction, Near Death Experiences, Negative encounters, Phenomena, phenomena of the mind, Psychedelics, Schizophrenia, Thomas Aquinas, Tongues}

Phenomena of the Mind

_{Michael Egnor

December 23, 2021

1}

Endless mysteries dwell inside and outside the brain, and it’s hard to know where the brain ends and the mind begins. Dr. Michael Egnor and Dr. Andrew Newberg discuss near death experiences, speaking in tongues, and many more mysteries of the mind. Show Notes 00:23 | Near Death Experiences 04:17 | Limitations of the Brain 08:06 | Negative Encounters within Read More ›

Electrocardiogram in hospital surgery operating emergency room showing patient heart rate with blur team of surgeons background

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
September 3, 2021

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
brain, Consciousness, Death (consciousness at death), mind, Sam Parnia}

Why Some Scientists Think Consciousness Persists After Death

_{We should not assume that people who are near death do not know what we are saying} _{News

September 3, 2021

4

Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

A very significant change that happened in the last century or so has been the ability of science professionals to see what happens when people are thinking, especially under traumatic conditions. It was not a good moment for materialist theories. Here is one finding (there are many others): Death is a process, usually, not simply an event. Consciousness can persists after clinical death. A more accurate way of putting things might be that the brain is able to host consciousness for a short period after clinical death. Some notes on recent findings: The short answer is, probably, yes: Recent studies have shown that animals experience a surge in brain activity in the minutes after death. And people in the first Read More ›

Live lobster in the aquarium. Product in the supermarket. Close up photo of big lobsters in water tank for sale

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
June 24, 2021

Categorized
Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Tagged
brain, Crab, Crustaceans, Dog, Jordan Peterson, Lobster, Minimal self, Pain, Shrimp}

Can Crabs Think? Can Lobsters Feel? What We Know Now

_{In Switzerland, it is now illegal to boil a lobster alive. Are the Swiss right? Is it cruel?} _{Denyse O'Leary

June 24, 2021

6

Ethics, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience}

Because crustaceans have shells, we may tend to think of them as like machines. Yet crustaceans, along with octopuses, show some surprising abilities and complexities. Take crabs, for example: A new Swansea University study has revealed how common shore crabs can navigate their way around a complex maze and can even remember the route in order to find food … Spatial learning is quite complicated, so figuring out how it works in crustaceans gives us a better understanding of how widespread this ability, and learning in general, is in the animal kingdom.” The researchers tested 12 crabs over four weeks, placing food at the end of the maze each time. The route to the end of the maze required five Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
June 12, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience

Tagged
brain, Memories, Neurons}

Researchers Can’t Explain: Memories Drift From Neuron to Neuron

_{Memories are supposed to stay put in the neurons that lay them down. A recent study, published at Nature, shows that they move a lot…} _{News

June 12, 2021

4

Neuroscience}

“Scientists are meant to know what’s going on, but in this particular case, we are deeply confused”, a recent article at The Atlantic begins. It’s about the way nervous system cells don’t simply lay down memories and keep them. The memories drift from neuron to neuron, quite contrary to textbook claims and traditional neuroscience assumptions: The relatively simple explanation found in neuroscience textbooks is that specific groups of neurons reliably fire when their owner smells a rose, sees a sunset, or hears a bell. These representations—these patterns of neural firing—presumably stay the same from one moment to the next. But as Schoonover, Fink, and others have found, they sometimes don’t. They change—and to a confusing and unexpected extent. Schoonover, Fink, Read More ›

Woman experiencing sad emotions and evaluate their emotions from the side. Emotional Intelligence Concept

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
May 1, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Association cortex, brain, Know Thyself (book), Medial parietal cortex (human brain), Medial PFC (human brain), mind, Stephen M. Fleming}

Neuroscientist: We Are Closing In On the Secret of Self-Awareness

_{But then he turns around and admits that we are frustratingly far from understanding how it all works. His frustration is understandable.} _{News

May 1, 2021

4

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Cognitive neuroscientist Stephen M. Fleming, author of Know Thyself: The Science of Self-Awareness (2021), offers an excerpt at Slate in which he implies that we have made some headway in understanding self-awareness. Size alone is not the key to intellectual capacity, he says, but rather the “brain soup,” the number of neurons that can be packed into the brain. Primates of all types (monkeys, apes, and humans) are much more efficient at packing neurons into the brain than rodents are: “Regardless of their position on the tree, it seems that primates are evolutionary outliers—but, relative to other primates, humans are not.” He points to a portion of the prefrontal cortex, the “association cortex” which is “particularly well-developed” in humans, relative Read More ›

Neural networks of the human brain. 3d illustration of abstract nerve centers. Electrical impulses in brain. Bright full color

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 30, 2021

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Media, Neuroscience

Tagged
brain, Henry Markram, In Silico (documentary), Noah Hutton, Sebastian Seung}

Young Filmmaker Tackles the Hype About Computing the Brain

_{In Silico, in which Noah Hutton sorts hope from hype, goes livestream today} _{News

April 30, 2021

3

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Media, Neuroscience}

Twelve years ago Noah Hutton (pictured), who had some background in neuroscience, heard prominent neuroscientist Henry Markram tell viewers in a TED talk that he had determined how to simulate a complete human brain, via supercomputers, within a decade. At the time, Hutton didn’t question that and he started to document the Blue Brain project that Markham directed, which started with a mouse brain. But then things stalled: As Hutton recounted in Scientific American yesterday, “there were magnificent fly-through visualizations of the first square millimeter of simulated rat brain set to The Blue Danube available in a visitor’s screening room, but a definite lack of progress along the road map towards a human brain.” There was, however, the recognition that Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
April 8, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Abortion, brain, Brain (absence of parts), Hydrocephalus, Michelle Wall, Music Man Project, Noah Wall, Spina bifida}

Boy Born With 2% of Brain “Does Maths, He Loves Science”

_{Noah Wall’s story raises intriguing questions about the relationship between the brain and the mind} _{News

April 8, 2021

4

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Well before Noah Wall was born, his odds did not look very good. Scans showed he had developed a cyst which was destroying his brain, along with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Doctors predicted he would likely never talk, walk, or eat on his own. Five times his parents, Michelle (Shelly) and Rob, were pressed to abort him. Shelly recalls, “It wasn’t until around the 12 week scan that they knew something just wasn’t quite right,” Shelly told The Epoch Times in a video interview. “I said, ‘Does the baby have a heartbeat?’ And they said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s all that matters to us.’” Shelly and Rob were referred to the RVI Hospital in Newcastle, where their baby Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
April 5, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Bias (in research), brain, Data (biased interpretation), Featured, fMRI, functional MRI (fMRI), Kelsey Ichikawa, mind, phrenology, Rick Born, Science media (materialist bias)}

Why a “Budding” Neuroscientist Is Skeptical of Brain Scans

_{After reading her perceptive essay about the problems in fMRI imaging in neuroscience, I’m sad that a gifted student has doubts about a career in the field} _{Michael Egnor

April 5, 2021

8

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Kelsey Ichikawa has just published a superb essay about the pitfalls of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain. Ms. Ichikawa (pictured), who describes herself as a ”budding” neuroscientist who graduated last year from Harvard, discusses the snares into which misinterpretation can lead us. fMRI brain scanning is a relatively new technology in which researchers and clinicians use magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the brain to detect brain activity almost as it happens. The technique is widely used, both for clinical care of patients (neurosurgeons use it to map sensitive parts of the brain prior to surgery) and for research purposes. A major thrust of neuroscience research in the last couple of decades has been the use of fMRI Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
March 7, 2021

Categorized
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
After (book), brain, Bruce Greyson, Christof Koch, Markham Heid, mind, NDEs and drug use, Near-death experiences, Near-death experiences (prevalence), Suicide and NDEs}

Physician Explains Why He Takes Near-Death Experiences Seriously

_{Near-death experiences don’t fit easily into traditional science categories because they occur — often with life-changing effects — when the brain is damaged or unconscious} _{News

March 7, 2021

6

Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Health and science writer Markham Heid recounts a story from psychiatrist Bruce Greyson’s book After (2021) that typifies the near-death experiences (NDEs) that have excited research interest: The truck driver’s story sounded far-fetched. The man claimed that in the middle of his quadruple bypass heart surgery — during which he was fully anesthetized and his eyes were taped shut — he had “come to” and found that he was looking down at his own body and the doctors preparing to operate on it. He described the scene in detail, and he recalled that his surgeon had waved his elbows in the air as if he were mimicking a bird flapping its wings. Later, when asked about his patient’s peculiar account, Read More ›

Vice grip tool squeezing a plank with the word free will

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor
Date
February 7, 2021

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Aristotle, Benjamin Libet, brain, Featured, free will, Hylemorphic dualism, Meat robots, Sam Harris, Thomas Aquinas}

A Reader Asks: Does Neuroscience Disprove Free Will?

_{Materialists sometimes misrepresent the evidence for free will, especially Benjamin Libet’s work} _{Michael Egnor

February 7, 2021

6

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Here’s the question: I have a question regarding free will. Sam Harris in his interview with Dan Dennett said that “If we decide to do go to somewhere we experience it later but our brain decided it much earlier than our experience to this decision. If we scan the brain at that time we will tell you before you came to know” Now it raise a question because we decide through intellect. You said that free will is due to intellect so intellect is challenged here. It’s an excellent question. The answer in brief is that we most certainly do have free will. We can see this from three perspectives: scientific, philosophical, and logical. The scientific evidence The scientific evidence Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
December 19, 2020

Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
brain, Consciousness, Hidden Spring (book), Mark Solms, mind}

Psychologist: Consciousness Is Not a Thing But a Point of View

_{Mark Solms attempts to explain consciousness in his new book, Hidden Spring} _{News

December 19, 2020

3

Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind}

Anyone who thinks about consciousness soon realizes that it is a Hard Problem. It means being a subject of experience, rather than an object to which experiences happen. A dog has consciousness. He yelps when in pain. But a rock does not care about becoming sand. In an interesting article in Psychology Today, neuropsychologist Mark Solms outlines some thoughts from a book he has written on the subject, The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness (Norton, 2021): Physiological processes do not produce consciousness in the sense that the liver produces bile. Consciousness is not a thing but rather a point of view. What we perceive objectively as physiological processes in the brain we perceive subjectively as conscious Read More ›

Woman scientist holding lab rat, medicine development, tests on animals

^{Type
post

Author
News
Date
November 17, 2020

Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

Tagged
brain, Craig Ferris, Hydrocephalus, neuroplasticity, R222, Rat}

An Old Rat With No Brain Raises Some Very Interesting Questions

_{The researchers had no idea how strange their lab rat was until, in a routine procedure, they scanned its head} _{News

November 17, 2020

5

Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience}

Yes, R222 was only a rat. A rat that turned out to have no brain. But here’s the thing: R222 had lived a normal life as a lab rat for two whole years. According to rat specialists, that’s like 70 human years. Researchers were, to say the least, puzzled. The story begins with a scientist scanning the brains of “very old” lab rats as part of a study on aging. Except that subject R222, otherwise a conventional rat, didn’t seem to have a brain. The brain cavity had collapsed and filled with fluid (hydrocephalus). We can see from the photo that where the control rat has brain, R222 has fluid: On further investigation, researchers found that all brain functions had Read More ›