Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

Taghuman brain

baby-chimpanzee-ape-at-the-zoo-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
baby chimpanzee ape at the zoo.
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post
Author
News
Date
July 6, 2022
Categorized
Language, Neuroscience
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Human Brain Has Many More Language Connections Than Chimp Brain

That finding isn’t surprising in principle but the researchers pinned down specific areas of greater connectivity
News
July 6, 2022
3
Language, Neuroscience

In a study of brain scans from 50 humans and 29 chimpanzees, researchers discovered an interesting difference: The connections between language areas in the human brain are much larger than previously thought and quite different from those of the chimpanzee brain. That’s, of course, consistent with the relative complexity of human thought and language but the question had not really been examined before with a focus on one specific area. The researchers were interested in a nerve tract that connects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, the arcuate fasciculus. Chimpanzee brain connectivity seems to involve mainly the temporal lobe but in humans there is a connection towards the frontal and parietal lobes via the arcuate fasciculus. “Our findings…

brain coral
Close up of Grooved brain coral labyrinth
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post
Author
News
Date
April 28, 2022
Categorized
Neuroscience
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An Ocean in Our Brains?

An “ocean” does not hardly begin to describe our brains.,
News
April 28, 2022
1
Neuroscience

An “ocean” does not hardly begin to describe our brains: For years, the brain has been thought of as a biological computer that processes information through traditional circuits, whereby data zips straight from one cell to another. While that model is still accurate, a new study shows that there’s also a second, very different way that the brain parses information: through the interactions of waves of neural activity. The findings help researchers better understand how the brain processes information. Salk Institute, “An ocean in your brain: Interacting brain waves key to how we process information ” at Salk Institute (April 22, 2022) It is probably much more complex even than that. The paper is open access. You may also wish…

person behind mask
creature
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post
Author
News
Date
June 6, 2021
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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We Are Now Informed: Consciousness Does Not Really Exist

Rubbish. Giving up consciousness as an illusion would be like turning off the master switch. What would the ensuing darkness and powerlessness tell us?
News
June 6, 2021
2
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
What you think is enabling you to listen with any attention to neuroscientists (your dog, coffee cup, and your toothpaste are not listening to neuroscientists) is something — some of them tell us — we should give up as an illusion. Read More ›
human-brain-model-for-education-in-laboratory-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Human brain model for education in laboratory.
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post
Author
News
Date
May 27, 2021
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Intelligence: A Thousand Brains — or a Thousand Theories?

What does the iconic mammalian neocortex do that equivalent systems in birds and octopuses can’t do? That’s not clear
News
May 27, 2021
6
Artificial Intelligence, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Jeff Hawkins, inventor of PalmPilot (a smartphone predecessor) and co-founder of Numenta (2005), does not lack confidence. After an interview with him in connection with his new book, A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence (Basic Books 2021), Will Douglas Heaven tells us at MIT Review, “Neuroscientist and tech entrepreneur Jeff Hawkins claims he’s figured out how intelligence works—and he wants every AI lab in the world to know about it”: He’s not the first Silicon Valley entrepreneur to think he has all the answers—and not everyone is likely to agree with his conclusions. But his ideas could shake up AI. Will Douglas Heaven, ““We’ll never have true AI without first understanding the brain”” at MIT Technology Review (March…

3d-rendered-medically-accurate-illustration-of-the-human-brain-and-a-tumor-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
3d rendered medically accurate illustration of the human brain and a tumor
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post
Author
News
Date
January 17, 2021
Categorized
Neuroscience
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Another New Communications Network Discovered in the Human Brain

Our brains are smarter than we thought
News
January 17, 2021
1
Neuroscience

We keep discovering new things about the brain: Neuronal oscillations are an essential part of the functioning of the human brain. They regulate the communication between neural networks and the processing of information carried out by the brain by pacing neuronal groups and synchronising brain regions. High-frequency oscillations with frequencies over 100 Hertz are known to indicate the activity of small neuronal populations. However, up to now, they have been considered to be exclusively a local phenomenon. The findings of the European research project demonstrate that also high-frequency oscillations over 100 Hertz synchronize across several brain regions. This important finding reveals that strictly-timed communication between brain regions can be achieved by high-frequency oscillations. University of Helsinki, “A new means of…

ai-analysis-artificial-intelligence-automation-big-data-brain-business-cg-cloud-computing-communication-computer-graphics-concept-creative-cyber-deep-learning-digital-transformation-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
ai, analysis, artificial intelligence, automation, big data, brain, business, cg, cloud computing, communication, computer graphics, concept, creative, cyber, deep learning, digital transformation
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post
Author
News
Date
December 9, 2020
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Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Why did the Human Brain Project Crash and Burn?

To simulate the human brain on a computer was a top flight EU project a decade ago. Today, a filmmaker explores the rubble dreams leave behind
News
December 9, 2020
5
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

The Human Brain Project from 2013 sounded like science fiction in an EU setting: We will build a brain in a decade: “And, if we do succeed, we will send, in ten years, a hologram to talk to you.” Well, we all got one thing right. It was fiction. Filmmaker Noah Hutton, a sympathetic observer, chronicled the decline, producing a documentary, In Silico, that focuses on booster Henry Markram who, according to his TED talk bio from 2009, was “director of Blue Brain, a supercomputing project that can model components of the mammalian brain to precise cellular detail — and simulate their activity in 3D. Soon he’ll simulate a whole rat brain in real time.” When the project started to…

man-in-gray-long-sleeve-shirt-sitting-on-brown-wooden-chair-stockpack-pexels.jpg
Man in gray long sleeve shirt sitting on brown wooden chair
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post
Author
News
Date
November 29, 2020
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Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Neuroscientist: Your Brain Isn’t for Thinking, Just Surviving

Lisa Feldman Barrett hopes that her materialist perspective will help us deal with our current anxieties
News
November 29, 2020
5
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Last Sunday, we featured the views of philosopher Samir Chopra, who argues that anxiety, while distressing, is a normal outcome of our human ability to see the past and the future as well as the present. A pig gets anxious when he sees that his trough is empty. But he cannot, by nature, know that he is destined for the menu at a local fast food place, let alone that all his kin have gone that way. Knowing the past and sensing the future opens up both great powers and vast avenues of anxiety for a human mind. But, in an op-ed in the New York Times, psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett (pictured), the author of Seven and a…

the-universe-inside-us-the-profile-of-a-young-woman-and-space-the-effect-of-double-exposure-scientific-concept-the-brain-and-creativity-elements-of-this-image-furnished-by-nasa-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
The universe inside us, the profile of a young woman and space, the effect of double exposure. scientific concept. The brain and creativity. Elements of this image furnished by NASA
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post
Author
News
Date
November 18, 2020
Categorized
Neuroscience, Science
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Study: The Human Brain and the Universe Are Remarkably Similar

It looks as though the universe is not random but rather patterned in the way it unfolds
News
November 18, 2020
3
Neuroscience, Science

Recently, Franco Vazza, an astrophysicist at the University of Bologna and Alberto Felleti, a neurosurgeon at the University of Verona, decided to compare the network of human brain cells and the network of galaxies in our universe. Even though the universe is 27 orders of magnitude bigger than a single human brain, remarkable similarities emerged: The human brain functions thanks to its wide neuronal network that is deemed to contain approximately 69 billion neurons. On the other hand, the observable universe is composed of a cosmic web of at least 100 billion galaxies. Within both systems, only 30% of their masses are composed of galaxies and neurons. Within both systems, galaxies and neurons arrange themselves in long filaments or nodes…

male-corpus-callosum-brain-anatomy-blue-concept-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Male Corpus Callosum Brain Anatomy - blue concept
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post
Author
News
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November 11, 2020
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Neuroscience
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How Can People Lead Normal Lives Without a Connected Brain?

Roughly 25% of people who lack the brain’s transfer station between the hemispheres live normal lives
News
November 11, 2020
3
Neuroscience

Roughly one in 4,000 people lacks a corpus callosum, the structure of neural fibers that transfers information between the brain’s two hemispheres. Surprisingly, the 25% who have nothing but cerebrospinal fluid do not show signs of abnormality. About half have some brain-related problems and the remaining 25% have serious problems. Researchers wanted to know, how does anyone manage to live normally without a corpus callosum to connect the two hemispheres of the brain? It turns out that the human brain goes into high gear, organizing a fix: In a study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, neuroscientists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) discovered that when the neuronal fibres that act as a bridge between the hemispheres are missing, the…

brain-doodle-illustration-with-textures-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Brain doodle illustration with textures
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post
Author
News
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October 11, 2020
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Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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Your Mind vs. Your Brain: Ten Things To Know

Although we are only beginning to understand the workings of the brain, it clearly isn't the same thing as the mind
News
October 11, 2020
9
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

Here are some reasons why they aren’t really the same: 1. Is the human brain unique in some way? Yes, but not so much in its structure as in the things we do with it. For example, the human, mouse, and fly brains all use the same basic mechanisms, which is a bit of a puzzle, considering the different things we do with our brains. The human brain is bigger than most. But then lemurs performed as well as chimps on the primate cognitive test battery (a primate intelligence test) and lemurs only have brains that are 1/200th the size of chimps’ brains. So, what we humans are doing differently from lemurs and chimps doesn’t depend wholly on brain size…

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Closeup of housefly
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post
Author
News
Date
October 3, 2020
Categorized
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience
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Human, Mouse, and Fly Brains All Use the Same Basic Mechanisms

The study of brains in recent decades has yielded a very different picture from the patterns we might have expected
News
October 3, 2020
4
Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience

With differing outcomes, of course: A new study led by researchers from King’s College London has shown that humans, mice and flies share the same fundamental genetic mechanisms that regulate the formation and function of brain areas involved in attention and movement control. News Centre, “Humans and flies employ very similar mechanisms for brain development and function” at King’s College London (August 3, 2020) We might have expected a gradual increase in size and complexity, corresponding with ability, leading up to the human brain. But we have learned from recent research that lemurs, with brains 1/200 the size of chimps’, pass same IQ test (the Primate Cognition Test Battery). Human intellectual abilities are orders of magnitude greater than that of…

close-up-view-of-robot-playing-chess-selective-focus-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
close-up view of robot playing chess, selective focus
Type
podcast
Author
Robert J. Marks and Larry L. Linenschmidt
Date
August 27, 2020
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Bingecast: Robert J. Marks on the Limitations of Artificial Intelligence

Robert J. Marks and Larry L. Linenschmidt
August 27, 2020
2

Robert J. Marks talks with Larry L. Linenschmidt of the Hill Country Institute about nature and limitations of artificial intelligence from a computer science perspective including the misattribution of creativity and understanding to computers. Other Larry L. Linenschmidt podcasts from the Hill Country Institute are available at HillCountryInstitute.org. We appreciate the permission of the Hill Country Institute to rebroadcast this…

walnut-split-on-a-white-background-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
walnut split on a white background
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post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
June 2, 2020
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Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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My Right Hemisphere Is An Atheist! No, Wait …

In reality, split-brain surgery does not split consciousness in any meaningful sense
Michael Egnor
June 2, 2020
7
Medicine and Health, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

The atheist neuroscientist who has made bizarre claims about the outcomes of split brain surgery appears not to know much about neurosurgery.

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The concept of rational and irrational thinking of two people. Heads of two people with colourful shapes of abstract brain for concept of idea and teamwork. Two people with different thinking.
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post
Author
News
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March 4, 2020
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We Will Never “Solve” the Brain

A science historian offers a look at some of the difficulties we face in understanding the brain
News
March 4, 2020
4

In a forthcoming book, science historian Matthew Cobb suggests that we may need to be content with different explanations for different brain parts. And that the image of the brain as a computer is definitely on the way out.

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AdobeStock_288269759
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podcast
Author
Jim French and Robert J. Marks
Date
January 2, 2020
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An AI Flash From the Past

Jim French and Robert J. Marks
January 2, 2020
1

Artificial intelligence has been in the news for a long time. Robert J. Marks airs one of his older interviews with Jim French on KIRO Radio to show the similarity to today’s reporting on artificial intelligence. Mind Matters News appreciates the permission of Jim French and KIRO Radio in Seattle to rebroadcast this interview. Show Notes 01:08 | Do computers…

Photo by Daniil Kuželev
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post
Author
News
Date
December 30, 2019
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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, ,

Researchers: Our Conscious Visual Perception Lies Outside Our Visual Cortex

They concluded that the end step of perceiving where objects are occurs in the frontal lobes, a finding they describe as “radical”
News
December 30, 2019
6
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

A major consequence of the advance of modern neuroscience is that we now “know” so much less than we used to. But what we do know points us in promising research directions.

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Happy African American guy in VR glasses
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podcast
Author
Larry L. Linenschmidt and Robert J. Marks
Date
December 12, 2019
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Gee-Whiz Tech and AI Reality – Part I

Larry L. Linenschmidt and Robert J. Marks
December 12, 2019
1

Robert J. Marks talks with Larry L. Linenschmidt of the Hill Country Institute about the nature and limitations of artificial intelligence from a computer science perspective. This is Part 1 of 2 parts. Other Larry L. Linenschmidt podcasts from the Hill Country Institute are available at HillCountryInstitute.org. We appreciate the permission of the Hill Country Institute to rebroadcast this podcast…

Doctor using finger to hold a brain model with both hands in concept of taking care the brain
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post
Author
News
Date
September 20, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience
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Why the Brain Is Not at All like a Computer

Seeing the brain as a computer is an easy misconception rather than an informative image, says neuroscientist Yuri Danilov
News
September 20, 2019
4
Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience

As soon as you assume that each neuron is a microprocessor, says Danilov, you assume that there is a programmer. There is no programmer in the brain; there are no algorithms in the brain. However, it is "extremely painful" for many people to let go of the idea.

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MRI Image Brain On Black Background
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post
Author
News
Date
May 23, 2019
Categorized
Medicine and Health, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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, ,

How the Injured Brain Heals Itself: Our Amazing Neuroplasticity

Jonathan Sackier is a pioneer in non-invasive techniques for speeding the healing of traumatic brain injuries
News
May 23, 2019
6
Medicine and Health, Natural Intelligence, Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

People who have come back from catastrophic injuries like Bill Zoller's intrigue neuroscientists because they offer a glimpse into the neuroplasticity that enables the brain to restore lost functions, which we can learn to augment.

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AdobeStock_169158991
Human head in silhouette apparently on fire
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post
Author
News
Date
April 30, 2019
Categorized
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind
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The Human Brain: Even Basic Facts Are Hotly Contested

Keep that in mind when AI boosters claim that their product will function like a human brain
News
April 30, 2019
6
Neuroscience, Philosophy of Mind

When we read that “Scientists Are Closer to Making Artificial Brains That Operate Like Ours Do”, we might ask: If career researchers dispute the question of how the brain works at basic levels, how can non-experts be so sure they have replicated it?

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