Tag Archives: Brain

The unfolding argument: why Integrated Information Theory is not scientific

Posted on May 12, 2019 by

There’s an interesting new paper in Consciousness and Cognition on why causal theories such as IIT (integrated information theory) or RPT (recurrent processing theory) aren’t scientific: How can we explain consciousness? This question has become a vibrant topic of neuroscience … Continue reading →

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Michael Graziano’s attention schema theory

Posted on May 11, 2019 by

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to highlight Graziano’s attention schema theory.  This brief video is the very barest of sketches, but I think it gets the main idea across. Those of you who’ve known me for … Continue reading →

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Brain inspired hardware

Posted on May 8, 2019 by

The Scientist has an interesting article up reporting on the progress that’s being made in neuromorphic hardware. But the fact that computers “think” very differently than our brains do actually gives them an advantage when it comes to tasks like … Continue reading →

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Emotions, feelings, and action programs

Posted on May 1, 2019 by

Sean Carroll’s latest Mindscape podcast features an interview with neuroscientist Antonio Damasio: When we talk about the mind, we are constantly talking about consciousness and cognition. Antonio Damasio wants us to talk about our feelings. But it’s not in an … Continue reading →

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Frans de Waal on animal consciousness

Posted on April 19, 2019 by

Frans de Waal is a well known proponent of animals being much more like us than many people are comfortable admitting.  In this short two minute video, he gives his reason for concluding that at least some non-human animals are … Continue reading →

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The brain is a computer, but what is a computer?

Posted on April 11, 2019 by

Kevin Lande has an article up at Aeon which is one of the best discussions of the brain as a computational system that I’ve seen in a while.  For an idea of the spirit of the piece: The claim that … Continue reading →

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Malcolm MacIver on imagination and consciousness

Posted on March 26, 2019 by

Sean Carroll’s latest episode of his podcast, Mindscape, features an interview with neuroscientist Malcom MacIver, one that is well worth checking out for anyone interested in consciousness. Consciousness has many aspects, from experience to wakefulness to self-awareness. One aspect is … Continue reading →

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A neuroscience showdown on consciousness?

Posted on March 10, 2019 by

Apparently the Templeton Foundation is interested in seeing progress on consciousness science, and so is contemplating funding studies to test various theories.  The stated idea is to at least winnow the field through “structured adversarial collaborations”.  The first two theories … Continue reading →

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The sensorium, the motorium, and the planner

Posted on March 4, 2019 by

I’ve been reading Gerhard Roth’s The Long Evolution of Brains and Minds. This a technical and, unfortunately, expensive book, not one aimed at general audiences, but it has a lot of interesting concepts.  A couple that Roth mentions are the … Continue reading →

Posted in Mind and AI | Tagged , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Maybe the brain communicates via electrical fields after all

Posted on February 18, 2019 by

An interesting finding by scientists at Case Western Reserve University, that neurons may communicate via electrical fields: Scientists think they’ve identified a previously unknown form of neural communication that self-propagates across brain tissue, and can leap wirelessly from neurons in … Continue reading →

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