Episode 52 of the Brain Science Podcast is our Second Annual Review Episode. We review the highlights of 2008 and also talk briefly about our plans for 2009. The episode is aimed at all listeners, but should be especially helpful for newer listeners because there is an extensive discussion of the other on-line resources available to listeners including our website and Discussion Forum.

Go to http://brainsciencepodcast.com for detailed show notes and links.

Send email to docartemis at gmail.com or post feedback in the Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com/.

The Brain Science Podcast is supported by listener donations via PayPal. Donations can also be mailed to:

Virginia Campbell,MD
Brain Science Podcast
9340 Helena, RD, Suite F #320
Birmingham, AL, 35244

Brain Science Podcast #51 is an interview with Dr. Seth Grant from Cambridge University about the evolution of synapses. Dr. Grant has isolated the proteins from the synapses of several species including yeast, fruit flies, and mice. His research has led to some surprising conclusions about the evolution of the synapse and of brains. (Hint: the complex synapse evolved BEFORE big brains.)

For detailed show notes and links go to http://brainsciencepodcast.com/.

Share your feedback and comments at the Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com or by sending email to docartemis at gmail.com.

The Brain Science Podcast is supported by listener donations via PayPal. You can also send donations directly to:

Virginia Campbell,MD
Brain Science Podcast
9340 Helena, RD, Suite F #320
Birmingham, AL, 35244

In Brain Science Podcast #50 host and creator, Ginger Campbell, MD shares highlights from Neuroscience 2008, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, which recently concluded in Washington, DC. She shares her personal impressions along with highlights from a lecture by Dr. Michael Bate from Cambridge University.

For detailed show notes and links go to http://brainsciencepodcast.com/.

Share your thoughts and feedback in the Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com or send Dr. Campbell email at docartemis at gmail.com.

The Brain Science Podcast is supported by listener donations. You can give via PayPal or send contributions directly to:

Virginia Campbell, MD
Brain Science Podcast
9340 Helena, RD, Suite F #320
Birmingham, AL, 35244

Brain Science Podcast #49 is an interview with pioneering neuroscientist, Brenda Milner, PhD. Dr. Milner is known for her contributions to understanding memory and her work with split-brain patients. Her work as an experimental psychologist has been fundamental to the emergence of the field of cognitive neuroscience.

For more information about Dr. Milner's work go to the show notes at http://brainsciencepodcast.com.

Join our Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com or send Dr. Campbell email at docartemis at gmail.com.

Contributions to support this podcast can be made via PayPal™or mailed directly to:

Virginia Campbell, MD
Brain Science Podcast
9340 Helena, RD, Suite F #320
Birmingham, AL, 35244

Brain Science Podcast #48 is an interview with Gary Lynch, PhD, co-author of Big Brain: The Origins and Future of Human Intelligence. While almost everyone agrees that the human brain is distinguished by its large size, there are interesting questions and controversies about how our large brains evolved. Are we smart because are brains are large or because our brains are different? In this interview you will learn why Dr. Lynch believes that the unique features of the human brain are a natural result of the size of our brain. He also challenges the traditional assumption that our brain size was a result of selections during evolution.

For show notes, links and references go to http://brainsciencepodcast.com/.

Share your feedback by participating in the Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com or send Dr. Campbell email at docartemis at gmail.com.

Announcements:

You can now send contributions directly to the Brain Science Podcast at 9340 Helena Road, Suite F #320, Birmingham, AL, 35244.

The next episode of the Brain Science Podcast will be an interview with pioneering neuroscientist, Dr. Brenda Milner. This will be a follow-up of the interview she did for Futures in Biotech. (Link to FiB #33)

Episode 47 of the Brain Science Podcast is a discussion of Principles of Brain Evolution by Georg F. Striedter. My goal is to highlight the main ideas of this complicated, and often controversial subject. Understanding the principles of brain evolution is an important element in our multidisciplinary attempt to understand how our brains make us who we are.

For detailed show notes and links go to http://brainsciencepodcast.com/.

Share feedback in the Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com or send email to docartemis at gmail.com.

Announcements:

• Episode 48 will be a follow-up interview with Dr. Gary Lynch, co-author of Big Brain: The Origins and Future of Human Intelligence.
• Please help get the word out about our video contest. The deadline for entering is December 15, 2008
• Check out Episode 22 of Books and Ideas to hear more about my adventures at this year's Dragon*Con. Click to find links to audio and video from Dragon*Con 2008.

Brain Science Podcast #46 was recorded live at Dragon*Con 2008, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia over Labor Day Weekend. My guests were Dr. Shella Keilholz and Dr. Jason Schneiderman and we talked about fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). We discussed both the advantages and disadvantages of this technique with an emphasis on how to recognize media hype. There were also some great questions from the audience.

This podcast has been edited compared to the version that appeared in the DragonPod feed, but there is still some noise coming from the room next door.

For show notes and links go to http://brainsciencepodcast.com/.

Please send Dr. Campbell email at docartemis at gmail.com or share your ideas with other listeners at the Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com/.

You can now get BSP t-shirts and other logo gear at http://www.printfection.com/brainsciencpodcast. Note the e is missing from the word science in the address. (oops!)

Episode 45 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Dr. John Ratey from Harvard about Attention Deficit Disorders. Dr. Ratey is an expert on the treatment of both childhood and adult ADD and ADHD and co-author of Driven To Distraction : Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood.

In this interview Dr. Ratey not only dispells some of the common myths about this disorder, but he also offers practical advice about overcoming the challenges of this common problem.

For detailed shownotes and links visit the Brain Science Podcast website at http://brainsciencepodcast.com.

You can send feedback to Dr. Campbell at docartemis at gmail.com and participate in the Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com.

Brain Science Podcast Episode 44 is an interview with Daniel Seigel, MD about meditation and the brains. Dr. Seigel is the author of several books including The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being.

For more information including detailed shownotes and links go to http://brainsciencepodcast.com/.

Share your feedback in the Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com or send Dr. Campbell email at docartemis at gmail.com.

This episode was sponsored by Audible.com. For a free audiobook download go to http://audiblepodcast.com/brainscience/.

Episode 43 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Dr. Robert Burton, author of "On Being Certain: Believing that You are Right Even When You're Not." This episode is part 2 of our discussion of what Dr. Burton calls "the feeling of knowing." We discuss the evidence that this "feeling of knowing" is generated in our unconscious. Not only is its generation inaccessible, but despite its power this feeling is not necessarily reliable. The focus of Dr. Burton's interview is a look at the implications of this important discovery.

For show notes and references go to http://brainsciencepodcast.com/. Send feedback to Dr. Campbell at docartemis at gmail.com or submit comments to our Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com/.