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Exploring the Brain: from Synapses to Cognition

The human brain is a remarkably complex organ, consisting of billions of interconnected neurons. It can be divided into distinct regions, each with specific functions, such as memory and decision-making. Cognition, which includes processes like perception, memory, language, and problem-solving, is all orchestrated by the brain. It’s through these cognitive processes that we perceive and interact with the world around us.

What is special about the structure of the brain compared to other organs? What is the principled way of understanding how the brain works? How does the brain contribute to our sense of Self? Is it possible to compare the brain with the computer? Is it possible to enhance the way that the brain works? What is the brain-basis of language?

These and other questioned are answered by Serious Science experts from leading universities from all around the world. The coursed is comprised of 15 lectures filmed in the period from 2014 to 2020. If you have any questions or comments on the content of this course — please write us at [email protected].

00:00 Connectomics / Jeff Lichtman.
14:30 Synapse Elimination at the Developing Neuromuscular Junction / Jeff Lichtman.
25:17 Genomic Imprinting and the Brain / Catherine Dulac.
36:50 Brain Function and Chromatin Plasticity / Catherine Dulac.
47:45 Free Energy Principle / Karl Friston.
1:02:45 Self-construction / Onur Güntürkün.
1:16:38 Brain Networks / Sylvain Baillet.
1:32:33 Computational Modeling of the Brain / Sylvain Baillet.
1:47:22 Cognition Without a Cortex / Onur Güntürkün.
2:02:17 Brain Training / Barbara Sahakian.
2:14:50 Brain Language Research / Friedemann Pulvermüller.
2:26:49 Brain Imaging / Karl Friston.
2:39:30 Functional Brain Imaging / Srinivas Sridhar.
2:52:21 Clinical Brain Imaging / Sylvain Baillet.
3:08:38 Effect of Music on the Brain / Lauren Stewart.

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New focused approach can help untangle messy quantum scrambling problems

The world is a cluttered, noisy place, and the ability to effectively focus is a valuable skill. For example, at a bustling party, the clatter of cutlery, the conversations, the music, the scratching of your shirt tag and almost everything else must fade into the background for you to focus on finding familiar faces or giving the person next to you your undivided attention.

Multi-Planetary Empires

One day humanity may settle countless worlds, but could any nation hope to govern multiple planets or even star systems?
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Credits:
Multi-Planetary Empires.
Episode 440a; March 31, 2024
Produced, Written \& Narrated by: Isaac Arthur.
Editors:
Donagh Broderick.
Briana Brownell.

Graphics:
Fishy Tree.
Jeremy Jozwik.
Ken York YD Visual.
Mafic Studios.
Sergio Botero.
Udo Schroeter.

Music Courtesy of:

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The Future Is Nearer with Ray Kurzweil

Unlike me, Kurzweil has been embracing AI for decades. In his 2005 book, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, Kurzweil made the bold prediction that AI would expand human intelligence exponentially, changing life as we know it. He wasn’t wrong. Now in his 70s, Kurzweil is upping the ante in his newest book, The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI, revisiting his prediction of the melding of human and machine, with 20 additional years of data showing the exponential rate of technological advancement. It’s a fascinating look at the future and the hope for a better world.

Kurzweil has long been recognized as a great thinker. The son of a musician father and visual artist mother, he grew up in New York City and at a young age became enamored with computers, writing his first computer program at the age of 15.

While at MIT, earning a degree in computer science and literature, Kurzweil started a company that created a computer program to match high school students with colleges. In the ensuing years, he went on to found (and sell) multiple technology-fueled companies and inventions, including the first reading machine for the blind and the first music synthesizer capable of re-creating the grand piano and other orchestral instruments (inspired by meeting Stevie Wonder). He has authored 11 books.

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis gets UK knighthood for ‘services to artificial intelligence’

Demis Hassabis, CEO and one of three founders of Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) subsidiary DeepMind, has been awarded a knighthood in the U.K. for “services to artificial intelligence.”

Ian Hogarth, chair of the U.K. government’s recently launched AI Safety Institute and previously founder of music startup Songkick, was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to AI; as was Matt Clifford, AI adviser to the U.K. government and co-founder of super–early-stage investor Entrepreneur First.

Meta is adding AI to its Ray-Ban smart glasses next month

AR-Smart glasses: 2029. Will look like just a normal pair of sunglasses. All normal smartphone type features. Built in AI systems. Set up for some VR stuff. An built in earbud / mic, for calls, music, talking to Ai, etc… May need a battery pack, we ll see in 2029.

The smart glasses will soon come with a built-in assistant.

Harmony in Chaos: How BPD Influences Music Tastes

Summary: Recent research reveals that individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) exhibit distinct music preferences, favoring reflective and complex genres such as classical and jazz over intense, rebellious ones.

The study, involving 549 participants, highlights how the severity of BPD symptoms influences these preferences and the psychological functions of music, emphasizing its role in emotional regulation and social connectivity.

Music’s functions act as mediators in forming these preferences, suggesting that musical tastes among individuals with BPD reflect their internal psychological needs. This insight opens new avenues for tailored music therapy interventions, promising more effective therapeutic outcomes.

Lack of Focus Doesn’t Equal Lack of Intelligence — It’s Actually Proof of an Intricate Brain

Research conducted by Brown University’s Carney Institute for Brain Science illustrates how parts of the brain need to work together to focus on important information while filtering out distractions.

Imagine a busy restaurant: dishes clattering, music playing, people talking loudly over one another. It’s a wonder that anyone in that kind of environment can focus enough to have a conversation. A new study by researchers at Brown University’s Carney Institute for Brain Science provides some of the most detailed insights yet into the brain mechanisms that help people pay attention amid such distraction, as well as what’s happening when they can’t focus.

In an earlier psychology study, the researchers established that people can separately control how much they focus (by enhancing relevant information) and how much they filter (by tuning out distractions). The team’s new research, published in Nature Human Behaviour, unveils the process by which the brain coordinates these two critical functions.