Alzheimer’s disease, fronto temporal dementia and progressive supra nuclear palsy. Using this study design, the investigators found four genes that marked vulnerable neurons across all three disorders, highlighting pathways that could be used to develop new therapeutic approaches.
The discovery of genes that marked vulnerable neurons could open options for therapeutic approaches.
At some point in your life, you must’ve experienced a lightbulb moment when an amazing idea just popped into your head out of nowhere. But what is your brain doing during these brief periods of creativity?
Researchers from the University of Utah Health and Baylor College of Medicine looked into the origin of creative thinking in the brain. They found that different parts of the brain work together to produce creative ideas, not just one particular area.
“Unlike motor function or vision, they’re not dependent on one specific location in the brain,” Ben Shofty, the senior author of the study and an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine, said. “There’s not a creativity cortex.”
Philosopher Daniel Dennett explains how his functionalist perspective can shed some light on the apparent mystery of conscious experience. Interviewed by Louis Godbout.
(Aria from J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations played by Andrew Rangell, Keyboard Masterworks, Steinway \& Sons).
Daniel C. Dennett is one of the most influential philosophers of our time, perhaps best known in cognitive science for his multiple drafts (or “fame in the brain”) model of human consciousness, and to the secular community for his 2006 book Breaking the Spell. Author and co-author of two-dozen books, he’s the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, and Co-Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University, where he taught our very own Point of Inquiry host Lindsay Beyerstein.
Beyerstein and Dennett catch up to discuss Dennett’s newest book, From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds. It’s a fresh look at Dennett’s earlier work on the subject of consciousness, taken in new directions as he seeks a “bottom-up view of creation.” Join Dennett and Beyerstein as they discuss the how’s and why’s of consciousness, not just from an evolutionary and neurological standpoint, but also through the lenses of computer science and human culture.
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Dr. Sanjeev Namjoshi, a machine learning engineer who recently submitted a book on Active Inference to MIT Press, discusses the theoretical foundations and practical applications of Active Inference, the Free Energy Principle (FEP), and Bayesian mechanics. He explains how these frameworks describe how biological and artificial systems maintain stability by minimizing uncertainty about their environment.
Namjoshi traces the evolution of these fields from early 2000s neuroscience research to current developments, highlighting how Active Inference provides a unified framework for perception and action through variational free energy minimization. He contrasts this with traditional machine learning approaches, emphasizing Active Inference’s natural capacity for exploration and curiosity through epistemic value.
The discussion covers key technical concepts like Markov blankets.
generative models, and the distinction between continuous and discrete implementations. Namjoshi explains how Active Inference moved from continuous state-space models (2003−2013) to discrete formulations (2015-present) to better handle planning problems.
He sees Active Inference as being at a similar stage to deep learning in the early 2000s — poised for significant breakthroughs but requiring better tools and wider adoption. While acknowledging current computational challenges, he emphasizes Active Inference’s potential advantages over reinforcement learning, particularly its principled approach to exploration and planning.
Namjoshi advocates for balanced oversight that enables innovation while maintaining appropriate safeguards. He expresses particular concern about the rapid pace of AI development potentially outpacing our understanding of risks and regulatory frameworks.
Dr. Sanjeev Namjoshi.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said on Tuesday (October 29) that Neuralink, the company he co-founded, should look to develop a brain implant which would alleviate neck and back pain. Neuralink develops makes Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) which can be implanted in human brain. Musk’s latest comment came in a post he made on X (formerly Twitter), the social media platform he owns.
I am increasingly convinced that @Neuralink should prioritize making an implant that can eliminate back & neck pain.
Would greatly improve people’s happiness while awake, as well as enhance quality of sleep.
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What is information in biology? information is essential for analyzing data and testing hypotheses. But what is information in evolution, population genetics, levels of selection, and molecular genetics? Is computational biology transformational?
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Terrence William Deacon is an American neuroanthropologist. He taught at Harvard for eight years, relocated to Boston University in 1992, and is currently Professor of Anthropology and member of the Cognitive Science Faculty at the University of California, Berkeley.
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