Consciousness and the Brain

#27 — Is Willpower Like Muscle Power? with Roy F. Baumeister

How do we regulate our impulsive emotions, resist temptation, break bad habits, and come up to our best potential - and why do we sometimes run short? Is willpower anythi

#26 — Smell, Taste & Consciousness with Dr. Stuart Firestein

Neurobiologist Stuart Firestein, one of the world's leading experts on olfaction, joins Bernard Baars to discuss the similarities and surprising differences of smell and

#25 — Human Consciousness and AI: What Does the Future Hold? with Susan Schneider and Rachel St. Clair

In this episode, we examine Human Consciousness and AI, and particularly the popular idea that AI will become conscious at some point.  Because conscious brains are the

#24 — The Conscious Brain Evolved with David Edelman, Jay Giedd & Mark Mitton

The home of the late Nobel Laureate, Gerald Edelman, is the setting for this elevated discussion on human consciousness. In this episode, Bernie is joined by Gerald's son

#23 — Global Workspace Theory (GWT) and Prefrontal Cortex: Recent Developments (Baars et al., 2021)

We think of the cortex in terms of anatomical regions, but the cortex works as a whole. Static, gross anatomical divisions are superseded by the dynamical connectome of c

#22 — Consciousness Has an Integrative Function with Neuroscientist, David Edelman

“Can consciousness be seen as the key to understanding our surroundings and organizing our actions?” — David Edelman, PhD, Neuroscientist and Visiting Scholar in the Depa

#21 — The Duet of Physics & Psychology with Psychophysicist, Stanley Klein

"Subjectivity and consciousness are the two main mysteries that science is still faced with. I'm an optimist. I believe that in the next half a century we might make prog

#20 — Neural Traffic Flow in the Conscious Brain with Dr. Jay Giedd

The brain seeks meaning and patterns. It would be very adaptive to do so in nature, because you need to know how to predict danger and to develop social ties. So our brai

#19 — The Sleeping Brain: Better Than a Cup of Coffee

Studies show that, especially for young children, if you prematurely wake them up and deprive them of that much needed sleep, it becomes detrimental to their proper cogni

#18 — Global Workspace Functions, the Brain and Consciousness: Connectivity, Waking, & Sleep - Part III

Global Workspace Theory is probably oversimplified, just like the Newtonian theory of the planets and their orbits. And that's what framework theories usually do. You don

#17 — ”Global Workspace Theory: Exploring Evidence for Widespread Integration & Broadcasting of Conscious Signals - Part Two”

"I think in terms of consciousness, it seems to me that these Feelings of Knowing are perhaps the conscious tip of the iceberg for this huge amount of unconscious process

#16 — ”Global Workspace Theory: Exploring Origins and Evidence - Part One”

"One of the major features of the Global Workspace hypothesis began with limited capacity, that there has to be a compensatory event in the brain happening, and the most

#15 — ”Communicating Science Effectively and The Notion of Free Will” with Dr. Heather Berlin *On Consciousness*

"The idea is to help people understand how this science is relevant to their daily lives. Our brain likes novelty. It gets this sort of dopamine hit when you give it new

#14 — ”Psychedelics, Impulsivity, and Brain Stimulation” with Dr. Heather Berlin *On Consciousness*

“In many cases you can see an immediate effect, as in chronic depression – suddenly you turn on the electrodes – you don't tell them when it's on or off, right? And their

#13 — ”Thinking About Animal Consciousness” w/ David Edelman *On Consciousness*

"The only way we get certainty or stability in the world is to start from what we know, and gradually move to what we don't know."   - Bernard Baars, PhD, originator of

#12 — ”The Brain is Embodied and the Body is Embedded” w/ Magician Mark Mitton *On Consciousness*

"Consciousness can be firmly embedded in biology, based on the fact that all kinds of [demonstrably biological] processes that are not [by themselves] conscious are impor

#11 — Brain Regions & Neural Functions Critical to Conscious States w/ Dr Jay Giedd *On Consciousness*

"Episodic memory involves conscious experiences being encoded. Same goes for semantic and autobiographical memories. All varieties of memories come in through conscious m

#10 — Global Workspace Theory (GWT) - Brain Aspects and Evidence w/ Dr Jay Giedd | On Consciousness

"All models are wrong, but some are useful." And I think ultimately that's the test of a construct like Global Workspace Theory - does it lead us to greater knowledge? Do

#9 — What is the difference that makes a difference? Jay Giedd On Consciousness w/ Bernard Baars

"You highlighted the difference that makes a difference. Тhis is not only a neat catchphrase, but there's also something very deep about it. And sleep, in fact, is a real

#8 — In context of developing human brains, how can we understand consciousness? Roundtable Pt 1: Neuroanatomy & Neuro-function Approach with Jay Giedd, Chief of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, UCSD

"I want to try to understand consciousness from a neuroanatomy and neuro-function standpoint. What would consciousness look like in a brain scanner and other types of ima