FINAL TAXI : Brett Somers

DIRECT MP3 DOWNLOAD: Brett Somers Takes Her Final Taxi

Actress and comedian Brett Somers, who amused game show fans with her quips on the “Match Game” in the 1970s, has taken her Final Taxi at 83.

Hosted by Gene Rayburn, “Match Game” was the top game show during much of the 1970s. Contestants would try to match answers to nonsense questions with a panel of celebrities; much of the humor came from the racy quips and putdowns which many came from Brett Somers.

She stared in my Broadway shows, movies and television shows like Barney Miller, MaryTyler Moore, Love American Style, and Perry Mason.

I adored her quick wit and outspokenness. She will be missed!

Brain Science Podcast #21: Body Maps

Featured in this episode: The Body has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better (2007), by Sandra Blakeslee and Matthew Blakeslee. (Also available on from Audible.com)

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SHOW NOTES

Topics:

• Body Maps and the role of embodiment
• Basic ideas about the body maps in the brain
• Mapping the world around us
• How Body maps differ between species
• Body Schema and Body image
• The role of body maps in disease
• The role of belief in health and illness
• How body maps explain non-traditional healing methods and unusual experiences
• The role of motor imagery in improving motor skills
• Mirror Neurons
• Place and grid neurons in the hippocampus (see more on Scholarpedia)
• How sensation and emotions come together (the role of the insula)

Scientists mentioned in the podcast:

• Wilder Penfield: discovered the maps of the primary sensory and primary motor cortex
• Sir Henry Head and Gordon Holmes: British neurologists who first proposed the idea of the body schema in 1911
• Arthur Craig: first to study the unique wiring of the insula.
• Antonio Damasio: studies the role of emotion in intelligent decision-making
• Marco Iacoboni: demonstrated the role of the right angular cingulate gyrus in our sense of self versus others (Dr. Iacoboni has PDF's available on his site)

Other scientists mentioned in The Body has a Mind of Its Own:

• William Straub: sports psychologist who demonstrated that students could improve at darts through mental imagery
• Alvaro Pascual-Leone: used 5 finger piano exercise to show changes in motor maps both from actual practice and from imagery
• Michael Merzenich: classic experiments showing changing in motor maps in monkeys
• Scott Frey: using imagery in stroke rehab
• Jennifer Stevens: use of mirror boxes in stroke rehab
• Edoardo Bisiach: theories about spatial awareness and neglect
  
• Jamie Ward: documented a patient with color-emotion synesthesia as possible explanation for auras
• Olaf Blanke: studies the anterior cingulate gyrus, which map be important in out-of-body experiences
• Atsushi Iriki: has demonstrated how the parietal lobes in monkeys change with tool use
• Christian Keysters: thinks mirror neurons may be a key precursor for the development of abstract thought and language
• Hugo Critchley: expert in brain imaging who is interested in the relationship between emotional intelligence and interoception (visceral awareness)
• John Allman: studies the role of the frontal insula and anterior cingulate gyrus in intuition (quick decisions)
• Sara Lazar: has demontrated that the right frontal insula and left prefrontal cortex increase in size in experienced meditators (more on her meditation research)

Note: This list is not exhaustive. I know I left off VS Ramachandran and several others, but those listed above did work that was addressed, directly or indirectly, in my podcast.

Brain Structures (links include diagrams of the brain):

• Primary Sensory Cortex
• Primary Motor Cortex
• Premotor Cortex
• Frontal Insula
• Parietal lobe
• Amygdala
• Anterior Cingulate Gyrus

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The voice of Jaws and Airplane’s Lipstick Lady

Direct Download MP3- Percy Rodriguez & Charlotte Zucker

Percy Rodrigues, whose role as a neurosurgeon on the 1960s television series “Peyton Place” broke ground because he was cast as an authority figure when relatively few black actors were given such parts, has taken his Final Taxi at 89. He will be known by Star Trek fans as Commodore Stone in the original series but most have heard his voice in movie ads and voiceovers. His most popular would be for “Jaws.”

Charlotte Zucker was the mother of filmmakers David Zucker and Jerry Zucker (aka The Zucker Brothers) who appears in her sons’ movies, including Airplane!, Top Secret!, Ghost, My Boss’ Daughter, First Knight and The Naked Gun trilogy. In Airplane she was the ‘Lipstick Lady.”

Brain Science Podcast #20: The Female Brain with Dr. Louann Brizendine

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Episode #20 of the Brain Science Podcast is an interview with Dr. Louann Brizendine of the Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic at the University of California at San Francisco. Her book, The Female Brain was just released in paperback and it is on the New York Times Bestseller list.

We explore how hormones and neurotransmitters effect our brains and how these effects are different in men and women. This episode has interesting stuff for listeners of both sexes.

If you would like to learn more visit Dr. Brizendine's website at http://louannbrizendine.com.

Please participate in my audience survey at http://wizzard.tv/survey/brainsciencepodcast.

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FINAL TAXI: Inventors of Mr. Freeze & Beach Party Movies

Direct Download: Final Taxi Podcast

This week the Final Taxi talks about Max Hodge who took an unknown comic villain and turn him into on of Batman’s most remembered rouges, Mr. Freeze.

Also we follow the life of Tony Caras who after working in horror films with Rodger Corman and made film history in the 60s with ‘beach party’ movies.

Brain Science Podcast #19: Gut Feelings

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Show Notes for Brain Science Podcast #19: Gut Feelings

This episode is a discussion of Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious (2007) by Gerd Gigerenzer

Dr. Gigerenzer argues that unconscious decision-making or intuition is actually based on the use of hueristics (rules of thumb) that can be explored, and even brought into awareness. In this episode I discuss his basic arguments with an emphasis on the differences between intuitive reasoning and formal logic. Then we explore some examples including the application of these ideas to more controversial areas like morality and social instincts. Listen to episode.

Some of his ideas are provocative and I hope you will discuss them on the Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum.

References

Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious (2007) by Gerd Gigerenzer

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005) by Malcolm Gladwell

See also Brain Science Podcast #13: Unconscious Decision Making

Links of Interest

Gerd Gigerenzer-wikipedia

Gerd Gigerenzer-home page at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Jonathan Haidt-social psychologist mentioned in this episode

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New Group on Facebook

I just started a new group on Facebook called Alabama Podcasters. I am using the Birmingham Podcasting logo because I hope this group will help us find more local podcasters both from around Birmingham and the rest of Alabama.

FINAL TAXI : Charles Lane -The Face Is Familiar

DIRECT DOWNLOAD: Charles Lane

Charles Lane, the prolific character actor whose name was little known but whose crotchety persona and roles in hundreds of films made him recognizable to generations of moviegoers took his Final Taxi at 102.

Lane, whose career spanned more than 60 years, appeared in such film classics as “It‘s a Wonderful Life,” “Arsenic and Old Lace” and “Primrose Path.” He also had a recurring role as the scheming railroad man Homer Bedloe on the 1960s TV sitcom “Petticoat Junction” and appeared often on “I Love Lucy.”

Mr. Lane’s voice was heard in Disney’s 1970 animated feature “The AristoCats.” He was an admiral in “The Winds of War” TV miniseries and appeared in the movie “Murphy’s Romance” with Sally Field in 1986.

He also acted in TV episodes of “Soap,”"The Flying Nun,” “Bewitched” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” and showed up on “L.A. Law,” “St. Elsewhere” and “Lou Grant.”

Mr. Lane had small parts in “The Music Man,” “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” and “The Carpetbaggers,” among his many films. His acting résumé included roles as a judge, gambler, priest, bank examiner, military officer, customs and immigration official and Western lawman.

Brain Science Podcast #18: Interview with Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg

Brain Science Podcast #18 is an interview with Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, PhD.

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Show Notes:

• I apologize for the uneven sound quality of this episode. If any one out there has any suggestions please drop me an email.
• Dr. Goldberg shared a little bit about the breadth of his work as a neuropsychologist.
• We talked about his rather unique perspective on the difference between the right and left brain hemispheres. He explained why he feels that as we get older we move from reliance on the right hemisphere, which he feels is the novelty hemisphere, to a reliance on the left hemisphere, where our lifetime store of patterns enables us to use pattern recognition as a short cut in problem solving.
• We talked about the importance of constant mental challenge, and Dr. Goldberg gives his advice about how we can keep our brains healthy through out our lives.

Links:

The following are two companies that Dr. Goldberg is working with to provide information to the public and also tools for cognitive enhancement:

• SharpBrains-this is a clearing house for information and they evaluate many of the products currently being offered.
• HeadStrong Cognitive Fitness-this Australian company offers a net-based program for cognitive enhancement based on Dr. Goldberg's research. I am hoping to test their products in the near future.

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Books and Ideas #13: Harry Potter with guest co-host, Patrick Pricken

Even if you haven't finished reading Book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling you can enjoy this podcast, which features guest co-host Patrick Pricken, from Germany. Patrick's blog, which features movie and book reviews can be found at http://www.p-pricken.de/. (The blog is in German, but translation to English is available from Google.)

We talked about what why JK Rowling's work has international appeal, even among adult readers. We explore our favorite characters and talk about whether Book 7 lived up to our expectations.

The episode is spoiler-free up to the 17 minute mark. The last 15 minutes does contain specific material from the last book, so if you haven't read it yet you will want to stop listening at 17:00, until you finish the book.

If you would like to talk about the podcast or share your favorite Harry Potter memories, please join us in the the special section with in the Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum.

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