Brain Science Podcast #24: Reading and the Brain

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Show Notes

Dr. Wolf's book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, is divided into three main topics: the history of how writing and reading developed over the last few thousand years, the developmental stages involved in learning how to read, and what happens when the brain can't learn to read. My podcast concentrates on the main ideas from the first two topics.

History of Writing:

• the discovery of symbols
• Early writing systems- cuneiform and hieroglyphics
  • why Chinese gives us a window into the past
• Importance of the Alphabet
  • some claims and conclusions
• Why Socrates opposed literacy

The Stages of Becoming a Reader:

• the early pre-reader-with emphasis on language development
• the novice reader-connecting letters to the sounds of language
• the decoding reader-
• the fluent comprehending reader-learning to "read between the lines"
• the expert reader-why reading continues to change us throughout our lives

What goes wrong when the brain can't learn to read: how new findings are leading to new solutions

Links and References

• Maryann Wolf, Director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University
  • Her book Proust and the Squid contains extensive references to various scientific studies in the area
  • interview of Dr. Wolf
  • information for teachers

• FastForward-an successful approach to treating dyslexia
• Michael Posner-a psychologist who used PET scans to study what happens during shifts of attention (a necessary first step in reading)

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Books and Ideas #14 Dr. Pamela Gay from Astronomy Cast

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Show Notes for Books and Ideas Podcast #14

This episode is a conversation with Dr. Pamela Gay from the Astronomy Cast. Dr. Gay teaches astronomy and physics at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Before the Astronomy Cast she was one of the hosts of one of the first science podcasts, Slacker Astronomy. I think her enthusiasm for science and especially for astronomy comes through in this interview.

Besides astronomy we talked about the challenges of teaching science as well as the challenges of being a female scientist.

Links:

Astronomy Cast

Pamela Gay's Blog

FemaleScienceProfessor Blog

Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar by Kameshwar C. Wali

Buffy Between the Lines: an audio drama definitely worth checking out if you love the Buffyverse

Pushing Daisies my favorite new TV show

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Brain Science Podcast #23: Interview with author Susan Blakeslee

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Show Notes

This episode is an interview with Sandra Blakeslee, co-author (with her son Matthew) of The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps Help You Do (almost) Everything Better, which we discussed in episode 21.

I asked Blakeslee to tell me a little bit of her background as a science writer. She wrote for the New York Times for many years and was the co-author of both Jeff Hawkins groundbreaking book, On Intelligence and VS Ramachandran's modern class Phantoms in the Brain (1998), which was one of the first books to explore neuroplasticity.

In this interview we explored the relationship between body maps and neuroplasticity, as well as questions from listeners about out of body experiences and other oddities once considered "paranormal." We talked about how body maps are relevant to understanding why some methods of alternative healing appear to be effective.

I asked her to tell me which scientist she met made the biggest impression. Here are a few of those she mentioned:

• Marco Iacoboni at UCLA
• Atsushi Iriki-cyberspace
• Olaf Blanke in Switzerland who has discovered how the angular gyrus is involved in out-of-body experiences
• Arthur "Bud" Craig who is the pioneer of mapping the insula
• Michael Merzenich-a pioneer in the field of neuroplasticity who also helped design the first cochlear implant

Blakeslee told me about some of the pioneering work that Merzenich is doing to apply his discoveries to help people, both those with disabilities and those who just want to combat aging. You can learn more about his work at http://www.positscience.com/.

If you would like to contact Sandra Blakeslee to give her feedback or ask her questions she has a contact form on her books website at http://www.thebodyhasamindofitsown.com/. She is going to let me know when she gets the references posted on the site.

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Click Below to Listen to Podcasts

• Interview of Sandra Blakeslee (episode 23)
• Discussion of her latest book (episode 21)
• Brief Review of On Intelligence (episode 2)

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Warning: Watch out for bad audio links

The audio files for both of my podcasts are hosted on Libsyn and they have recently changed the addresses for people's podcast audio files. Unfortunately this means that I probably have a lot of bad links floating around not just on this site, but in numerous other locations around the internet. I intend to try to fix the ones I remember posting, but that may take a while, so if you find a bad link please let me know.

Thanks to SpiritSeeker for originally bringing the problem to my attention.

If you are in a hurry to find an old episode you can go directly to my Libsyn sites:

Books and Ideas is at http://booksandideas.libsyn.com

Brain Science Podcast is at http://brainsciencepodcast.libsyn.com

Comics About A Guy Named Archie: Richard Goldwater’s World

Download MP3 - Richard Goldwater

Archie Comics president and co-publisher Richard Goldwater, 71, who, with his father John, created “Josie and the Pussycats,” has taken his Final Taxi.
He assisted co-publisher Michael Silberkleit with efforts to expand Archie’s core characters into other mediums – including countless Archie, Sabrina and Josie animated TV series, a long-running live-action Sabrina series that has been seen in 34 different countries, a Josie and the Pussycats theatrical motion picture, and “The Archies,” a musical group that had tremendous success in the 1960s and 1970s.

Brain Science Podcast #22: Interview with Christof Koch

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Brain Science Podcast #22 is an interview with Dr. Christof Koch of Cal Tech, one of the pioneers in the neurobiological study of consciousness. About two decades ago when Koch and Francis Crick began looking for what they called the neural correlates of consciousness (NCC), such a quest was considered controversial, but now the field is increasing in popularity. In our interview we talked a little about his book, The Quest for Consciousness, as well as his on-going research and his thoughts about what the future might bring.

Show Notes

Here is a list of some of the topics we discussed:

• Why Francis Crick was an outstanding mentor and colleague
• A Working definition of consciousness
• How consciousness relates to awareness
• What are neural correlates of consciousness
• Why vision is the focus of Koch's research
• The search for the "footprints" of consciousness
• The role of functional imaging and the use of monkeys
• Neurons-"the atoms of perception"
• Why we need a theory of consciousness
• The role of the frontal lobes in consciousness
• Is consciousness an emergent property?
• What about zombies?
• Why do we need consciousness?
• Will artificial intelligence become conscious?
• The hard problem: how does the brain generate subjective experience (qualia)

Links:

Christof Koch's homepage

The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach (2004)

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FINAL TAXI : Alice Ghostley

DIRECT DOWNLOAD MP3: ALICE GHOSTLEY

Tony Award-winning actress Alice Ghostley, well-known to TV viewers for playing confused sidekicks on Bewitched and Designing Women took her Final Taxi at 81.

From 1966 through 1972, she made regular appearances on the sitcom Bewitched as shy, bumbling witch Esmeralda From 1986 through 1993, Ghostley portrayed oddball neighbor Bernice Clifton on the hit series Designing Women. She earned an Emmy nomination for the role in 1992.

Over a six-decade career, she made more than 90 TV appearances in such shows as Evening Shade, Love, American Style, Capt. Nice, and Mayberry R.F.D.
Ghostley appeared in 30 films, including To Kill a Mockingbird , The Graduate, Gator and Two on a Bench

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.”