CogNation
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CogNation is a podcast by Rolf Nelson and Joe Hardy, two cognitive psychologists interested in the future of brain science and technology. We explore relevant topics in the areas of cognitive science, technology, AI, and philosophy. Although we dabble with dystopian implications of new technologies (such as the impending robopocalypse), we are led by our curiosity and try to keep it light and..
CogNation
1M ago
What can neuroscience teach us about AI, and vice versa, what can AI teach us about our own intelligence?
Joe and Rolf talk to returning guest Daniel Sternberg about advances in AI over the past year. Topics include using the methods of cognitive psychology to understand AI; representation in artificial intelligence; what current large language models (LLMs) are good at and not good at; sentience in AI; the future of humanity; and other important stuff.
Natural and Artificial Intelligence: A brief introduction to the interplay between AI and neuroscience research (Macpherson, et al., 202 ..read more
CogNation
1M ago
This episode is dedicated to the memory of colleague and friend Grace Baron.
Joe and Rolf talk to Dr. Matthew Goodwin, a professor at Northeastern University whose research focus is on autism. His most recent paper used biosensing (heart rate, skin conductance, etc.) to predict aggressive behavior in profound autistic individuals up to three minutes before the event.  ..read more
CogNation
1M ago
Joe and Rolf discuss the ideas of perceptual psychologist Donald Hoffman, who has argued that our perceptual systems have no access to reality, since evolution is driven by fitness functions, not objective truth. He has also argued that our perception is a user interface (like a desktop on a computer, or a VR headset), and that objects such as the moon don't exist when we are not apprehending them.
Hoffman, Donald. The case against reality: Why evolution hid the truth from our eyes. WW Norton & Company, 2019.
Bagwell, J. N. (2023). Debunking interface theory: why Hoffman’s skepticis ..read more
CogNation
1M ago
Neil Markey, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, used meditation for years to deal with depression and PTSD. He is currently CEO of Beckley Retreats, a group that runs retreats to Jamaica and the Netherlands for guided psychedelic experiences. He talks about his path from the military to consulting to his work with Beckley, how guided psychedelic retreats are run (including work to prepare in advance, as well as to integrate after), and how he envisions the future of psychedelics for both treatment of disorders and for enhancing quality of life for those without disorders.
Special Guest: Neil M ..read more
CogNation
1M ago
We discuss the recent controversy about Integrated Information Theory (IIT), a theory about the neural correlates of consciousness, with Felipe De Brigard, a philosophy and psychology professor at Duke University who signed a letter describing the theory as pseudoscience.
The letter: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/zsr78/
The adversarial collaboration: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0268577
Description of IIT: https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011465 ..read more
CogNation
1M ago
Joe and Rolf talk to psychedelic researcher Robin Carhart-Harris. Robin is at the cutting edge of research on the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms), LSD, and DMT. He discusses psychotherapy and the unconscious mind, models of what psychedelics are doing in the brain, and many other topics. A really fascinating and in-depth conversation.
You can find links to his published research as well as a series of videos on harm reduction at the following link:
https://www.carhartharrislab.com/
Special Guest: Robin Carhart-Harris ..read more
CogNation
1M ago
Joe and Rolf discuss new work in neural interfaces that is helping paralyzed individuals communicate.
Based on the recent Nature article:
Metzger, S. L., Littlejohn, K. T., Silva, A. B., Moses, D. A., Seaton, M. P., Wang, R., ... & Chang, E. F. (2023). A high-performance neuroprosthesis for speech decoding and avatar control. Nature, 1-10 ..read more
CogNation
1M ago
Rolf and Joe discuss two philosophical theories of the self, Bundle Theory and Ego Theory, based on a paper by Derek Parfit. They return to the topic of the teletransporter, and although Joe is happy to go through the teletransporter, Rolf is convinced it means certain death.
Parfit, D. (2016). Divided minds and the nature of persons. Science Fiction and Philosophy: From Time Travel to Superintelligence, 91-98 ..read more
CogNation
1M ago
In this episode, CogNation goes to the Psychedelic Science conference in Denver to get in on all the excitement. We present four interviews from the conference that represent a range of ideas about the resurgent interest in psychedelics as therapeutics.
Bekely Waves
The East Institute
Balasz Szigeti
Manoj Doss ..read more
CogNation
1M ago
Manesh Girn talks to us about the effects of psychedelics on the brain, based on his recent paper, "A complex systems perspective on psychedelic brain action". We discuss the current state of psychedelics as therapeutics, and how information theory can model changes in brain states that result from taking psychedelics.
Special Guest: Manesh Girn ..read more