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 anything like muscle power? In this episode, we welcome prominent social psyc

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

Feb 2nd, 2023 1h 31m

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 taste in relation to vision, hearing and somatosensory systems, like touch

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

Jan 2nd, 2023 1h 32m

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 product of enormous periods of evolution and environmental conditions that

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

Nov 22nd, 2022 43m 6s

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 and neuroscientist David Edelman, developmental neuropsychiatrist Dr. Jay

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

Oct 18th, 2022 1h 23m

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 Static, gross anatomical divisions are superseded by the dynamical connectome of cortex.This holistic viewpoint is detailed in the recent paper in the Jour

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

Jul 11th, 2022 26m 19s

“Can consciousness be seen as the key to understanding our surroundings and organizing our actions?” — David Edelman, PhD, Neuroscientist and Visiting Scholar in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Dartmouth CollegeEp 22: C

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

Jun 6th, 2022 1h 3m

"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 progress on understanding consciousness."- Stanley A. Klein, psychophysici

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

May 3rd, 2022 36m 4s

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 brains are very good at recognizing patterns, but also at creating them, even

Bonus

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

Mar 18th, 2022 25m 41s

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 cognitive development further down in life. I just wonder about the amount of

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

Mar 17th, 2022 1h 43m

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't want to go to them for the details, you want to go to them for the ove

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

Jan 28th, 2022 1h 18m

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

Nov 22nd, 2021 1h 50m

"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 processing that's going on of all this information in our environment, where may

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

Sep 4th, 2021 1h 10m

"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 plausible one, for various reasons, including other people's work, of cou

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

May 14th, 2021 28m 5s

"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 information. Capturing attention and getting people excited about the inf

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

Feb 1st, 2021 1h 8m

“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 whole face lights up. And you ask, "What do you feel like?" And they say

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

Sep 25th, 2020 44m 54s

"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 the Global Workspace Theory, a theory of cognitive architecture and consci

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

Jul 23rd, 2020 1h 12m

"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 important for conscious process[ing].”- David Edelman, PhD, A neuroscientis

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

Jun 30th, 2020 21m 24s

"Episodic memory involves conscious experiences being encoded. Same goes for semantic and autobiographical memories. All varieties of memories come in through conscious moments of recall. So, I think that consciousness is the means by which an

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

Jun 2nd, 2020 31m 6s

"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? Does it suggest areas of research? Does it make predictions that we can tes

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

May 18th, 2020 37m 34s

"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 really interesting aspect of behavior, that maybe gives us a window on the di

#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

Apr 30th, 2020 13m 11s

"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 imaging? What are we looking for, in a sense, and could I predict from basic

#7 — On Consciousness & The Brain - An Uplifting Discussion with Bernard Baars & David Edelman at DG Wills Books in La Jolla, CA

Apr 16th, 2020 1h 30m

In this uplifting episode recorded at La Jolla landmark D.G. Wills Books, neuroscientists Bernie Baars & David Edelman unpack the nature of consciousness — the ineffable sense of ‘aboutness’ each one of us experiences that encompasses features

#6 — The Potential of Biologically Inspired Neural Modeling with Neurorobotics Expert, Jeffrey Krichmar

Apr 16th, 2020 44m 8s

In this episode of "On Consciousness," neuroscientists Bernie Baars, Jeff Krichmar, and David Edelman engage in a freewheeling conversation that begins with mulling over the possible development of conscious machines -- or ‘conscious artifact,’

#5 — Pt 4 - Is Cortex the Organ of Mind? GWT originator, Bernard Baars explores conscious and unconscious brain events.

Apr 16th, 2020 15m 59s

Why are we conscious? Is cortex the organ of mind? Throughout human history, people have perceived the conscious brain as the great nexus of human life, of social relationships, of their personal identities and histories, in encounters with new

Trailer

When are brains capable of this sensation of being self aware? Dr. Jay Giedd On Consciousness with Bernard Baars

Feb 16th, 2020 22s

“If not in the womb, at what point in life do we first have the sensation of being us? In terms of knowing that we’re an individual person... And where that line is crossed, including octopus or other animals, at what point in terms of our brai