#391 Matthew Cobb: The Idea of the Brain
RECORDED ON SEPTEMBER 11th 2020.
Dr. Matthew Cobb is Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester, where his research focuses on the sense of smell, insect behavior and the history of science. He is also a historian of the French Resistance. He’s the author of several books, including The Idea of the Brain: A History.
In this episode, we talk about The Idea of the Brain, and the history and approaches in the discipline of neuroscience. We start with some of the history about where people located the mind in the body, when we started locating mind in the brain, and several different metaphors that researchers used in science. We discuss if artificial intelligence can create good models of the mind/brain. We talk about localization, neuroplasticity, and modularity of mind. Then Dr. Cobb talks about the studies we did on the neurons of Drosophila maggots. Finally, we talk about the questions that science can answer about consciousness, and also the future of neuroscience.
Time Links:
Where people located the mind throughout history
The mind in the brain
Metaphors of the brain
Artificial intelligence
Localization
Neuroplasticity
Modularity of mind
Studying the neurons of Drosophila maggots
The difficulty in predicting behavior
The science of consciousness
The future of neuroscience
Follow Dr. Cobb’s work!
Relevant links:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/3ioNGX3
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/33qDbMS
The Idea of the Brain: https://amzn.to/3m8RuhD
Twitter handle: @matthewcobb