#413 Michael Anderson: Understanding How The Brain Evolved
RECORDED ON OCTOBER 23rd 2020.
Dr. Michael Anderson is Rotman Canada Research Chair in Philosophy of Science, Core member at the Rotman Institute of Philosophy, and Core member at the Brain and Mind Institute at the University of Western Ontario. For 2012-13, Dr. Anderson is a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, at Stanford University. His primary areas of research include an account of the evolution of the cortex via exaptation of existing neural circuitry (the “massive redeployment hypothesis”); the role of behavior, and of the brain’s motor-control areas, in supporting higher-order cognitive functions; the foundations of intentionality (the connection between objects of thought and things in the world); and the role of self-monitoring and self-control in maintaining robust real-world agency.
In this episode, we talk neuroscience and cognitive science. We start with the evolution of the brain, and what is the best way to understand it, and go through the modularity approach, the idea of functional localization, and the triune brain model. We then move into mechanisms like neuromodulation, neuroplasticity, response to damage, and neural regeneration. We talk about Dr. Anderson’s massive redeployment (or reuse) hypothesis of brain evolution. Finally, we talk about how important interdisciplinarity is to studying the brain.
Time Links:
How to understand how the brain evolved (modularity, functional localization, and the triune brain model)
Brain permeability to the environment (neuromodulation, neuroplasticity, response to damage)
Neuroplasticity and neural regeneration
The massive redeployment hypothesis, and its implications for cognition research and clinical practice
An interdisciplinary approach to the brain
Questions about the brain that we haven’t answered yet
Follow Dr. Anderson’s work!
Follow Dr. Anderson’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/35wF1wy
EMRG Lab: https://bit.ly/3e02KJx
PhilPeople page: https://bit.ly/3dXsExk
Works on ResearchGate: https://bit.ly/3oouAUx
Twitter handle: @mljanderson