Convergent Science Network Podcast

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We can learn a lot from brains and bodies when making machines and robots. But reversely, building complex machine systems can also give ideas about how brains and bodies have implemented their functioning over the evolution of ages. This podcast discusses various themes and aspects in-between robot…

Convergent Science Network: by Prof. Paul Verschure


    • Sep 13, 2018 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 1h AVG DURATION
    • 101 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Convergent Science Network Podcast

    Interview with Viktor Jisra

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2018 79:00


    Interview with Vincent Hayaward

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2018 100:02


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    Interview with Stuart Wilson

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2018 68:20


    Interview with Christine Aircadi

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2018 38:57


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    Interview with Lars Muckli

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2018 88:30


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    Interview with Elena Galea

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 10, 2018 82:16


    Interview with Aaron Schurger

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2018 71:08


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    Interview with Marco Diana

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2018 67:24


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    Interview with Encari Marcos

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2018 38:27


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    Interview with Yoram Vodovotz

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2018 77:38


    Interview with Joscha Bach

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2018 103:34


    Interview with Bjorn Merker

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 4, 2018 68:23


    Interview with Luis Fuentemilla

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2018 62:46


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    Interview with Maarja Kruusma

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 56:47


    Maarja Kruusma (Tallin University of Technology) studies the building of fish, focusing especially on swimming. With Paul Verschure she discusses the importance of morphological details and body control, as well as biomimetical approaches in general.

    Interview Paul Verchure

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 91:14


    Tony Prescott interviews Paul Verschure on his theory of the brain and how it has given rise to new hypotheses on the function and mechanisms of conscicousness

    Interview Daniel Polani

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 96:16


    We discuss the question of how biological and artificial systems can explore and find information relative to their goals. In response, Daniel explains his notion of "Empowerment".

    Interview Béchir Jarraya and Lynn Uhrig

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 75:16


    Bechir and Uhrig discuss their work on the mechanisms of consciousness as revealed through anaesthesia.

    Interview Neil Burguess

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 81:49


    Neil Burgess discusses his latest insights in the memory systems of the brain, the hippocampus, including its experimental and theoretical exploration.

    Interview Ton Coolen

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 60:38


    Ton Coolen describes the complex network of the immune system and how theoretical models can help us to understand their function in health and disease.

    Interview Semir Zeki

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 90:07


    Semir Zeki speaks on the visual system of the human brain and how it can give rise to aesthetic experiences.

    Interview Giacomo Rizzolatti

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 62:57


    Giacomo Rizzolatti takes us on a tour through his long study of the mirror neuron system of the brain and how it revolutionized the study of mind

    Interview Jose Halloy

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 84:17


    Jose Halloy speaks on his experiments where he used robots to investigate the collective behavior of animals.

    Interview Matthew E. Diamond

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 81:44


    Matthew E. Diamond (SISSA, Trieste) discusses the neural correlates of decision making, and his studies of that in both humans and rats.

    Interview Francesca Giaccuci

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 36:06


    Francesca Cacucci takes us on a tour of the organization of the memory systems of the brain from cells to circuits and behavior.

    Interview Aurore Thibault

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 36:01


    Aurore Thibault discusses the state of the art in the science of consciousness

    Interview Narender Ramnani

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 70:06


    Narender Ramnani (University of London) studies the cerebellum, and discusses here his view of the functional interactions between that brain area and the neocortical areas of the brain.

    Interview Ranulfo Romo

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 67:32


    Ranulfo Romo (University of Mexico) discusses the conscious and unconscious manifestations of decision making in the brain, focusing especially if and how neurons can process more than single sensory modalities.

    Interview Stephen Nocter

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 54:30


    Stephen Nocter (UC Davis, California) on the evolution and regulation of neural precursor cells in the developing vertebrate brain. He discusses his work studying the pathways of developing neurons, moving between brain zones.

    Interview Bryan Kolb

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 68:28


    Bryan Kolb (University of Lethbridge, Alberta) discusses his study of the influence of changes in stimulation, behaviour and brain circuits on gene expression in the developing brain.

    Interview Kate J. Jefferey

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 76:46


    Kate J. Jefferey (University College, London) discusses her work on spatial navigation, focusing on the interaction between place cells, grid cells, and the influence of contextual clues.

    Interview John Lisman

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 63:52


    John Lisman (Brandeis University, Massachusetts) discusses his work on the brain’s navigation coding, arguing how sets of faster oscillations nested in slower cycles may constitute a general communication principle in the brain.

    Interview Marc Blumberg

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 73:55


    Marc Blumberg’s (University of Iowa) work focuses on sleep, more specific on the influence of the twitching of muscles on the sensorimotor system.

    Interview Edvard Moser

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 60:10


    Edvard Moser (Kavli Institute and Centre for Neural Computation, Norway; Nobel prize 2014) discusses the work of his group, his wife and himself on the brain’s computation of spatial memory.

    Interview Gregg Recanzone

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 66:28


    Gregg Recanzone (UC Davis, California) talks about his older work on plasticity in the adult brain. With Paul Verschure and Toby Prescott he discuss how neurons keep adapting to a type of input they are receiving.

    Interview Benny Hochner

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 70:18


    Benny Hochner (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) discusses his work on octopi and the way motor control is uniquely organised in their flexible bodies.

    Interview Barbara Finlay

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 74:03


    Barbara Finlay (Cornell University, New York) focuses on causal relations between brain structure and an animal’s evolutionarily differentiated behaviour. She discusses the ways brains do change, but in a quite constraint fashion.

    Interview Randall D Beer

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 69:55


    Randall D Beer (Indiana University, Bloomington) discusses the use of dynamical systems theory as a mathematical 'lens' or language to study the brain and its processes. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview Zoltán Monár

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 62:21


    Zoltán Monár (Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford) discusses his work on the development of the brain. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview Yaki Setty

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 57:52


    Yaki Setty (Computational Systems Biology, Max Planck Institute, Saarbrücken) discusses his work on the modeling of neurogenesis and related developmental processes. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview Stefano Ferraina

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 64:11


    Stefano Ferraina (Physiology, Sapienza University, Rome) discusses his work on primate decision making and inference. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview Murray Shanahan

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 42:32


    Murray Shanahan (Cognitive Robotics, Imperial College London) discusses his work on the dynamics of cortical networks and their non-linear properties. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview Jon Kaas (2014)

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 65:10


    Jon Kaas (Vanderbilt University, Nashville) discusses his view on the evolution of brains from early mammals to humans. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview Henry Kennedy

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 51:14


    Henry Kennedy (Stem-Cell and Brain Research Institute, Lyon) discusses his work on the anatomical structure of the primate cortex. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview with Etienne Koechlin

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 103:17


    Etienne Koechlin (Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris) discusses with Paul Verschure the functional organization of the human prefrontal-cortex function underpinning reasoning, learning and exploration in the service of decision-making and adaptive behavior.

    Interview David Redish

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 100:56


    David Redish (Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, ) discusses his work on the neuronal substrate of spatial navigation, memory and regret. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview Gary Marcus

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 62:55


    Gary Marcus (NYU Center for Language and Music, New York) discusses his criticism of the current views of cortical organization and his proposal on an alternative perspective. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview Dorothy Fragaszy

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 60:39


    Dorothy Fragaszy (Primate Behavior Laboratory, University of Georgia) discusses her work on tool use in non-human primates. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview Danielle Stolzenberg

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 62:27


    Danielle Stolzenberg (University of California, Davis) discusses her work on innate behaviors and their genetic and neuronal regulation in the hypothalamus. Interviewed by Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott.

    Interview Gary Hesslow

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 64:15


    Germund Hesslow (Lund University) discusses with Paul Verschure the role of the cerebellum in the animal brain. Behavioral learning, prediction and the neural substrate underlying these functions are discussed with a focus on Classical Conditioning.

    Interview with Eberhard Fetz

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 85:59


    Eberhard Fetz (University of Washington, Seattle) discusses with Paul Verschure and Tony Prescott the neural substrate of action coding in the light of the experimental results obtained from an autonomous implantable recurrent brain-computer interface.

    Interview with Tim Pierce

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2018 99:50


    Tim Pierce (University of Leicester), discusses with Paul Verschure the topic of animal olfaction and the its neural substrate in order to develop computational approaches able to validate empirical findings and to lead to a tangible technological outcome

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