Can the Brain Understand Itself? The Glories and the Limits of Neuroscience ~ Matthew Cobb
Science has learned much about the brain. But how well do we understand this organ of the mind? Are we even close to cracking the neural code? Is a groundbreaking theory of consciousness just around the corner?In this final episode of the brain science -series, Matthew Cobb takes us on a tour of the story of neuroscience. We meet many colourful characters, but this is not just a history for history’s sake. More importantly, this is a reflection on the increasingly clear limits that brain science is coming up against — limits often left invisible behind the thirst for stories about new discoveries. Enjoy!FACT CHECKINGNo mistakes have been found in this episode. If you spot an error in this or other episodes, please reach out on Substack or via email.LINKSMatthew Cobb’s book is The Idea of the Brain: The Past and Future of Neuroscience For more episodes on the human brain, check OnHumans.Substack.com/BrainWant to support the show? Join the club at Patreon.com/OnHumansMENTIONSNames: Matthew Cobb | Galen | Aristotle | Andreas Vesalius | William Harvey | William Shakespeare | Queen Victoria | Karl Marx | Pierre Paul Broca | René Descartes | Eve Marder | David Marr | Francis Crick | Geoffrey Hinton | John Hopfield | Warren McCulloch | Walter Pitts | John von Neumann | Alan Turing | Kenneth Craik | Sir John Eccles | Elon Musk | Nicolaus Copernicus | Galileo Galilei Terms and concepts: recurrent laryngeal nerve | phrenology | localization of function | strokes/aphasia | Broca’s area | plasticity | hemispheric lateralization | corpus callosum | split-brain | consciousness | anesthesia (halothane, etc.) | drugs & neuromodulators | SSRIs | serotonin | dopamine | psychedelics | obster stomatogastric ganglion | three-body-problem | EEG “brainwaves” (gamma, theta, etc.) | David Marr’s levels | neural code | PDP / connectionism | backpropagation | LLMs (e.g. ChatGPT, DeepSeek) | biological plausibility vs engineering | von Neumann architecture | McCulloch–Pitts logical neurons | neural correlates of consciousness (NCC) | “Jennifer Aniston” cells | single-unit recording | connectomics | Human Brain Project | cochlear implants | BCI / robotic arm control | tetraplegia | problem of consciousness | enactive cognition
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From Alcohol to Antidepressants: What Drugs Teach Us About Brain Chemistry ~ Judy Grisel
Dopamine. Serotonin. Endorphins. We have all heard these terms. And these are not just scientific curiosities. Few are those who have never wondered if their brain chemicals are "just off balance". So how accurate are the popular theories about these mythic molecules? To guide us through the topic, I'm joined by Judy Grisel—an ex-addict and a world-leading neuroscientist of addiction. We will discuss all the main elements of brain chemistry by using drugs and addictions as a window into the topic. Towards the end, we also search for ways to better help those who struggle with addiction. As always, we finish with my guest's reflection on humanity.DIG DEEPERThis episode is part 4 of this autumn's brain science series. See more at OnHumans.Substack.com/brainJudy Grisel’s book is Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction Want to support the show? Join the club at Patreon.com/OnHumans.FACT-CHECKINGNo major mistakes have been found so far.As a minor note, the SSRI study we mention in healthy volunteers primarily assessed cognitive processing (reinforcement learning/sensitivity) rather than self-reported “emotional flattening”; however, general blunting of emotional responses in healthy participants has been reported by earlier researchers.If you spot an error in this or other episodes, please reach out on Substack or via email.KEYWORDSNames mentioned: Kent Berridge | Mark Lewis | Barbara Sahakian | Trevor RobbinsTechnical concepts: dopamine | wanting vs liking | serotonin (5/HT) | serotonin receptor 2A | selective serotonin uptake inhibitors SSRIs | GABA vs glutamate | endorphins | endocannabinoids | alcohol | cocaine | MDMA | psychedelics | behavioral addictions (e.g. porn) | runner's high | cannabis / THC | neurogenesis & pruning | brain plasticity | SSRIs | MDMA (SERT reversal) | emotional blunting | opponent-process theory (A→B) | addiction as disease vs learned state | meaning, motivation, recovery
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Inside the Brain: A Journey Through the Halls and the Songs of Consciousness ~ Pria Anand
Our brains can feel remote and abstract. Hidden behind Latin names and textbook diagrams, they rarely feel as personal to us as our hearts and stomachs. In this episode, neurologist and author Pria Anand helps us get a little more intimate with that grey, wrinkly seat of our consciousness.Together we explore both the structural architecture and the musical synchronies of the brain. We travel across the left and the right brain, "listen" to the meaning of different brain waves, and discuss some of the most perplexing examples from the annals of neuroscience. What emerges is not just an intimate journey through the organ that makes us who we are, but also an exploration on the meaning of pain, identity, and storytelling.As always, we finish with my guest's reflection on humanity.DIG DEEPERThis episode is part 3 of this autumn's brain science series. See more at OnHumans.Substack.com/Brain📖 Dr Anand's new book is The Mind Electric: A Neurologist on the Strangeness and Wonder of Our BrainsWant to support the show? Join the club at Patreon.com/OnHumansFACT CHECKINGNo major mistakes have been found so far. As a small correction, the patient with conflicting career goals did not, when asked, want to be an "architect", but a "draftsman". See "A Divided Mind" by Joseph LeDoux and colleagues (free PDF).If you find a mistake in this or other episodes, you reach out directly to at Substack.com/OnHumans or via email.KEYWORDS Names mentioned: Michael Gazzaniga | Joseph LeDoux | Patient P.S. | Henry Molaison (H.M.) | William Halsted | Julius Caesar | Fyodor Dostoevsky | Dr. Strangelove | Matthew Cobb | Suzana Herculano-Houzel Terms and concepts discussed: neurology | neuropsychology | brain damage | lesions | REM sleep (rapid eye movement) | paradoxical sleep | REM atonia | narcolepsy | sleep apnea | Parkinson’s disease | dementia | slow-wave sleep | EEG (electroencephalography) | brain oscillations | alpha waves | theta waves | seizure | epilepsy | focal seizure | generalized tonic-clonic seizure | aura | déjà vu | phantom smell (olfactory hallucination) | corpus callosum | callosotomy | anterior cerebral artery | cerebral aneurysm | hemispatial neglect | apraxia | alien hand (anarchic hand) | visual cortex | language dominance (left hemisphere) | thalamus | somatosensory cortex | limbic system | hippocampus | mesial temporal lobe | anterior temporal lobectomy | anterograde amnesia | retrograde amnesia | Korsakoff dementia (Wernicke–Korsakoff) | transient global amnesia | posterior cortical atrophy | aphasia | confabulation | nociception | lidocaine | dissociative anesthetic | epidural anesthesia | spinal anesthesia | paralytic (neuromuscular blocker) | neocortex | cortex | brainstem | cerebellum | cerebellar lesion | ataxic dysarthria | folia (cerebellar) | trunk (elephant, motor control) | Buddha’s “two arrows” parable
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Not So Simple After All? Apes, Einstein, and the Many Mysteries of the Human Brain ~ Dean Falk
Here is a simple story about the origins of the human brain: All primate brains are good at packing neurons into a small space—they are neural supercomputers. The human brain is just what you’d expect from a monkey of our size: big, packed with neurons, but no more special than that. It's the chimps and gorillas who are special: without cooked food, their brains stay oddly small.Or so argues Suzana Herculano-Houzel, my guest in last week's episode. In today's episode, paleo-neurologist Dean Falk argues that the story is stranger still.I'll let her tell you why.Enjoy!DIG DEEPERThis episode is part 2 of this autumn's brain science series. See more at OnHumans.Substack.com/BrainSee also last spring's episode with Dean Falk on toolmaking and childhoods, as part of the Origins of Humankind -series. SUPPORT THE SHOWOnHumans.Patreon.comMENTIONS AND KEYWORDSScholarsCharles Darwin | Dietrich Stout | Robin Dunbar | Katarina Semenderfi | Weiwei Men | Joseph Ledoux | Jane GoodallTechnical termsEndocasts | Sulci and gyri | Broca's area | Brodmann Area 10, also known as BA10 and the frontal pole | Acheulean hand axe technology KeywordsBrain science | Neuroscience | Neurology | Paleoneurology | Evolutionary Anthropology | Comparative Anatomy | Cognitive Archaeology | Origins of Consciousness
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Prologue: The (Very Simple) Story of the Human Brain ~ Suzana Herculano-Houzel
I'm excited to announce that On Humans is launching a new series this fall! This one will explore the wonders of the human brain. The new episodes will drop throughout September and early October. To set the stage, we will revisit a conversation with neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel, newly re-edited and remastered. It’s the simplest and most elegant story I’ve heard about how our brains came to be — and it sets the stage for the debates to follow. Enjoy! DIG DEEPERHerculano-Houzel's book is called The Human Advantage.Check out the series page at OnHumans.Substack.com/BrainFor more on human evolution, see the full series on the Origins of Humankind.SUPPORT THE SHOWYou can pledge your support at Patreon.com/OnHumansKEYWORDS Human evolution | Brain evolution | Neuroscience | Biology | Anthropology | Cerebral Cortex | Neuron counting | Comparative neurology | Comparative biology | Comparative anatomy | Harry Jerrison | Paleoanthropology | Human origins |
Where do we come from? How did we get here? And what kinds of creatures are we?
On Humans features conversations with leading scholars about human nature, human condition, and the human journey. From the origins of war to the biology of love, each episode brings fresh insights into perennial questions about our self-understanding.
The show now unfolds in series of episodes built around a chosen theme, offering ever-deeper dives into some of the biggest questions in science, philosophy, and history.
Welcome to the journey!
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