Caption: Life of Brain, Credit: Seth Shostak
Image by: Seth Shostak 
Life of Brain 

Life of Brain

From: Big Picture Science
Length: 00:54:00

Discover the potential – and peril - of neuro-engineering to repair and enhance our brain function. Read the full description.
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Piece Description

We should award frequent travel miles to your brain. After all, it’s evolved a long way from the days of guiding brachiation from tree-to-tree to become the three pounds of web-surfing, Sudoku-playing powerhouse it is today. But a suite of technologies may expand human brains further still.

From smart pills to nano-wires: discover the potential – and peril – of neuro-engineering to repair and enhance our cognitive function.

Also, how our brains got so big in the first place: a defense of the modern diet.

Guests

·      Bill Leonard - department chairman and professor of Anthropology at Northwestern University

·      Michael Gazzaniga - neuroscientist and director of the University of California – Santa Barbara’s SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind. Author of Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique

·      Ian Pearson - futurologist at Futurizon

         Steven Rose - biologist and director of the Brain and Behavior Research Group at the Open University in London. Author of The Future of the Brain: The Promise and Perils of Tomorrow's Neuroscience

         Ed Boyden – neuroscientist at MIT’s Media Lab and Department of Biological Engineerin

Broadcast History

first aired April 6, 2009

Additional Files

Additional Credits

Seth Shostak - Host and Producer
Molly Bentley - Co-Host and Executive Producer
Gary Niederhoff - Assistant Producer
Barbara Vance - Production Assistant

Related Website

http://radio.seti.org