Caption: Wired for Thought, Credit: Seth Shostak
Image by: Seth Shostak 
Wired for Thought 

Wired for Thought

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

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A cup of coffee can leave you wired for the day, but a chip in your brain could wire you to a machine forever; the future of brain-machine interfaces. Read the full description.

Wiredforthoughtmed_smallcup of coffee can leave you wired for the day. But a chip in your brain could wire you to a machine forever. Imagine manipulating a mouse without moving a muscle, and doing a Google search with your mind. Welcome to the future of the brain-machine interface.

Don your EEG thinking-cap, and discover a high-tech thought game that may be the harbinger of machine relationships to come.

Plus, the ultimate mapping project: the Human Connectdome Project aims to identify all the neural pathways in the human brain. It may help us understand what makes us human, but could it also point the way to making us smarter?

And, what all this brain research reveals about the mind and free will – who, or what, is really in charge?

Guests:

   Jan Rabaey – Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), University of California, Berkeley

   Arthur Toga – Neurologist at the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, UCLA School of Medicine, and researcher on the Human Connectome Project

   Michael Gazzaniga – Neuroscientist, director of the University of California Santa Barbara’s SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind, and author of Who’s in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain

   Bradley Voytek – Neuroscientist, University of California, San Francisco

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Piece Description

cup of coffee can leave you wired for the day. But a chip in your brain could wire you to a machine forever. Imagine manipulating a mouse without moving a muscle, and doing a Google search with your mind. Welcome to the future of the brain-machine interface.

Don your EEG thinking-cap, and discover a high-tech thought game that may be the harbinger of machine relationships to come.

Plus, the ultimate mapping project: the Human Connectdome Project aims to identify all the neural pathways in the human brain. It may help us understand what makes us human, but could it also point the way to making us smarter?

And, what all this brain research reveals about the mind and free will – who, or what, is really in charge?

Guests:

   Jan Rabaey – Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), University of California, Berkeley

   Arthur Toga – Neurologist at the Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, UCLA School of Medicine, and researcher on the Human Connectome Project

   Michael Gazzaniga – Neuroscientist, director of the University of California Santa Barbara’s SAGE Center for the Study of the Mind, and author of Who’s in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain

   Bradley Voytek – Neuroscientist, University of California, San Francisco

Broadcast History

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Additional Files

Additional Credits

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

Related Website

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