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neuroscience

Ed Boyden: Let’s Bring Engineers into Studying the Brain

May 6, 2014 by Socrates

http://media.blubrry.com/singularity/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/207905519-singularity1on1-ed-boyden.mp3

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Ed BoydenThe first time I met Prof. Ed Boyden was at last year’s Global Future 2045 conference in New York. There I was highly impressed with Boyden’s impressive work in neuroscience in general and optogenetics in particular, as well as the profound implications it would have on our ability to understand and manipulate the brain. And so I knew instantly I must bring him for an interview.

During our 1 hour conversation with Ed we cover a variety of topics such as: his interesting career path from chemistry to physics to electrical engineering and into neuroscience; the loop of understanding and why the brain is where we need to go; the importance of philosophy; optogenetics and whether the brain is a classical computer or not; the Penrose-Hameroff theory of consciousness; the Human Brain Project; Randal Koene’s Whole Brain Emulation project; the definition and importance of consciousness; neuro-plasticity and Norman Doidge’s The Brain That Changes Itself; free will and mind-uploading…

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

 

Who is Ed Boyden?

Ed Boyden is Associate Professor of Biological Engineering and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, at the MIT Media Lab and the MIT McGovern Institute. He leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, which develops tools for analyzing and engineering the circuits of the brain. These technologies, created often in interdisciplinary collaborations, include ‘optogenetic’ tools, which enable the activation and silencing of neural circuit elements with light, 3-D microfabricated neural interfaces that enable control and readout of neural activity, and robotic methods for automatically recording intracellular neural activity and performing single-cell analyses in the living brain. He has launched an award-winning series of classes at MIT that teach principles of neuroengineering, starting with basic principles of how to control and observe neural functions, and culminating with strategies for launching companies in the nascent neurotechnology space. He also co-directs the MIT Center for Neurobiological Engineering, which aims to develop new tools to accelerate neuroscience progress.

Amongst other recognitions, he has received the Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award (2013), the Grete Lundbeck European “Brain” Prize, the largest brain research prize in the world (2013), the Perl/UNC Neuroscience Prize (2011), the A F Harvey Prize (2011), and the Society for Neuroscience Research Award for Innovation in Neuroscience (RAIN) Prize (2007). He has also received the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (2013), the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award (twice, 2012 and 2013), and the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award (2007), as well as the New York Stem Cell Foundation-Robertson Investigator Award (2011) and the the Paul Allen Distinguished Investigator Award in Neuroscience (2010). He was also named to the World Economic Forum Young Scientist list (2013), the Wired Smart List “50 People Who Will Change the World” (2012), the Technology Review World’s “Top 35 Innovators under Age 35” list (2006), and his work was included in Nature Methods “Method of the Year” in 2010.

His group has hosted hundreds of visitors to learn how to use neurotechnologies, and he also regularly teaches at summer courses and workshops in neuroscience, as well as delivering lectures to the broader public at TED and at the World Economic Forum. Ed received his Ph.D. in neurosciences from Stanford University as a Hertz Fellow, where he discovered that the molecular mechanisms used to store a memory are determined by the content to be learned. Before that, he received three degrees in electrical engineering, computer science, and physics from MIT. He has contributed to over 300 peer-reviewed papers, current or pending patents, and articles, and has given over 240 invited talks on his group’s work.

 

Ed Boyden: A light switch for neurons

Ed Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or de-activate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control, he’s managed to cure mice of analogs of PTSD and certain forms of blindness. On the horizon: neural prosthetics. Session host Juan Enriquez leads a brief post-talk Q&A.

Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: Ed Boyden, neuroscience, optogenetics

Ramez Naam on Nexus: We Are The Ones Who Create The Future

January 5, 2013 by Socrates

http://media.blubrry.com/singularity/p/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/198271527-singularity1on1-ramez-naam-nexus.mp3

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This is the second time that I interview Ramez Naam for my Singularity 1 on 1 podcast.

Last time we talked about Naam’s interesting background, professional experience and award-winning book More Than Human. 

During our second conversation with Ramez we talk mainly about his novel Nexus: Mankind Gets an Upgrade.

We also cover a variety of related topics such as: the difference between fiction and non-fiction; the major issues Mez wanted to bring attention to; the potential for global Giga War between Terrans and Cosmists;  why fear is the path to Big Brother totalitarianism; prisoner’s dilemma and the militarization of science; weak brain-to-brain communication, Buddhism, empathy and neuruoscience; the technological singularity and exponential growth…

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

 

What others have said about Nexus: Mankind Gets An Upgrade 

  • Wired says “Good. Scary good… stop reading now and have a great time reading a bleeding edge technical thriller that is full of surprises.”  read the whole thing 
  • Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing says “Nexus is a superbly plotted high tension technothriller… full of delicious moral ambiguity… a hell of a read.”  read the whole thing 
  • Ars Technica says “Nexus is a lightning bolt of a novel… with a sense of awe missing from a lot of current fiction.” read the whole thing 
  • Booklist says “Starred Review. Naam turns in a stellar performance with his debut SF novel… Here is the remarkable scope of the story and its narrative power.”
  • Publisher’s Weekly says “Mesmerizing”.
  • Alastair Reynolds says “a gripping piece of near future speculation”.

Who is Ramez Naam?

Ramez Naam is a professional technologist, and was involved in the development of Microsoft Internet Explorer and Outlook. He was the CEO of Apex Nanotechnologies, a company involved in developing nanotechnology research software, before returning to Microsoft.

Naam holds a seat on the advisory board of the Institute for Accelerating Change, is a member of the World Future Society, a Senior Associate of the Foresight Institute, and a Fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies.

Ramez is the author of More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement (for which he was awarded the 2005 H.G. Wells Award for Contributions to Transhumanism) and The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet. Most recently Naam published his first novel – Nexus, which will be followed by Crux.

Related articles
  • Ramez Naam on Singularity 1 on 1: The World Needs Innovation. Don’t Be a Spectator, Participate!
  • Randal Koene on Singularity 1 on 1: Mind Uploading is not Science Fiction
  • Gary Marcus on Singularity 1 on 1: How do we bridge the mind with the brain?!…
  • Hijacking Brains: Now Worms, Later… Zebra Fish…
  • The BrainGate Project: Paralysed Woman Moves Robot Hand With Her Mind
  • NeuroMarketing To Help Advertisers Read Our Minds, Sell Us More Crap We Don’t Need
  • Mind Reading, Thought Control and Neuro Marketing: Is “the Lord of the World” still science fiction?
  • Cyborg Cockroach Wired for Search and Rescue

Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: neuroscience, Nexus, Ramez Naam

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