BS 186 Mark Humphries author of "The Spike: An Epic Journey Through the Brain in 2.1 Seconds"

Brain Science with Ginger Campbell, MD: Neuroscience for Everyone

Ginger Campbell, MD

Life Sciences, Health & Fitness, Neuroscience, Medicine, Brain, Science

4.8 • 896 Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2021

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This month's episode features Mark Humphries, author of "The Spike: An Epic Journey Through the Brain in 2.1 Seconds." We explore how the brain uses electrical signaling in surprising ways, beginning with a look at how an action potential (aka. "the spike") is produced. Then we consider what Humphries calls "the dark neurons," which are neurons that rarely generate spikes. We explore their role and also how it relates to the brain's spontaneous activity. One of the more surprising recent discoveries in neuroscience is that most of the brain's activity does not appear to be caused by external stimuli. It is not a passive receiver of information and this has profound implications for our understanding of things like how the brain generates conscious experience.

This episode is for listeners of all backgrounds.

Links and References:

The Spike: An Epic Journey Through the Brain in 2.1 Seconds by Mark Humphries
Humphries Lab at the University of Nottingham
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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to brain science, the podcast where we explore how discoveries in
0:08.8	neuroscience are helping unravel the mystery of how our brain makes us human. I'm your host
0:15.4	Dr. Ginger Campbell and this is episode 186. If you're curious about how your
0:21.4	brain really works, this is the podcast for you.
0:24.4	Today's episode features Mark Humphreys, author of The Spike,
0:29.8	an epic journey through the brain in 2.1 seconds.
0:34.3	The spike is another name for an action potential,
0:37.7	which is the electrical signal generated by neurons.
0:41.0	The great thing about this book is that you can enjoy it no matter how much or how
0:45.8	little you already know.
0:48.1	So this is an episode for listeners of all backgrounds.
0:52.4	Before we jump into today's discussion I want to remind you
0:55.3	that you can find complete show notes and episode transcripts at brainscience podcast
1:00.9	com. Brain science is produced independently and relies on the financial support of
1:06.9	listeners like you.
1:08.7	To learn more, please visit brain science podcast.com
1:12.3	forward slash donations.
1:14.4	And please send me feedback at Brainscience
1:17.3	Podcast at gmail.com.
1:20.2	And don't forget to sign up for the free brain science newsletter.
1:24.0	All you have to do is text brain science all one word to 55444.
1:32.0	That's brain science, all one word to 5544. Before I play the interview,
	...

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