Brain Inspired

Recent articles

This podcast, hosted by Paul Middlebrooks, features in-depth conversations with neuroscientists studying natural and artificial intelligence, philosophy, consciousness and other related areas.

Michael Shadlen explains how theory of mind ushers nonconscious thoughts into consciousness

All of our thoughts, mostly nonconscious, are interrogations of the world, Shadlen says. The opportunity to report our answers to ourselves or others brings a thought into conscious awareness.

By Paul Middlebrooks
28 January 2026 | 1 min read

Tomaso Poggio on his quest for theories to explain the fundamental learning abilities of brains and machines

Thus far, engineering has outpaced theory in the science of intelligence. But Poggio is hopeful that theories can catch up.

By Paul Middlebrooks
14 January 2026 | 1 min read

Alex Maier argues that a scientific explanation of consciousness requires grounding in formalized mathematics

When it comes to discovering laws of nature for consciousness similar to those in physics, Maier argues that integrated information theory is the only game in town.

By Paul Middlebrooks
7 January 2026 | 1 min read

Can neuroscientists decode memories solely from a map of synaptic connections?

Five experts discuss the progress, possibilities and hurdles of decoding a “nontrivial” memory from an organism just by analyzing its brain connectivity patterns.

By Paul Middlebrooks
17 December 2025 | 1 min read

Tatiana Engel explains how to connect high-dimensional neural circuitry with low-dimensional cognitive functions

Neuroscientists have long sought to understand the relationship between structure and function in the vast connectivity and activity patterns in the brain. Engel discusses her modeling approach to discovering the hidden patterns that connect the two.

By Paul Middlebrooks
3 December 2025 | 1 min read

Does AI understand what it produces? Henk de Regt explores how we might assess understanding in machines and humans

Building on his philosophy of how scientists understand what they work on, de Regt is extending his approach to test understanding in machines.

By Paul Middlebrooks
19 November 2025 | 1 min read

Daniel Nicholson discusses how Schrödinger’s book ‘What is Life?’ shaped years of biology, research

Combing through historical archives, Nicholson discovered what drove Erwin Schrödinger to pen “What Is Life,” his famous "little book": Schrödinger feared that new discoveries in quantum physics would influence how we think about free will.

By Paul Middlebrooks
5 November 2025 | 1 min read

Vicente Raja brings ecological psychology concepts to neuroscience

He suggests neuroscientists should pay more attention to the principles of Gibsonian ecological psychology, such as affordances, ecological information and resonance, to better explain perception and action.

By Paul Middlebrooks
22 October 2025 | 99 min listen

Nikolay Kukushkin discusses his book, ‘One Hand Clapping: Unraveling the Mystery of the Human Mind’

He explains how meaning arises in the interactions found throughout nature and evolution, from molecules to minds.

By Paul Middlebrooks
8 October 2025 | 1 min read

Ann Kennedy explains the theoretical neuroscience of survival behaviors

The Scripps neuroscientist calls for a broader theoretical neuroscience approach in her area of research, which focuses on how the subcortex bridges life and cognition.

By Paul Middlebrooks
24 September 2025 | 1 min read

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Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of the mouse dorsal horn.

Cell atlas cracks open ‘black box’ of mammalian spinal cord development

The atlas details the genetics, birth dates and gene-expression signatures of roughly 150 neuron subtypes in the dorsal horn of the mouse spinal cord.

By Natalia Mesa
3 February 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of fish.

Pangenomic approaches to the genetics of autism, and more

Here is a roundup of autism-related news and research spotted around the web for the week of 2 February.

By Jill Adams
3 February 2026 | 2 min read
Figure resembling Rodin's The Thinker made from paper scraps.

Betting blind on AI and the scientific mind

If the struggle to articulate an idea is part of how you come to understand it, then tools that bypass that struggle might degrade your capacity for the kind of thinking that matters most for actual discovery.

By Tim Requarth
2 February 2026 | 11 min read

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