logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2018
37m 43s

A Neuroscientist Explains: where percept...

The Guardian
About this episode
When it comes to perceiving the world around us, how much of it is due to ‘bottom-up’ sensory data and how much comes from the ‘top-down’ predictions we make? Most importantly; how can the delicate dance between the two lead to hallucinations? 
Up next
Apr 2022
Weekend: episode two of a new podcast
Ease into the weekend with our brand new podcast, showcasing some of the best Guardian and Observer writing from the week, read by talented narrators. In this episode, Marina Hyde looks at the new additions to Downing Street (2m00s), Hadley Freeman interviews Hollywood actor Will ... Show More
49m 39s
Feb 2022
Weekend: episode one of a new podcast
Ease into the weekend with our brand new podcast, showcasing some of the best Guardian and Observer writing from the week, read by talented narrators. In our first episode, Marina Hyde reflects on another less than stellar week for Boris Johnson (1m38s), Edward Helmore charts the ... Show More
48m 45s
Jul 2021
Comfort Eating with Grace Dent: episode one of a new podcast
Have you ever wondered what famous people actually eat? In our new podcast, Guardian restaurant critic Grace Dent does just that, asking well-known guests to lift the lid on the food they turn to when they’re at home alone – and what comfort foods have seen them through their liv ... Show More
39m 46s
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2023
887: Andy Clark | How Our Minds Predict and Shape Reality
University of Sussex cognitive philosophy professor Andy Clark joins us to discuss how our brains experience and manipulate the reality that surrounds us. What We Discuss with Andy Clark: How your brain operates as a prediction machine that constructs an estimation of reality bas ... Show More
1h 9m
Feb 2023
The Mind Numbing Medicine
This episode will render you oblivious, conked out and blissfully unaware. It’s about anaesthetics: those potent potions that send you into a deep, deathly sleep. Listener Alicia wants to know how they work, so our sleuths call on the expertise of consultant anaesthetist Dr Fiona ... Show More
43m 44s
Jun 2023
When We Die
What happens in our brains when we die? Where does consciousness come from? And what can out of body experiences teach us about how we create our own realities? In this episode of How We’re Wired, join evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin as she unpicks the neuroscience of ... Show More
32m 14s
Jul 2019
EP52: Scientific Realism الواقعية العلمية
معرفتنا بالعالم تجريبية في الاساس، لكن لو تلك المعرفة نتاج وسيط ما بينا وبين العالم وهو الافكار، إذن كيف نستطيع ان نجزم ان تلك المعرفة حقيقية ومستقرة، الفكرة دى أدركها ديفيد هيوم في القرن السابع عشر، وجادل ان بالرغم من ان لا يوجد أمامنا اختيار غير التظاهر بان هناك عالم خارجي إلا ... Show More
1h 42m
Sep 2023
What is consciousness?
It's pretty obvious to each of us that we are conscious, as we go about our days and feel the experience of just ‘being ourselves'. But how do we know that someone else is conscious? It’s something we lose during dreamless sleep, under anaesthesia or in a coma. But what exactly i ... Show More
36m 42s
Apr 2023
The mind-numbing medicine
This episode will render you oblivious, conked out and blissfully unaware. It’s about anaesthetics: those potent potions that send you into a deep, deathly sleep. Listener Alicia wants to know how they work, so our sleuths call on the expertise of consultant anaesthetist Dr Fiona ... Show More
28m 2s
Jul 2021
Bonus Sample: The Future of Psychedelics
Derek investigates a recent NY Times essay by Michael Pollan as an entry point to discuss big questions in psychedelics and conspirituality: How do we honor indigenous traditions as psychedelics are legalized (and monetized)? What dangers lie ahead as pharmaceutical companies and ... Show More
11m 42s
Jul 2019
Psychedelics: The Manifested Mind, Part 5
What are psychedelics? How have these substances influenced human minds and culture? What exactly do they invoke in the brain and how could a renaissance of scientific study into their properties improve our lives? In this series of Stuff to Blow Your Mind episodes, Robert and Jo ... Show More
50m 29s