That Neuroscience Guy - Neuroscience Bites - TED Talk Recommendations

Episode Date: November 14, 2023

In today's Neuroscience Bite, we discuss some examples of TED Talks that are great for people who want to learn more about the brain (without the formality of a class or degree). 

Hi, my name is Olaf Craig Olson and I'm a neuroscientist at the University of Victoria. And in my spare time, I'm that neuroscience guy. Welcome to another neuroscience bite. Someone DM me on X at that neuroscience guy and sort of said, well, what would you recommend if you want to learn more about neuroscience, but you don't want to get into textbooks and stuff. And I'm a big fan of, of YouTube and content that's available visually because you can rewind it and watch it again. It's probably a bit more engaging than your average textbook. So I thought I'd just take a couple minutes and tell you about some Ted talks that I would recommend. If you just listen to the episode on why you can't tickle yourself,

then most of those ideas came from a guy named Daniel Wolpert. And he's got a TED Talk called The Real Reason for Brains. And it's a really good look into sort of this concept of Ford models and the motor system in general. And I really like it because in neuroscience, sadly enough, sometimes we don't talk about movement enough. It's kind of like a lot of neuroscientists thinks everything stops at the spinal column. And they forget that in the words of Daniel Wolpert, the real reason for our brains is to move our bodies. Another one I'd recommend was a TEDx talk by Lara Boyd. She's a professor at the University of British Columbia, and it's on neuroplasticity.

So if you're interested in neuroplasticity and you've heard the word and want to know all about it, Lara does an amazing job overviewing neuroplasticity. Another one that's pretty good, and this is something that was in the media for a bit and was quite fascinating but still worth watching. It's Jill Bolt Taylor, who basically did a TED Talk about having a massive stroke and how that changes the brain.

And it's called A Stroke of Insight. I'd highly, highly recommend it. Another one that's really good is Ian McGilchrist, and it's called The Divided Brain. And basically, he talks about why the brain is separated into hemispheres, and it sort of goes through why the brain has grown up this way and gives you a lot of good facts about why the brain is the way it is. So I'd recommend that one as well, Ian McGilchrist. Another good one, Your Body Language by Amy Cuddy.

uh another good one your body language by amy cuddy uh amy's a social psychologist and basically talks about your body language and things you can do to improve your body language and come across differently so if you're you know in a business environment environment or it's just a situation where you want your body language to be optimal, I'd recommend Amy Cuddy and the talk called Your Body Language. One last one I would recommend is Russell Foster, and it's about why do we sleep. Now, a lot of people know Matt Walker, and I'd recommend his TED Talk about sleep as well. But Russell goes through circadian rhythms in the sleep cycles of the brain

and gives you a lot of great information about how sleep actually works from a neuroscience perspective. So there you go. Some TED Talks I'd recommend. It's a way to learn more about neuroscience where you can just sit back and throw it on the TV or watch it on your tablet. It makes it a bit easier. And if you haven't seen my TEDx talk yet, please give it a gander. It helps to get some views and hopefully you'd find it interesting. Anyway, don't forget there's the website, thatneuroscienceguy.com. You can send us ideas on X or threads at thatneuroscienceguy. You can also email us, thatneuroscienceguy at gmail.com. And finally, if you haven't subscribed to the podcast, please do. We hope you're enjoying the content. And if you have ideas, reach out because

we really want to know what you want to know about the neuroscience of daily life. My name is Olof Kregolsen, and I'm that neuroscience guy. I'll see you soon for another full episode of the podcast.