A Grey Matter

In this episode, we examine consciousness – what is it, when does it begin, and how might sleep and dreams be the key to answering these questions. Professor Bruno van Swinderen sheds more light on this fascinating topic.

When we pay attention to something, our minds are selectively concentrating on a discrete piece of information, while choosing to ignore other perceivable elements. Dr Anthony Harris is an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow at the Queensland Brain Institute and an expert on human attention. He discusses what goes on in the brain when we are giving something our full attention, and breaks down whether or not multitasking is a myth.

How do you make sure clinical treatment of people with brain injury, diseases and disorders is best informed by neuroscience? This is where the worlds of neuroscience and psychology collide. In this episode, we talk to Professor Gail Robinson, clinical neurospsychologist at the Queensland Brain Institute.

Paralysed people walking again and direct brain to brain communication aren’t just ideas in the realm of science fiction. We hear from Dr Lilach Avitan, a Computational Neuroscientist at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute who investigates how our brain processes information in order to understand normal and abnormal brain function. We chat about her start in the Israeli air force, the so called ‘Jennifer Aniston neuron’, how to build more intelligent computing devices and brain-machine interfaces.

When we pay attention to something, our minds are selectively concentrating on a discrete piece of information, while choosing to ignore other perceivable elements. Dr Anthony Harris is an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow at the Queensland Brain Institute and an expert on human attention. He discusses what goes on in the brain when we are giving something our full attention, and breaks down whether or not multitasking is a myth.