►
From YouTube: Carmen Varela - Interview with a Neuroscientist
Description
Matt and Carmen talk about the thalamus, hippocampus, sleep cycles, and brain waves.
A
B
B
B
A
A
B
B
There
is
light
sensitive
into
a
cell
of
interest,
and
that
will
give
you
access
to
manipulate
the
activity
of
that
cell
either
increasing
the
probability
of
firing
of
spiking
or
blocking
the
activity
of
that
cell,
and
so
you
can
now
determine
what
the
contribution
of
that
specific
cell
that
you
might
be
interested
in
is
you
know
in
a
particular
behavior.
That's.
B
A
B
B
That
genetic
modification
into
into
whatever
circuit
we
are
interested
in
studying
it
gives
you
access
to
a
very
precise
manipulation
of
cell
activity,
because
now
you're
working
with
light,
and
so
that
adds
another
component
to
it.
You
have
millisecond
precision
to
introduce
new
spikes
if
you
wanted
to
or.
A
A
B
A
B
A
A
A
Talk
about
brainwaves;
first,
that's
the
one
I'm
on
or
oscillations
another
way
of
saying
it.
I
think
this
is
really
interesting
because
it
because
it
you
can
see
it
as
sort
of
a
signal,
analysis
problem,
so
you
see
the
brain
and
all
the
things
that
are
going
on
inside
of
it.
As
this
signal
analysis
problem,
which
are
those
are
hard
problems
to
solve,
you
know,
but
but
what
intrigues
me
especially
is:
where
do
the?
Where
do
these
oscillations
come
from?
What.
B
B
Well,
so
they
you
kind
of
have
to
think
about
the
techniques
that
we
use
to
record
this
particular
signal.
That
is
it's
interesting
to
ask
for
a
number
of
reasons,
and
that
is
that
we
often
record
these
oscillations
by
monitoring
the
voltage
potential
in
electrodes
that
we
place
into
the
brain
and-
and
so
these
are
Silla
Tory
patterns-
that
we
see
in
the
voltage
that
is
recorded
by
these
electrodes.
B
It's
actually
a
reflection
of
what's
going
on
at
the
population
level
in
the
cells
that
surround
the
electrode,
and
so
we're
talking
about
you
know,
will
record
an
electrical
field
that
might
be
rhythmic.
That
may
have
some
pattern
to
it,
but
really
this
is
intro,
because
it's
a
marker
of,
what's
going
on
in
the
cell
population,
in
the
cells
that
are
surrounding
that
electrode.
B
So
if
you
imagine
a
group
of
cells,
all
of
them
becoming
active
for
a
particular
period
of
time
that
is
going
to
drive
the
electrical
field
recorded
by
that
electrode
in
one
particular
direction.
If
all
of
those
cells
become
inactive
in
the
next
moment
in
time,
then
all
of
the
the
electrical
field
is
going
to
be
driven
in
the
opposite
direction.
And
so,
if
you
mind
this
going
on
at
certain
frequencies,
that's
what's
going
to
originate
the
readme
city
that
we
observe
as
an
oscillatory
pattern
at
different.
A
Interesting
way,
because
if
you
looked
at
just
one
signal
or
an
EKG
saying
that
a
node
that's
attached,
just
one
part
of
the
brain
or
just
one
small
population
of
cells-
and
you
look
at
the
the
oscillation
there-
there's
a
lot.
There's
actually
many
signals
there
right.
It's
a
combination
of
a
bunch
of
things
that
could
be
happening
in
that
group
and.
B
B
A
B
A
general
process
across
the
oscillatory
patterns
and
regardless
of
the
frequency,
their
specific
frequency
of
our
oscillation,
is
that
different
parts
of
the
oscillation
may
correspond
to
communication
between
cells.
So
one
of
the
general
things
that
may
happen
in
different
frequency
bands
is
that
a
particular
phases
of
the
oscillatory
cycle
you
may
have
communication
between
different
parts
of
the
brain
and
so
in
hippocampus.
This
is
something
that
has
some
evidence
to
it.
We
think
that
some
of
the
predominant
oscillatory
patterns
during
wakefulness
may
correspond
to
the
gating
of
information
into
certain
networks
of
the
hippocampus.
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
On
you're
right,
so
there
is
some
some
temporal
dynamics
to
that,
but
at
the
same
time,
you're
encoding
information
of
everything
that
is
surrounding
you.
You
don't
lose
awareness
of
what's
in
your
surroundings,
so
there
is
an
encoding
process
that
is
happening
at
the
same
time
as
the
working
memory
process
and.
A
A
A
A
To
sort
of
be
be
this
storage
area
or
some
type
of
short-term
storage
area
for
your
daily
activities,
you
know
building
up
the
state
of
where
you
are
and
what's
happening
in
the
world
everyday
and
and
then
it's
almost
like
resetting
and
starting
over.
You
know,
and
so
you're
constantly
holding
this
strong
sense
of
memory
with
you
as
you
walk
through
life.
That.
B
B
A
B
New
episodic
memories
will
be
completely
gone,
and
so
there
are
a
number
of
things
that
make
the
hippocampus
a
good
network
structure
of
the
brain
structure,
for
the
is
a
well
fed
is
that
it
has
the
plasticity
rules
and
the
synapses
that
have
the
dynamics
that
allow
for
that
and
what
I
mean
with
that
is
that
it's
an
a
structure
that
can
form
associations
quickly.
So
there
are
a
lot
of
recurrent
connections
and
there
are
plastic
synapses
that
will
have
the
capacity.
B
You
know
online
right
like
form
that
new
memory
trace
as
you're
going
through
that
episode
and-
and
we
think
the
later
on
the
hippocampus-
is
going
to
transfer
this
memory
to
other
brain
structures
that
are
also
important
learning
and
memory
systems.
But
that
may
not
have
the
the
synaptic
plasticity
or
they
learning
rules
to
encode
information
so
quickly
as
quickly
as.
A
A
How
does
I
hate
to
keep
jumping
ahead
to,
but
this
this
all
flows
really
well
into
the
other
questions
I
was
I,
was
gonna.
Ask
this
one
was
about
sleep.
So
when
we
go
to
sleep
at
night
it
seems
like
that.
It's
a
big
reset,
and
how
does
that
really
like
reset
the
hippocampus
when
you
wake
up?
Are
you
waking
up
with
a
fresh
set
of
a
fresh
scratch
pad
to
use
for
your
day,
I.
B
A
B
A
The
oscillations
that
happen
during
sleep
I
read
somewhere
that
in
the
hippocampus
that
there's
actually
there
are
lateral
oscillations.
Are
there
oscillations
that
move
a
kind
of
along
the
length
of
the
hippocampus
mm-hmm
is?
Does
that
have
anything
to
do
with
the
temp
the
way
that
temporal
structures
are
stored
in
in
that
part
of
the
brain,
or
is
that
do
we
know
why
yeah.
A
A
A
A
B
Of
person
that
would
be
in
the
inner
part
of
the
brain-
and
we
will
have
it
round
here-
this
is
the
inter
ceramic
commoner,
actually,
which
has
fibers
that
go
across
the
two
thalamic
areas,
but
it's
a
small
oval
part
of
the
brain,
like
literally
at
the
center
of
your
brain
and
importantly
connected
with
many
and
and
all
of
the
new
cortical
regions
and
many
of
the
cognitive
areas
of
the
brain.
So
it's
a
hub
of
the
forebrain,
but
it
connected
to
every
single
cortical
area
really.
A
B
B
Yeah
well,
the
processing
in
the
neocortex
has
to
be.
You
cannot
think
about
how
processing
happens
in
the
neocortex
without
thinking
about
the
thalamus.
That's
the
level
of
integration
between
the
two
structures.
They
happen
to
be
physically
separated
from
each
other,
but
when
we
look
at
the
synaptic
level,
they
are
as
close
as
one
synapse
away
and.
B
A
B
That's
one
of
the
theories
about
sonic
function.
We
think
about
it
as
a
as
a
gateway
to
the
New
York
or
one
structure
that
may
be
there
to
control
the
transfer
of
that
information.
The
relay
of
information
to
the
neocortex,
but
one
of
the
suggestions
from
mumford
was
that
in
fact,
the
thalamus
may
be
more
actively
involved
in
the
processing
of
information,
whereas
this
could
be
information
from
sensory
areas,
but
also
the
higher
order,
cognitive
information
processing.
B
So
the
idea
there
is
that
the
farms
would
provide
a
place
where
the
cortex
could
send
the
predictions
and
try
to
match
those
predictions
with
the
incoming
input
yeah
and
because
you
have
multiple
thalamocortical
loops.
This
could
actually
be
happening
at
different
processing
levels
right,
so
it
would
not
necessarily
only
be
at
the
sensory
level.
When
then,
the
the
input
goes
through
the
farms
for
the
first
time,
then
you
have
this
input
process
in
the
farm,
a
cortical
loop.
A
B
Right
in
a
way,
it
would
be
a
way
to
separate
the
external
information
which
would
remain
always
in
the
farmers.
You
know,
which
is
driven
by
the
sensory
inputs
directly
to
the
predictions
that
might
the
cortex
may
be
implementing
to
compare
to
compare
what
we
already
know
or
what
we
already
learn
about
particularly
sensory
modalities
to
today,
ongoing
incoming
import
that
the
animal
is
receiving.
The
sensory
nuclei
in
the
thalamus
are
receiving
Wow.
A
A
B
In
the
middle
of
the
brain,
but
yeah
like
you're
pointing
out
it's
it's
interesting
to
think
about
its
complexity,
because
the
local
circuitry
is
relatively
simple.
As
you
said,
there
aren't
that
many
connections
within
the
farm
excels
themselves,
but
to
understand
the
thalamus.
You
really
have
to
think
about
functional
circuits
because
there
are
excitatory
relays
cells.
Those
are
the
main
cells
of
the
thalamus.
There
are
inhibitory
cells
in
the
family,
reticular
nucleus
and.
A
B
A
Need
to
be
affecting,
since
it's
projecting
to
the
cortex
and
all
these
different
places
as
it's
sort
of
building
up
its
blackboard
of
what
it
thinks
is
going
on
in
the
world
from
all
these
different
parts
of
the
cortex
mm-hm.
Then,
if
it's
not
talking
to
itself
like
if
these
different
parts
of
the
different
nuclei
aren't
talking
to
themselves,
how
does
it
pretend
that
information
back
to
the
cortex
from
the
other
parts
cortex.
A
B
If
you
imagine
the
you
know,
processing
getting
more
and
more
complex
as
you
go
from
primary
sensory
areas
to
higher
order
cognitive
regions,
the
thalamus
will
be
involved
in
this
hierarchical
processing.
It's
not
only
driven
through
critical
critical
projections,
but
the
loops
through
the
pheromones
are
contributing
as
well.
So.
B
Right
and
once
you
get
to
higher-order
cortical
regions,
I
think
another
interesting
thing
happens
in
the
sense
that
the
farmers
can
now
engage
cortical
regions
of
the
brain
beyond
the
neocortex.
So
if
you
imagine
all
of
this,
you
know
thalamocortical
loops,
that
happens
through
new
your
cortical
areas.
B
At
some
point,
you
get
to
the
very
high
order
regions
like
medial,
frontal,
cortex
and
and
and
these
new
cortical
areas,
but
you
also
get
when,
when
you
get
to
that
point
in
the
finals,
you're
also
talking
about
parts
of
the
thalamus
that
now
connect
to
the
hippocampus
and
they
connect
to
the
amygdala
and
they
connect
to
the
striatum.
So
I
think
you
have
in
this
part
of
the
farms.
B
We
have
a
very
interesting
group
of
nuclei
which
can
act,
as
you
know,
effective
executives
for
cognitive
function
and
engage
certain
regions
of
the
brain
or
networks
in
the
brain
that
are
important
for
this
higher
order,
processing,
which
involves
not
just
the
neocortex
but
also
other
structures
that
are
important
for
this
issue,
making
very
important
for
memory,
consolidation
and
formation.
So.
A
B
So
I
think
it's
particularly
important
in
these
higher
order,
cognitive
processes
in
which
the
processing
goes
beyond
the
neocortex
as
well.
It
involves
the
neocortex,
but
it
requires
the
coordination
with
other
forebrain
structures,
and
so
the
thalamus
will
be
involved
in
the
sensory
processing,
but
particularly
I.
Think
in
this
higher
order.
Behaviors,
okay,.
A
B
I
think
there
are
lots
of
things
going
on.
I
think
in
particular,
they're
researching
in
atomic
areas
is,
is
it's
you
know
getting
these
parts
of
the
farmers
that
I've
been
mentioning
which
relate
to
cognitive
function.
They
are
getting
more
attention
as
we
keep
studying
what
the
hippocampus
is
doing,
what
the
computations
in
the
neocortex
are.
B
We
I
think
people
are
realizing
that
there
is
this
missing
piece
in
the
in
the
very
complex
puzzle,
which
is
what
what
the
thalamus
is
doing,
and
so
I
think
that
for
me
in
particular,
that
that's
very
exciting
I
think
we're
going
to
learn
a
lot
by
integrating
different
structures
and
not
just
looking
at
individual
components
separate,
which
is
something
that
we've
we've
done
for
a
long
time.
So.