Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago

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Show notes: braininspired.co/podcast/121
Patreon support: patreon.com/braininspired

Free Video Series: Open Questions in AI and Neuroscience:
braininspired.co/open

Mac and I discuss his systems level approach to understanding brains, and his theoretical work suggesting important roles for the thalamus, basal ganglia, and cerebellum, shifting the dynamical landscape of brain function within varying behavioral contexts. We also discuss his recent interest in the ascending arousal system and neuromodulators. Mac thinks the neocortex has been the sole focus of too much neuroscience research, and that the subcortical brain regions and circuits have a much larger role underlying our intelligence.

0:00 - Intro
6:32 - Background
10:41 - Holistic approach
18:19 - Importance of thalamus
35:19 - Thalamus circuitry
40:30 - Cerebellum
46:15 - Predictive processing
49:32 - Brain as dynamical attractor landscape
56:48 - System 1 and system 2
1:02:38 - How to think about the thalamus
1:06:45 - Causality in complex systems
1:11:09 - Clinical applications
1:15:02 - Ascending arousal system and neuromodulators
1:27:48 - Implications for AI
1:33:40 - Career serendipity
1:35:12 - Advice