Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Ann Kennedy on the theoretical neuroscience of subcortical activity for life and survival.
Show notes: braininspired.co/podcast/221
Patreon (full episodes, archive, Discord, more): patreon.com/braininspired
Apple podcasts: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/brain-inspired/id1428880766?mt=2
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2UZj8c8Ap5oc2gh2rJxLLe
Music by @dunovank
The Transmitter is an online publication that aims to deliver useful information, insights and tools to build bridges across neuroscience and advance research. Visit thetransmitter.org to explore the latest neuroscience news and perspectives, written by journalists and scientists.
Read more about our partnership: thetransmitter.org/partners
Sign up for the “Brain Inspired” email alerts to be notified every time a new “Brain Inspired” episode is released: thetransmitter.org/newsletters
To explore more neuroscience news and perspectives, visit thetransmitter.org.
Ann Kennedy is Associate Professor at Scripps Research Institute and runs the Laboratory for Theoretical Neuroscience and Behavior.
Among other things, Ann has been studying how life processes important for survival, like aggression, motivation, and pain, are mediated through subcortical brain areas like the hypothalamus. She also pays attention to the time course those life processes require, which has led her to consider how the expression of things like proteins help shape neural processes throughout the brain, so we can behave appropriately in those different contexts, threat, pain, and so on.
0:00 - Intro
3:36 - Why study subcortical areas?
13:30 - Evolution
15:06 - Dynamical systems and time scales
21:32 - NeuroAI
28:37 - Before there were brains
33:11 - Endogenous spontaneous activity
40:09 - Natural vs artificial
43:09 - Different is more - heterogeneity
45:32 - Neuromodulators and neuropeptide functions
55:47 - Heterogeneity: manifolds, subspaces, and gain
1:02:43 - Control knobs
1:09:45 - Theoretical neuroscience has room to grow
1:19:59 - Hypothalamus
1:20:57 - Subcortical vs "higher" cognition
1:24:53 - 4E cognition
1:26:56 - Behavior benchmarking
1:37:26 - Current challenges
1:39:46 - Advice to young researchers
Ann Kennedy on the theoretical neuroscience of subcortical activity for life and survival.
Show notes: braininspired.co/podcast/221
Patreon (full episodes, archive, Discord, more): patreon.com/braininspired
Apple podcasts: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/brain-inspired/id1428880766?mt=2
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2UZj8c8Ap5oc2gh2rJxLLe
Music by @dunovank
The Transmitter is an online publication that aims to deliver useful information, insights and tools to build bridges across neuroscience and advance research. Visit thetransmitter.org to explore the latest neuroscience news and perspectives, written by journalists and scientists.
Read more about our partnership: thetransmitter.org/partners
Sign up for the “Brain Inspired” email alerts to be notified every time a new “Brain Inspired” episode is released: thetransmitter.org/newsletters
To explore more neuroscience news and perspectives, visit thetransmitter.org.
Ann Kennedy is Associate Professor at Scripps Research Institute and runs the Laboratory for Theoretical Neuroscience and Behavior.
Among other things, Ann has been studying how life processes important for survival, like aggression, motivation, and pain, are mediated through subcortical brain areas like the hypothalamus. She also pays attention to the time course those life processes require, which has led her to consider how the expression of things like proteins help shape neural processes throughout the brain, so we can behave appropriately in those different contexts, threat, pain, and so on.
0:00 - Intro
3:36 - Why study subcortical areas?
13:30 - Evolution
15:06 - Dynamical systems and time scales
21:32 - NeuroAI
28:37 - Before there were brains
33:11 - Endogenous spontaneous activity
40:09 - Natural vs artificial
43:09 - Different is more - heterogeneity
45:32 - Neuromodulators and neuropeptide functions
55:47 - Heterogeneity: manifolds, subspaces, and gain
1:02:43 - Control knobs
1:09:45 - Theoretical neuroscience has room to grow
1:19:59 - Hypothalamus
1:20:57 - Subcortical vs "higher" cognition
1:24:53 - 4E cognition
1:26:56 - Behavior benchmarking
1:37:26 - Current challenges
1:39:46 - Advice to young researchers
