In this Mind-Body Solution Colloquia, Michael Levin and Robert Chis-Ciure challenge one of neuroscience’s deepest assumptions: that cognition and intelligence are exclusive to brains and neurons.
Drawing on cutting-edge work in bioelectricity, developmental biology, and philosophy of mind, this conversation explores how cells, tissues, and living systems exhibit goal-directed behavior, memory, and problem-solving — long before neurons ever appear.
We explore: • Cognition without neurons. • Bioelectric networks as control systems. • Memory and learning beyond synapses. • Morphogenesis as collective intelligence. • Implications for AI, consciousness, and ethics.
This episode pushes neuroscience beyond the neuron, toward a deeper understanding of mind, life, and intelligence as continuous across scales.
A group of researchers has built a computer chip in a flexible fiber thinner than an average human hair. The team from Fudan University in Shanghai says that their Fiber Integrated Circuit (FIC) design can process information like a computer, yet is durable enough to be “stretched, twisted, and woven into everyday clothing.” Use cases touted by the authors of the paper include advancements in the fields of brain-computer interfaces, VR devices, and smart textiles. This cutting-edge FIC design was apparently inspired by the construction of the humble sushi roll.
Flexible electronics have come a long way in recent years, with malleable components for power, sensing, and display readily available. However, so-called flexible electronic devices and the wearables made from them still usually contain components fabricated from rigid silicon wafers, limiting their applications and comfort. The Fudan team says that their FIC can remove the last vestiges of electronic rigidity “by creating a fiber integrated circuit (FIC) with unprecedented microdevice density and multimodal processing capacity.”
What happens when biology is no longer the foundation for sentience, agency, and consciousness?
This groundbreaking panel discussion brings together some of the world’s most brilliant minds in AI, neuroscience, and philosophy to tackle humanity’s most profound questions about the future of intelligence.
Chaired by neuroscientist Patrick House, the conversation explores the boundaries of machine agency, the possibility of AI emotion, and the future of human–machine interaction.
🎙 Featured Speakers: - Joscha Bach – Cognitive Scientist, AI Researcher, Philosopher. - Dmitry Volkov – Co-founder of the International Center for Consciousness Studies (ICCS), Philosopher, Entrepreneur, Founder of Social Discovery Group & EVA AI - Matthew Macdougall – Head of Surgery at Neuralink, Pioneer in Brain–Computer Interfaces. - Murray Shanahan – Professor of Cognitive Robotics at Imperial College London, Scientist at DeepMind.
Key Topics in This Debate: - Whether giving machines “agency” is just a useful human shortcut (The Intentional Stance). - If the deeper question is not “Is AI conscious?” but “Can it truly love?” - How modern AI is erasing the Uncanny Valley. - The challenge of true individuality and creativity in AI-generated art. - How human biological hardware shapes consciousness — and what this means for building sentient machines.
00:00:00 — Introduction and Presentation of Participants.
Joscha Bach explores the nature of consciousness, free will, and reality through the lens of computation, cognitive science, and philosophy. Rather than treating the mind as a mystical entity, Joscha frames consciousness as a constructed dream—a model generated by the brain to make sense of the world and coordinate behavior.
We examine why beliefs should remain provisional, how the self functions as a useful fiction, and why suffering emerges when internal learning signals misfire. Joscha explains why free will feels real even if decisions arise before awareness, how meaning exists beyond the individual ego, and why wisdom is not simply knowledge but the ability to orient oneself within larger systems of value.
André’s Book Recs: https://www.knowthyselfpodcast.com/bo… 00:00 Intro: Joscha Bach 04:24 Agnosticism, Evidence, and Logical Alternatives 11:20 Reality as a Mental Simulation 13:00 What Physicalism Actually Claims 16:55 Telepathy, Rituals, and Distributed Minds 19:45 Consciousness Does Not Make Decisions 22:55 Free Will as a Post-Hoc Story 24:00 Consciousness as a Trance State 26:00 Meditation and the Illusion of Self 29:10 Out-of-Body Experiences Explained 31:07 Ad: BON CHARGE 36:30 Why the Brain Fills in Missing Reality 39:50 Dreams, Selves, and Narrative Identity 43:20 Intelligence, Models, and World-Building 47:10 Why Reality Feels Stable 51:00 Meaning, Agency, and Mental Compression 55:10 Why Consciousness Feels Central (But Isn’t) 59:30 The Psychological World vs Physical Reality 1:04:10 Intelligence Without Awareness 1:08:45 The Cost of Believing the Self Is Real 1:13:30 Waking Up From the Narrative 1:18:40 What a Cognitive Science View Really Implies 1:23:30 Final Thoughts: Living Inside the Dream ___________ Episode Resources: https://www.cimc.ai/ / andreduqum / knowthyself / @knowthyselfpodcasthttps://www.knowthyselfpodcast.com Listen to the show: Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4bZMq9l Apple: https://apple.co/4iATICX
___________ 00:00 Intro: Joscha Bach. 04:24 Agnosticism, Evidence, and Logical Alternatives. 11:20 Reality as a Mental Simulation. 13:00 What Physicalism Actually Claims. 16:55 Telepathy, Rituals, and Distributed Minds. 19:45 Consciousness Does Not Make Decisions. 22:55 Free Will as a Post-Hoc Story. 24:00 Consciousness as a Trance State. 26:00 Meditation and the Illusion of Self. 29:10 Out-of-Body Experiences Explained. 31:07 Ad: BON CHARGE 36:30 Why the Brain Fills in Missing Reality. 39:50 Dreams, Selves, and Narrative Identity. 43:20 Intelligence, Models, and World-Building. 47:10 Why Reality Feels Stable. 51:00 Meaning, Agency, and Mental Compression. 55:10 Why Consciousness Feels Central (But Isn’t) 59:30 The Psychological World vs Physical Reality. 1:04:10 Intelligence Without Awareness. 1:08:45 The Cost of Believing the Self Is Real. 1:13:30 Waking Up From the Narrative. 1:18:40 What a Cognitive Science View Really Implies. 1:23:30 Final Thoughts: Living Inside the Dream. ___________
NEUNew Maximizing Tumor Resection and Managing Cognitive Attentional Outcomes: Measures of Impact of Awake Surgery in Glioma Treatment by Zigiotto et al at “S. Chiara” University-Hospital, Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari, Trento, Italy Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS)
including attention. Understanding how AwS and AsS affect attention is crucial, given its pivotal role in supporting various cognitive functions.
METHODS:
We conducted a retrospective analysis on 64 glioma patients treated with AwS or AsS. Attention was assessed with visual search tasks and Trail Making Test Part A before and 1 week and 1 month after surgery. Volumetric T1-weighted and T2/Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery MRI sequences before and after surgery were used to delineate the lesion and the surgical cavity. The extent of resection was calculated to determine supramaximal resection for both contrast-enhanced and non–contrast-enhanced tumor regions.
The study findings also suggest approaches that enhance expression or activity of DMTF1 may have therapeutic potential in reversing or delaying aging-associated decline of neural stem cell function.
While the preliminary findings stemmed mainly from in vitro experiments, the researchers hope to explore if elevating DMTF1 expression can regenerate neural stem cell numbers as well as improve learning and memory under the conditions of telomere shortening and natural aging, without increasing the risk of brain tumors. The long-term objective is to discover small molecules that can enhance DMTF1 expression and activity to improve the function of aged neural stem cells.
“Our findings suggest that DMTF1 can contribute to neural stem cell multiplication in neurological aging,” Dr Liang said. “While our study is in its infancy, the findings provide a framework for understanding how aging-associated molecular changes affect neural stem cell behavior, and may ultimately guide the development of successful therapeutics.”
Li et al. present a microLED-based mesoscale optogenetic system for centimeter-scale, million-pixel primate cortical stimulation. Optogenetically evoked saccades with accurate retinotopic organization remain stable for over a year, demonstrating precise, robust, and durable neuromodulation and charting a path toward next-generation optical brain-computer interfaces and visual prostheses.
Living organisms are made up of hundreds of thousands of cells that cooperate to create the organs and systems that breathe, eat, move, and think. Now, researchers from Japan have developed a new way to track how and when cells touch each other to work together in these ways. In a study published in January in Cell Reports Methods, researchers from The University of Osaka reported the development of fluorescent markers for monitoring cell communication under a microscope.
Cells communicate with each other by making cell-to-cell contacts, and fluorescent markers are often used to visualize these contacts. The most commonly used marker for this purpose is green fluorescent protein (GFP). GFP can be divided into two halves that are expressed on different cells. When the cells touch, the two halves come together to form a complete GFP, letting off a fluorescent signal.
“Split GFP is useful for detecting the formation of stable connections between cells,” says lead author of the study Takashi Kanadome. “But because it takes time for the rejoined GFP to emit its signal and the association is irreversible, this approach cannot be used to detect dynamic cell–cell interactions in real-time.”
Are we living inside a computer simulation? The evidence is more compelling than you think.
In this deep exploration of the Simulation Hypothesis, we examine the scientific and philosophical arguments that suggest our reality might be code. From Nick Bostrom’s groundbreaking trilemma to quantum mechanics acting like a computer program, from the fine-tuned constants of physics to Elon Musk’s probabilistic arguments—we follow the evidence wherever it leads. Whether we’re simulated or not, the question reveals profound truths about consciousness, reality, and what it means to be human.
