What's Happening When You Have a Memory?

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When you have a memory, your brain is changing the firing of its own neurons. So you can see something in your mind's eye without any visual input. When you hear a song going through your head that you cannot get out of your head no matter what you do, what's happening is that your brain is reassembled. And different scientists have called this process by different names, memory.

If you managed to stay awake during Bio 101, then you probably think you have a basic understanding of how your brain works. Not so, says neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett. In this cerebral yet highly entertaining conversation with Next Big Idea Club curator Daniel Pink, Lisa says our brains are made for budgeting, not thinking. She debunks the myth of the lizard brain. And she makes the far-out claim that everything you see and hear, including this podcast, is a hallucination.