Riskgaming The Orthogonal Bet: Using Computational Biology to Understand How the Brain Works
Jul 26, 2024
Host Samuel Arbesman interviews Amy Kuceyeski, a mathematician and biologist from Cornell University. They discuss her groundbreaking research on the human brain, using AI to understand brain processes, and potential applications for treating neurodegenerative diseases. Amy's work explores brain responses to images, compares artificial and biological networks, and delves into the challenges of securing funding for high-risk research projects.
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From Small High School To Math PhD
- Amy Kuceyeski grew up in a tiny Ohio high school and got one-on-one calculus instruction her senior year.
- That experience launched her into applied math and eventual brain research.
The Brain Is A Vast Scientific Frontier
- Amy calls the brain one of the most complex objects in the known universe with 86 billion neurons and 100 trillion connections.
- That scale explains why predicting outcomes and treatments for neurological disease remains so hard.
Teach Students To Tackle Open Problems
- Expose undergraduates to true, unsolved research problems rather than only problem sets.
- Amy finds students engage more when they know their project could be the first of its kind.