BJKS Podcast

Benjamin James Kuper-Smith
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Sep 29, 2025 • 1h 15min

119. This (audio only) podcast is dead - long live the podcast? With Dan Quintana

This is a special episode: this podcast will change after this episode, from remote audio-only interviews to exclusively in-person video interviews. Dan Quintana, professor at the University of Oslo and host of the Everything Hertz podcast, joins me to discuss why and how I'm making this change, podcasting and science communication more broadly, time management as an academic and podcaster, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: An obnoxious episode: podcasters talking about podcasting0:02:22: Why Dan and I started our podcasts0:07:15: Video vs audio podcasts, YouTube as a podcast platform, and social media0:13:08: In-person vs. online/remote recordings0:18:40: My plans for recording in-person video interviews0:28:55: To start a remote podcast, you only need a laptop now0:30:58: Managing a podcast while being a full-time scientist0:39:14: Inviting guests to do interviews0:43:20: Is podcasting a waste of time?0:48:22: Science communication0:49:56: Should I change my podcast's name and logo?0:55:55: Final recommendations for the podcast from Dan? And for people who want to start a podcast1:04:02: A book or paper more people should read1:09:50: Something Dan wishes he'd learnt sooner1:12:11: Advice for postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podBlueSky: https://geni.us/pod-bskyDan's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/quintana-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/quintana-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/quintana-bskyBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/bjks-bskyOther links & referencesSamson 2QU microphone: https://samsontech.com/products/microphones/usb-microphones/q2u/Latour & Woolgar (1979). Laboratory life: The construction of scientific facts.Morris (1979). The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt.Todes (2014). Ivan Pavlov: A Russian life in science.
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Sep 22, 2025 • 1h 37min

118. Lauren Ross: Causation, mechanism, and explanation in neuroscience

Lauren Ross is a professor of logic and philosophy at the University of California, Irvine. We talk about her work on causation, mechanism, and explanation in neuroscience, Lauren's background in medicine, how to write clearly, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Why Lauren studied medicine0:04:23: Differences between medicine and philosophy0:21:19: Why Lauren switched to philosophy of science0:25:30: How to learn to write clearly0:30:21: Are doctors practitioners of causality?0:34:25: What's so difficult about causality?0:38:46: Causal structures: mechanism, pathway, cascade, circuit.1:02:11: The practical use of thinking about causal structures and varieties1:11:35: What's the difference between a circuit and a pathway? And what are you trying to do?1:20:31: Secondary features of causation/causal varieties: strength, stability, speed, specificity1:29:29: A book or paper more people should read1:30:45: Something Lauren wishes she'd learnt sooner1:33:29: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podBlueSky: https://geni.us/pod-bskyLauren's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/ross-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/ross-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/ross-bskyBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/bjks-bskyReferencesAlon (2006). An introduction to systems biology: design principles of biological circuits. [There's a lecture series by Alon that seems to be based on the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6VZeWuME_A&list=PLLbr-B8cNbo6v4kc68JowzUeAYdh6gdQH]Barack, Miller, Moore, Packer, Pessoa, Ross, & Rust (2022). A call for more clarity around causality in neuroscience. Trends in neurosciences.Forsyth (2013). The elements of eloquence: How to turn the perfect English phrase.Hempel (1965). Aspects of scientific explanation.Ross (2021). Causal concepts in biology: How pathways differ from mechanisms and why it matters. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.Ross & Bassett (2024). Causation in neuroscience: keeping mechanism meaningful. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
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Sep 15, 2025 • 1h 37min

117. Kai Ruggeri: Global collaborations, Prospect Theory, and temporal discounting

Kai Ruggeri is professor for health policy and management at Columbia University. We talk about his global collaborations, in which they studied various important decision-making aspects, including Prospect Theory and temporal discounting.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Why Kai studied stats anxiety in his PhD, and then moved to broader policy questions0:09:15: Replicating the original Prospect Theory paper across the world0:30:01: Adversarial collaborations and choosing which findings are worth being replicated0:38:31: How to run global collaborations0:56:25: Overlooked aspects of these global collaborations1:03:59: Should we collect data from non-Western countries without local collaborators?1:10:24: A book or paper more people should read1:16:38: Something Kai wishes he'd learnt sooner1:27:50: Advice for postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podBlueSky: https://geni.us/pod-bskyKai's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/ruggeri-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/ruggeri-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/ruggeri-bskyBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/bjks-bskyReferences, links & notesJunior Researcher Programme: https://jrp.pscholars.org/Today, Israel uses the Shekel, but when Kahneman & Tversky did research there, they used the Israeli pound: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_poundProlific: https://www.prolific.com/Besample: https://besample.app/Kahneman's final decision: https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/daniel-kahneman-assisted-suicide-9fb16124Gal & Rucker (2018). The loss of loss aversion: Will it loom larger than its gain? J Cons Psych.Kahneman & Tversky (1979). Prospect theory: an analysis of decisions under risk. Econometrica.Lewis (2016). The undoing project.Macher, ... & Ruggeri (2012). Statistics anxiety, trait anxiety, learning behavior, and academic performance. Europ J psych edu.Macher, ... Ruggeri, ... (2013). Statistics anxiety, state anxiety during an examination, and academic achievement. British J Edu Psych.Mellers, Hertwig & Kahneman (2001). Do frequency representations eliminate conjunction effects? An exercise in adversarial collaboration. Psych Sci.Parks, Joireman & Van Lange (2013). Cooperation, trust, and antagonism: How public goods are promoted. Psych sci in the public interest.Ruggeri, ... & Folke (2020). Replicating patterns of prospect theory for decision under risk. Nat Hum Behav.Ruggeri, ... & Folke (2021). The general fault in our fault lines. Nat Hum Behav.Ruggeri, ... & Toscano (2022). The globalizability of temporal discounting. Nat Hum Behav.Ruggeri (Ed.). (2018). Behavioral insights for public policy: concepts and cases.Thaler (2015). Misbehaving.
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Sep 8, 2025 • 1h 37min

116. Elsa Fouragnan: Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation, brain surgery, and French Polynesia

Elsa Fouragnan is an Associate Professor and UKRI Future Leader Fellow at the University of Plymouth. We talk mainly about her work on focussed transcranial ultrasound stimulation, a new non-invasive way other stimulating (human) brains, including deep areas that can't be reached with TMS. We also discuss her childhood in French Polynesia, how she started doing research, what it's like seeing a brain during surgery, and much more.This was the first episode I recorded in-person. The audio quality is really good, with the minor exception that I made a really silly error during editing, such that quiet parts are sometimes not entirely audible. A few words are not audible, but this shouldn't affect comprehension.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Elsa's childhood in French Polynesia and in mainland France0:10:25: Why Elsa studied engineering and started doing research0:19:04: How Elsa started working on Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Stimulation0:23:08: What is Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Stimulation?0:28:20: Is it safe?0:36:12: What can you do with it/what kind of stimulations is it?0:53:41: The practicalities of using TUS1:04:42: What it's like to see brain surgery in the operating theatre1:10:11: Back to the skull being a problem and which brains regions can be reached with TUS?1:18:49: The future of TUS1:27:59: A book or paper more people should read1:30:13: Something Elsa wishes she'd learnt sooner1:34:51: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podBlueSky: https://geni.us/pod-bskyElsa's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/fouragnan-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/fouragnan-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/fouragnan-bskyBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/bjks-bskyReferences and linksUa Pou: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ua_PouFolloni, Verhagen, Mars, Fouragnan, ... & Sallet (2019). Manipulation of subcortical and deep cortical activity in the primate brain using transcranial focused ultrasound stimulation. Neuron.Liptrot (2015). The Outrun.Murphy & Fouragnan (2024). The future of transcranial ultrasound as a precision brain interface. PLoS Biology.Yoo, Mittelstein, Hurt, Lacroix & Shapiro (2022). Focused ultrasound excites cortical neurons via mechanosensitive calcium accumulation and ion channel amplification. Nature Communications.Yaakub, ... & Fouragnan (2024). Non-invasive Ultrasound Deep Neuromodulation of the Human Nucleus Accumbens Increases Win-Stay Behaviour. BioRxiv.
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Jun 24, 2025 • 1h 33min

115. Melinda Baldwin: A triple history of Nature, scientific journals, and peer review

Melinda Baldwin is an associate professor of history at the University of Maryland. We talk about her work studying the history of Nature, scientific journals more broadly, what it means to be a scientist, peer review, the Tyndall project, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Melinda's chemistry-history double major0:03:42: Why Melinda did a PhD on the history of Nature0:07:06: The glorious beginning of Nature and the history of scientific journals0:17:00: How Nature became a journal for scientists (rather than the educated general public)0:19:59: When did scientists start calling themselves 'scientists'? The mergence of science as a profession0:26:26: The history of peer review: How to get into Nature in the 19th century, and the rise of peer review during the Cold War0:40:53: Establishing causality in historical research0:48:33: The future of peer review1:06:16: Tyndall, why?1:19:02: A book or paper more people should read1:22:24: Something Melinda wishes she'd learnt sooner1:29:05: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podBlueSky: https://geni.us/pod-bskyMelinda's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/baldwin-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/baldwin-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/baldwin-bskyBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/bjks-bskyReferences and linkseLife peer review: https://elifesciences.org/about/peer-reviewJohn Tyndall project: https://tyndallproject.com/Baldwin (2017). In referees we trust? Physics Today.Baldwin (2018). Scientific autonomy, public accountability, and the rise of “peer review” in the Cold War United States. Isis.Baldwin (2019). Making" Nature" The History of a Scientific Journal.Gordin (2012). The pseudoscience wars: Immanuel Velikovsky and the birth of the modern fringe.Poehler (2014). Yes please.Zuckerman & Merton (1971). Patterns of evaluation in science: Institutionalisation, structure and functions of the referee system. Minerva.
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May 26, 2025 • 1h 41min

114: Steve Fleming: Lab culture, learning as a PI, and the allure of cognitive neuroscience

Steve Fleming is a professor in psychology at University College London. I invited Steve to talk about his work on meta-cognition, but we ended up spending the entire episode talking about lab culture, starting a lab, applying for funding, Steve's background in music, and what drew him to do cognitive neuroscience. There's even a tiny discussion about consciousness research at the end.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Steve ran his lab in London from Croatia for a few years 0:23:57: Lessons as a PI: students and postdocs are adults and will figure it out0:28:45: Learning more skills as a postdoc vs. starting a lab0:41:13: Contacting departments to apply for grants0:52:19: Steve's background in music1:07:13: What drew Steve to cognitive science? A brief discussion of the future of consciousness research1:27:23: A book or paper more people should read1:33:02: Something Steve wishes he'd learnt sooner1:38:16: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podBlueSky: https://geni.us/pod-bskySteve's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/sfleming-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/fleming-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/fleming-bskyBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/bjks-bskyReferences and linksFIL at UCL: https://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/ERC Starting Grant: https://erc.europa.eu/apply-grant/starting-grantWellcome Trust Early-Career Award (without strict time restrictions): https://wellcome.org/research-funding/schemes/wellcome-early-career-awardsExample paper by Josh Mcdermott on music: McDermott, Schultz, Undurraga & Godoy (2016). Indifference to dissonance in native Amazonians reveals cultural variation in music perception. Nature.Carter (2002). Consciousness.Chalmers (1995). Facing up to the problem of consciousness. Journal of consciousness studies.Dehaene, Al Roumi, Lakretz, Planton & Sablé-Meyer (2022). Symbols and mental programs: a hypothesis about human singularity. Trends in Cognitive Sciences.Isaacson (2021). The code breaker.Marr (1982). Vision: A computational investigation into the human representation and processing of visual information.Pinker (1997). How the mind works.Tononi (2004). An information integration theory of consciousness. BMC neuroscience.
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Mar 10, 2025 • 1h 41min

113. Damian Blasi: Over-reliance on English hinders cognitive science, linguistic diversity, and how to study a language you don't speak

Damian Blasi is a professor at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. We talk about his article 'Over-reliance on English hinders cognitive science', linguistic diversity, how to study across the world's languages, his career path, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Why Damian studied physics0:06:31: How to deal with small, sparse, incomplete, imbalanced, noisy, and non-independent observational data0:09:38: Evolutionary advantages of different languages0:14:01: How Damian started doing research on linguistics0:20:09: How to study a language you don't speak0:28:58: Start discussing Damian's paper 'Over-reliance on English hinders cognitive science'0:48:25: What can experimental scientists do about the vast differences between cultures, especially of difficult to reach peoples? And how different are languages and cultures really?1:10:15: Why is New Guinea so (linguistically) diverse?1:17:34: Should I learn a common or a rare language? And where?1:29:09: A book or paper more people should read1:32:31: Something Damian wishes he'd learnt sooner1:33:56: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podBlueSky: https://geni.us/pod-bskyDamian's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/blasi-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/blasi-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/blasi-bskyBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/bjks-bskyReferencesWorld Atlas of Languages: https://en.wal.unesco.org/world-atlas-languagesThe Andamanese group that's hostile to strangers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese"the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirohito_surrender_broadcastBakker (2022). The sounds of life.Blasi ... Neubig (2021). Systematic inequalities in language technology performance across the world's languages. arXiv.Blasi ... Bickel (2019). Human sound systems are shaped by post-Neolithic changes in bite configuration. Science.Blasi ... Majid (2022). Over-reliance on English hinders cognitive science. Trends in cognitive sciences.Everett (2023). A myriad of tongues.Floyd ... Enfield (2018). Universals and cultural diversity in the expression of gratitude. Royal Society Open Science.Gordon (2004). Numerical cognition without words: Evidence from Amazonia. Science.Hossenfelder (2018). Lost in math.Koyama & Rubin (2022). How the world became rich.Nettle (1998). Explaining global patterns of language diversity. Journal of anthropological archaeology.Pica ... Dehaene (2004). Exact and approximate arithmetic in an Amazonian indigene group. Science.Skirgård ... Gray (2023). Grambank reveals the importance of genealogical constraints on linguistic diversity and highlights the impact of language loss. Science Advances.
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Feb 17, 2025 • 1h 50min

112. Gordon Pennycook: From Carrot River to Cornell, misinformation, and reducing conspiracy beliefs

Gordon Pennycook is an Associate Professor at Cornell University. We talk about his upbringing in rural Northern Canada, how he got into academia, and his work on misinformation: why people share it and what can be done about it.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Straight outta Carrot River: From Northern Canada to publishing in Nature0:37:01: Exploration vs focusing on one topic: finding your research topic0:48:57: A sense of having made it0:54:17: Why apply reasoning research to religion?0:59:45: Starting working on misinformation 1:08:20: Defining misinformation, disinformation, and fake news1:15:52: Social media, the consumption of news, and Bayesian updating1:24:48: Reasons for why people share misinformation1:35:57: Are social media companies listening to Pennycook et al?1:38:19: Using AI to change conspiracy beliefs1:44:59: A book or paper more people should read1:46:33: Something Gordon wishes he'd learnt sooner1:48:12: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podBlueSky: https://geni.us/pod-bskyGordon's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/pennycook_webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/pennycook-scholarBlueSky: https://geni.us/pennycook-bskyBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarReferencesCostello, Pennycook & Rand (2024). Durably reducing conspiracy beliefs through dialogues with AI. Science.Dawkins  (2006). The God Delusion.MacLeod, ... & Ozubko (2010). The production effect: delineation of a phenomenon. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition.Nowak & Highfield (2012). Supercooperators: Altruism, evolution, and why we need each other to succeed.Pennycook, ... & Fugelsang (2012). Analytic cognitive style predicts religious and paranormal belief. Cognition.Pennycook, Fugelsang & Koehler (2015). What makes us think? A three-stage dual-process model of analytic engagement. Cognitive Psychology.Pennycook, Cheyne, Barr, Koehler & Fugelsang (2015). On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bullshit. Judgment and Decision making.Pennycook & Rand (2019). Lazy, not biased: Susceptibility to partisan fake news is better explained by lack of reasoning than by motivated reasoning. Cognition.Pennycook & Rand (2021). The psychology of fake news. Trends in cognitive sciences.Rand (2016). Cooperation, fast and slow: Meta-analytic evidence for a theory of social heuristics and self-interested deliberation. Psychological Science.Stanovich (2005). The robot's rebellion: Finding meaning in the age of Darwin.Tappin, Pennycook & Rand (2020). Thinking clearly about causal inferences of politically motivated reasoning: Why paradigmatic study designs often undermine causal inference. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences.Thompson, Turner & Pennycook (2011). Intuition, reason, and metacognition. Cognitive Psychology.
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Jan 17, 2025 • 1h 37min

111. Renzo Huber: Layer-fMRI, high-resolution fMRI, and the delicate balance between gourmet chef and janitor

Renzo Huber is a staff scientist at NIH. We talk about his work on layer-fMRI: what it  is, how Renzo got into it, how to do it, when it makes sense to do it, what the future holds, and much more.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: How Renzo got into high-resolution fMRI0:11:28: The difference between 3T and 7T fMRI0:22:46: Is a bigger fMRI scanner always better?0:33:35: Layer-fMRI0:56:28: For what types of research is layer-fMRI most useful?1:02:35: How to do layer-fMRI and make it reproducible1:19:21: The future of layer-fMRI1:27:02: A book or paper more people should read1:30:37: Something Renzo wishes he'd learnt sooner1:33:11: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtRenzo's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/huber-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/huber-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/huber-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences and links mentionedEpisode with Peter Bandettini: https://geni.us/bjks-bandettiniEpisode with Emily Finn: https://geni.us/bjks-finnRenzo's blog about layer fMRI: https://layerfmri.com/YouTube channel on layer fMRI: https://www.youtube.com/@layerfmri/Bastos, ... & Friston (2012). Canonical microcircuits for predictive coding. Neuron.Bollmann & Barth (2021). New acquisition techniques and their prospects for the achievable resolution of fMRI. Progress in Neurobiology.Boulant, ... & Le Bihan (2024). In vivo imaging of the human brain with the Iseult 11.7-T MRI scanner. Nature Methods.Finn, ... & Bandettini (2019). Layer-dependent activity in human prefrontal cortex during working memory. Nature Neuroscience.Feynman (1985). "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!": adventures of a curious character.Haarsma, Kok & Browning (2022). The promise of layer-specific neuroimaging for testing predictive coding theories of psychosis. Schizophrenia Research.Huber, ... & Bandettini (2017). High-resolution CBV-fMRI allows mapping of laminar activity and connectivity of cortical input and output in human M1. Neuron.Huber, ... & Möller (2019). Non-BOLD contrast for laminar fMRI in humans: CBF, CBV, and CMRO2. Neuroimage.Huber, ... & Bandettini (2020). Sub-millimeter fMRI reveals multiple topographical digit representations that form action maps in human motor cortex. Neuroimage.Huber, ... & Kronbichler (2023). Evaluating the capabilities and challenges of layer-fMRI VASO at 3T. Aperture Neuro.Huber, ... & Horovitz (2023). Laminar VASO fMRI in focal hand dystonia patients. Dystonia.Persichetti, ... & Martin (2020). Layer-specific contributions to imagined and executed hand movements in human primary motor cortex. Current Biology.Polimeni, ... & Wald (2010). Laminar analysis of 7 T BOLD using an imposed spatial activation pattern in human V1. Neuroimage.
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Dec 18, 2024 • 1h 32min

110. Ella Marushchenko: Scientific illustrations, digital vs. classic art, and how to improve scientific figures

Ella Marushchenko is a scientific illustrator who runs a studio of artists and scientists that creates cover art, scientific and illustrations, and more. We talk about her unlikely path from artist in Russia to scientific illustrator in the US, digital vs classic art, how to interact as scientists with illustrators, how to improve scientific figures, and much more.BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreonTimestamps0:00:00: Ella's unlikely path to doing scientific illustrations0:33:17: Running a studio for scientific illustrations0:36:30: The process of commissioning a scientific figure0:46:44: The changing landscape of scientific publications and communication0:50:15: Unhelpful things to avoid when interacting with a science illustrator0:59:06: Who are scientific illustrations for?1:06:36: The purpose of illustrations in science1:16:09: How to learn to improve scientific figures1:22:30: How to become a scientific illustrator1:26:10: A book or paper more people should read1:27:48: Something Ella wishes she'd learnt sooner1:29:10: Advice for PhD students/postdocsPodcast linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-podTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twtElla's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/marushchenko-webTwitter: https://geni.us/marushchenko-twtBen's linksWebsite: https://geni.us/bjks-webGoogle Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholarTwitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twtReferences and linksSome pictures by Sergey Krasnov: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sergey_krasnov/Sergiy Minko: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TMotc_wAAAAJScience diagrams that look like shitposts: https://x.com/scienceshitpostMy photo of the elephant at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle: https://www.bjks.blog/nature/3n6ljuy6noa5470tdsbcuicltu48dfEpisode about Cajal: https://geni.us/bjks-ehrlich Bulgakov (1967). The Master and Margarita.

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