Brains old, new, and augmentedBrains old, new, and augmented
All In The Mind
Believe it or not … a Formula 1 car can be driven by someone just using their brain. We consider the neurogeneration: people who in the future are likely to be using some kind of brain-powered technology to do their job or to extend their knowledge. But we don’t leave the past behind, there’s also a peek into the brain collection of Cornell University.
28:52•22 Mar 2020
Brains in Jars and Mind-Controlled Cars: Old Neuroscience Meets New Tech
Episode Overview
- Historic brain collections were used to test and ultimately dismantle racist and sexist assumptions about intelligence.
- Brain size alone does not explain differences in ability; relative size and complex connectivity matter more.
- Modern imaging tools such as MRI and functional MRI allow scientists to study living brains in unprecedented detail.
- Emerging neurotechnologies include digital pharmaceuticals and consumer EEG devices that can aid conditions like ADHD and support communication and movement.
- Access, affordability and clinician training are major challenges in ensuring these advances benefit a broad range of people.
“What defines the neuro generation... is a generation that will have unprecedented information about their brain and new novel ways to interface with it.”
In this eye-opening episode, you'll learn about brains in glass jars, brains wired to computers, and the big questions these raise about who we are. All In The Mind brings together old-school anatomy and cutting-edge neurotech, making it ideal if you're curious about how science shapes our understanding of behaviour and identity. Sana Qadar and producer Diane Dean first take you to Cornell University, where neuroscientist Tim Devogue oversees the historic Wilder brain collection.
Eight human brains, floating in jars of alcohol, attract curious students and passers-by. Tim explains that founder Burt Green Wilder wanted to test assumptions of his era, including racist and sexist beliefs about intelligence. As Tim puts it, Wilder “looked… for differences… in people of different races and found nothing,” and later evidence showed women actually have slightly larger brains relative to body size than men.
So the collection's key lesson is what it doesn’t show: no simple link between brain size and worth, race, sex, or morality. The episode then shifts from preserved tissue to living circuits with Tan Le, CEO of Emotiv and author of *The Neurogeneration*. She defines this emerging generation as people with “unprecedented information about their brain and new novel ways to interface with it”.
Tan talks about game-like digital therapies for conditions such as ADHD, EEG headsets that let people control devices with thought, and artificial intelligence expanding what’s possible. Her stories are striking: a man paralysed from the neck down controlling a Formula 1 car using only his brain activity, and Mark Pollock, blind and paralysed, using neurostimulation and an exoskeleton to regain a sense of movement.
Tan also raises practical challenges, from slow medical adoption to making these powerful tools affordable and inclusive. If you’ve ever wondered how much of you is “in your brain” – and how far technology might go in changing that – this episode will get you thinking. How ready are you for a future where your mind could drive a car or become part of your treatment plan?
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