The early days of neuroscience relied on tragedy to strike—a rabies infection, a botched lobotomy—before doctors could peek inside the brains of humans. Today advanced technology, such as the functional MRI, helps scientists study brains (and healthy ones at that) far more easily. The revelations they’re making call into question conventional ideas of maturity and our capacity for free will.

The story begins at a unique laboratory at Michigan Technological University, called the Mind Music Machine, where reporter Allison Mills talks to a cognitive scientist who’s trying to develop technology that can interpret our emotions.

Then we talk about the history of neuroscience with Sam Kean, a regular contributor to Distillations magazine and author of the recent book The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons. Frances Jensen, a neuroscientist and author of The Teenage Brain, brings us into the present and explains the science behind why teenagers drive their parents crazy.

SHOW CLOCK:

00:03 Introduction

02:01 The Mind Music Machine

12:38 Sam Kean on the history of neuroscience

28:22 Frances Jensen on the teenage brain

CREDITS:

Hosts: Michal Meyer and Bob Kenworthy

Guests: Sam Kean and Frances Jensen

Reporter: Allison Mills

Producer & Editor: Mariel Carr

Music courtesy of the Audio Network.

Check out Distillations magazine at distillations.org, where you'll find articles, videos, and our podcast.