The Abstract

The brain's response-conflict system is more complicated than we thought


Listen Later

What if the brain’s famous “error detection” signature—midfrontal theta—wasn’t just one signal, but an entire set of individual rhythms? In this episode of The Abstract, I pull renegade neuroscientist, Dr. Mike X Cohen, back into the world of academia to unpack his 2020 bombshell paper. Using ultra-dense simultaneous MEG+EEG and clever generalized eigendecomposition, his work revealed 3–11 distinct midfrontal theta components in every participant—each likely handling a different slice of response conflict. No single “CEO” dominates; it’s collaborative, multidimensional symphony! We also take a critical look at the dopamine-detox trend and other half-baked online nonsense. If you love neuroscience—real neuroscience—this episode is your wake-up call. Tune in now—the brain just got way more interesting…

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The AbstractBy Shahin Zagros