Talking Robots: Gerald Edelman

[RoboGuy]

Just yesterday we posted on efforts for creating "wiring diagrams" of the brain (see post just below). However, exactly how much light these maps alone will shed on the brain is still somewhat controversial. In the latest Talking Robots episode we talk to Gerald Edelman, a Nobel laureate who after his work on immunology turned his focus to studying the brain. His approach does not focus on wiring diagrams, but may be complementing other approaches: Edelman focuses on how the brain's wiring can development and organize to give rise to higher brain functions. And, importantly, his approach involves robots! His brain-based devices (BBDs) interact with real-world environments - to see how check out some movies. In the Talking Robots interview, Edelman gives an overview of his theory to explain higher brain functions - and how he goes about testing it.

More... (http://robots.net/article/2405.html)