In this podcast Kimberly Campanello, a poet, novelist and academic, talks frankly about her early onset Parkinson's disease and how this lead her to pursue her Italian roots in Puglia. On a visit there, to her great grandmother's village, she literally discovered Dante's 'Comedia', which she is currently 'reversioning' - a method that involves processing the original Italian, a range of translations and commentaries, plus her life experience, coloured by her condition. She discussed making creative use of the effects of Parkinson's and the beneficial effects of her writing on her motor function, similar to the benefits of walking on irregular surfaces. We discuss the recent remarkable finding that, not only does PD influence movement, but also use of language, and especially verbs (see the link to the paper below). Along the way Kimberly reads one of her poems based on a canto from Dante and extracts from her published and recently finished novel. We end with a reading from her current poetry collection. This is 'Brainland'! Grreat conversation.

Participants:

Kimberly Campanello, Poet, novelist and Professor of Poetry, University of Leeds. https://www.kimberlycampanello.com/

Ken Barrett, artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist. http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The books discussed: https://www.kimberlycampanello.com/lastestbooks

Kimberly's short story linked to 'paradoxical kinesia': https://checkout.somesuch.co/products/somesuch-stories-7

A paper on Parkinson's disease and use of language: file:///Users/kenbarrett/Downloads/Words_in_motion_Motor-language_coupling_in_Parkins-1.pdf

Kimberly's recent and really interesting Parkinson's disease inspired poem 'Moving Nowhere Here' is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzRJTZ2lHgU

Opening and closing music: Prelude to 'Brainland', the opera by Stephen Brown.

Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

Follow us us on Instagram:#brainlandcollective #brainlandthepodcast

Portraitsketch by KB.

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The Burden Neurological Institute (and Hospital) opened its' doors in 1939 and closed in 2000. In this wide ranging conversation, Jonathan Bird and Ken Barrett, neuropsychiatric alumni, chew the fat about the history of 'The Burden', the research home of Grey Walter who featured in the last Brainland episode. We discuss the unusual origin, Frederick Golla, the first director, the impact of the war, a wide range of characters who worked there and the work they did. A bit niche? Absolutely, but hey, that's Brainland!

Participants:

Jonathan Bird, Retired Consultant Neuropsychiatrist, Bristol.

Ken Barrett, artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist. .http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

Opening and closing music: Prelude to 'Brainland', the opera by Stephen Brown.

Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

Follow us us on Instagram:#brainlandcollective #brainlandthepodcast

Portrait ketch by KB.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grey Walter was an important figure in mid-20th century neurophysiology and cybernetics and this episode brings together professors of history of science and AI to discuss his life and work. We talk about his early personal and academic life, moving on to his work as a pioneer of the clinical applications of the EEG, particularly at the Burden Neurological Institute in Bristol. After setting the scene, we discuss his creation of the earliest EEG frequency analyser and brain mapper (the toposcope) before moving onto his influential book 'The Living Brain' and, in Cornelius's phrase, the 'vital abstraction' paradigm . We discuss his creation of a simple robot, in the late 1940s, the reason why he is revered in cybernetics circles, and later his experiments on brain computer interfacing. We touch on his controvertial personal life, a possible reason why he was never invited to become a Royal Society member, before talking about his legacy. A great conversation about an important figure form 20th century brain science.

Participants:

Cornelius Borck, Professor and Director of the Institute for History of Medicine and Science Studies, Lübeck University, Germany. https://www.imgwf.uni-luebeck.de/

Phil Husbands, Emeritus Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Sussex ( https://profiles.sussex.ac.uk/p1334-phil-husbands/about)

Ken Barrett, artist, writer and retired neuropsychiatrist. .http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

More on William Grey Walter: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap28659/walter-william-grey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Grey_Walter

His robotic tortoises: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLULRlmXkKo

His book 'The Living Brain': https://wwnorton.com/books/The-Living-Brain/

Grey Walter's novel 'Further Outlook' (published as 'The curve of the snowflake' in the US): https://openlibrary.org/books/OL6200854M/The_curve_of_the_snowflake.

Ken's recent paper on the first forensic use of the EEG: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-bulletin/article/first-appearance-of-eeg-evidence-in-a-uk-court-of-law-a-cautionary-tale/9D97D5564586762599DBA680D61C994D

Music: Stephen Brown’s prologue to the opera 'Brainland'

Sketch by KB.

Brainland the opera website: www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.