Josh Turknett, MD

BRAINJO CENTER FOR NEUROLOGY & COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT

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Mental Models

Model #10: Paradoxical Gains

Key Points At first glance, the emergence of “new” cognitive abilities following an insult to the brain seems paradoxical. The explanation that resolves this apparent paradox is that the emergent capability was present all along, but being suppressed by the

jturknett August 3, 2019August 3, 2019 Intelligence Unshackled, Mental Models Read more

Model #9: Plasticity

Model #9: Plasticity

Key Points For much of the 20th Century, the prevailing dogma in the neurosciences was that, after childhood cognitive development, the brain remained fixed and unchanging. This view of the adult brain as static was arguably the greatest constraint on

jturknett April 16, 2019April 17, 2019 Intelligence Unshackled, Mental Models Read more

Model #8: Game Level VS. Source Code

Key Points It is no secret that progress in medical therapeutics in recent decades has been terribly disappointing. In spite of massive investment of resources, there have been on major therapeutic advances in the major categories of human illness, including

jturknett March 5, 2019March 5, 2019 Intelligence Unshackled, Mental Models Read more

Episode 9: Mismatch

“I don’t think it is possible to overemphasize just how important mismatch diseases are” Dan Lieberman, The Story of the Human Body Key Points Collectively, compromises in the biological foundation of the brain is the single largest constraint on human

jturknett February 4, 2019February 10, 2019 Intelligence Unshackled, Mental Models Read more

Model #5 – Modular AND Distributed (MAD)

Key Points Is the brain a general purpose machine, or a collection of specialized modules? This is a fundamental question in the field of neuroscience, and has been the subject of intense back-and-forth debate for centuries. Improvements in technology, statistical

jturknett December 26, 2018January 11, 2019 Intelligence Unshackled, Mental Models Read more

Episode 5 – Automaticity

Episode 5 – Automaticity

Key Points Automaticity refers to our ability to engage in a behavior while our conscious mind is directed elsewhere. The creation of neural circuitry that supports it is the biological mechanism that allows us to compound knowledge throughout our lives,

jturknett December 6, 2018December 7, 2018 Intelligence Unshackled, Mental Models Read more

Episode 4: Confabulation

Episode 4: Confabulation

Key Points From studies of patients with split brains, anosognosia, and Korsakoff’s syndrome comes the the concept of the interpreter, an area in the dominant hemisphere that’s in charge of explaining our own behavior. As discussed in the prior episode

jturknett November 19, 2018December 7, 2018 Intelligence Unshackled, Mental Models Read more

Episode 3: Subterranean

Episode 3: Subterranean

Key Points In recent years, neuroscience research has revealed that the majority (up to 95%, by some estimates) of the neural networks that support cognitive function are housed in circuity that is largely segregated, or walled off, from the networks

jturknett November 12, 2018November 20, 2018 Intelligence Unshackled, Mental Models Read more

Episode 2: Hardware & Software

Key Points Mental Models are cognitive filters for extracting different kinds of information from phenomena in our world. In Charlie Munger’s words, they form a “latticework of theory” upon which we can hang facts about the world. The more models

jturknett November 2, 2018November 3, 2018 Mental Models Read more
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