{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/5f17776edfc27138ff2c2d3f/5f62ee9ea9212b5d1c2b1606?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Computer science, neuroscience, and philosophy with Brabeeba Wang","description":"<p>Listen in for an intellectually enriching conversation with Brabeeba Wang, MIT PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (but actually cognitive neuroscience with a basis in rigorous mathematical frameworks). He, like Einstein did, also plays the violin&nbsp;;)</p><p><br></p><p>We talk about:</p><ul><li>(1:14) his chosen English name, a combination of his favorite composers: Brahms, Beethoven, Bach</li><li>(2:10) his musical backstory from piano to picking up the violin</li><li>(8:05) college trajectory, switching majors each year to explore other subjects: math as his core and computer science, neuroscience, and philosophy as branches of study </li><li>(9:56) reflecting on what makes you unique: how he ended up in the EECS department doing philosophical-mathematical cognitive neuroscience research!</li><li>(13:10) an experiment that is performed to determine whether a patient has a lesion in their prefrontal cortex</li><li>the questions he's answering through his PhD research, including (16:33) how does the brain learn, and (21:34) what is the math behind how we understand languages and music?</li><li>(19:15) the role of the prefrontal cortex in decision-making and personality; how it works differently in cases of (19:29) ADHD and schizophrenia (20:05)</li><li>(21:00) plans moving forward – academia</li><li>(23:33) the awesome power of composing sentences, indicative of their inherent structure that could be described mathematically</li><li>(30:05) advice for people entering graduate school, from finding the right department, matching up with a good advisor, to building out your social network through common interests beyond research (think symphony concerts and poker nights)</li><li>(34:15) and finally, how he learned English by reading books and looking up the words</li></ul><p><br></p><blockquote><em>Brabeeba (9:56):</em> <em>I</em> <em>found</em> <em>that</em> <em>what</em> <em>made</em> <em>me</em> <em>unique</em> <em>and</em> <em>irreplaceable</em> <em>was</em> <em>not</em> <em>my</em> <em>strengths</em> <em>in</em> <em>the</em> <em>field</em> <em>of</em> <em>algebraic</em> <em>topology</em> <em>(my</em> <em>advisor</em> <em>could</em> <em>probably</em> <em>do</em> <em>anything</em> <em>I</em> <em>could</em> <em>do,</em> <em>which</em> <em>felt</em> <em>redundant)</em> <em>but</em> <em>my</em> <em>interest</em> <em>in</em> <em>a</em> <em>lot</em> <em>of</em> <em>different</em> <em>areas</em> <em>and</em> <em>different</em> <em>ways</em> <em>of</em> <em>thinking:</em> <em>for</em> <em>example,</em> <em>asking</em> <em>philosophical</em> <em>questions</em> <em>about</em> <em>neuroscience,</em> <em>and</em> <em>then</em> <em>finding</em> <em>ways</em> <em>to</em> <em>answer</em> <em>them</em> <em>through</em> <em>rigorous</em> <em>mathematical</em> <em>frameworks.</em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Where you can find Brabeeba Wang:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Instagram: <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/brabeeba/?hl=en\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">https://www.instagram.com/brabeeba/?hl=en</a></li><li>Publications: <a href=\"https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.06171\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.06171</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p>As always, this episode is dedicated to and made possible by my Patrons, friends, and family. Thank you all!</p><p><br></p><p>If you want to support me directly, you can join my Patreon family at<a href=\"https://www.patreon.com/aldisart?fan_landing=true\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"> https://www.patreon.com/aldisart?fan_landing=true</a>. </p>","author_name":"Aldis "}