The first podcast with him delved so deeply into his approach to assessing fMRI data and his philosophy of doing good science and good fMRI that we really didn’t get a chance to talk about his groundbreaking results and what questions they open up. Here we discuss his fascinating and potentially paradigm shifting results on widely distributed, semantic maps in the brain that shift and warp depending on the task itself. These results, at least in my opinion, open up new avenues for insight into fundamentals of brain organization. The brain is not just a conglomeration of distinct and static modules, but a shifting landscape of representation, much of which may be shaped primarily by our experience in the world. How we or our attention shifts these landscapes is an open and potentially profound question. Here we also discuss prospects for layer fMRI as well as the challenges of clinical MRI. It was an information rich and engaging discussion with one of the true luminaries in the field.

Guest:

Jack Gallant is a neuroscientist and engineer and currently a Chancellor’s Professor of Psychology and Class of 1940 Endowed Chair at UC Berkeley and is affiliated with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He has moved from basic neuroscience research to fMRI over a decade ago, to the benefit of the field, as his work has been deeply rigorous, deeply creative, and deeply thought provoking.