This video will be especially fun, because

I have a chance now to interview my

co-instructor, Dr. Terrence Sejnowski. Terrence's pioneering research in neural
networks and computational neural science, have made him a living
legend. Dr. Sejnowski is an investigator at Howard Hughes medical institute, and
the Francis
Crick professor at the Salk Institute for
Biological Studies where he directs the Computational
Neurobiology Laboratory. Above and beyond all of that Dr. Sejnowski
is also in the elite group of only ten living
scientists. To have been elected to all three of the national academies, in
engineering,
science, and medicine. What I think perhaps is most impressive
however is that Terry has also graduated more computational neural scientists, than
any other
scientist. In some sense then, this makes Dr. Terrence Sinalski a leading father
figure for the modern field of
neuroscience. The ultimate goal of Dr. Sejnowski's research
is to build linking principles, from brain to
behavior using computational models. Today, I'm going to ask Terry a few
questions about how he learns. And how he thinks about learning, so that
we all might get a better sense of how to improve our
own learning. So what do you do to help yourself learn more easily, when you're
looking at
something completely new? >> Well I like to get into the thick of
it. I don't get much out of just going and
reading a lot of books. And, when I was in Graduate School, I made
a transition from Physics to Biology. And the way I did it was to get into a
Biology lab. And get involved in experiments. And I, I'm a firm believer in
learning by doing, and learning by osmosis from people
who are experts. >> How do you keep yourself paying attention, during something
like a boring
lecture? >> I found that there isn't, a simple way
to keep yourself attending something that you're not
interested in. But I have found a little trick to waylay the, the speaker, and that
is by asking a
question. And the interruption often, gives rise to a discussion that is a lot more
interesting. And it actually follows the general
principle which is that you learn more by active engagement rather
than passive listening. >> So, what do you do to get into and take
advantage of diffuse mode thinking? I find that when I'm jogging, or out
getting exercise, that it's a wonderful way to get the mind disengaged, from the
normal train of thought. And I find that it's very very possible to to sort of come
up with new thoughts, new
ideas. And it's almost as if your brain goes into
a new mode, you're running along, things are
passing you by. And you start thinking about what's
happening. For example, things that, that your brain
has been working on, your out of conscious thoughts bubble
to the surface. And often new ideas that are going to be
then helpful to you later on. The only problem I have is remembering all
those great ideas. Because when I get back and take a shower,
then a lot of them have evaporated. And that's why I, I like to take a little
notebook along with me, so I can take notes and remember what it
is that I was thinking about. >> So, do you multitask, or, or if you
don't, how do you resist the urge to multitask when
you want to multitask? >> Well, I wouldn't survive if I didn't
multitask. And most of my talking with students,
listening to lectures, interacting with a lot of people who are
passing through, visitors. There's just a lot things that are
bombarding you, email, texting any these are very
important things that you want to do, but if you can't juggle them, it's hard to
get through the
day. However, I, I enjoy the evenings when the
hubbub of the day quiets down, and I get a chance to go into a, a more reflective
mode, and that's when I actually get my best
work done. >> Do you do two things at the same time
ever? >> Well, you know, you can't actually do
two things, consciously, at the same time, because
those will get mixed up. It, its is possible with a lot of
training, actually, to do two things at once, is, but it's, it's,
you're not doing it efficiently. For me, multitasking is, is being able to
switch back and forth, context switching from one
topic to another. And some people are better at that than
others. In other words sometimes takes a while to
get into the swing of things if you're in, in the middle of
writing a paper. For example it may take hours before you
get to the point where you can actually be productive in area, actually able to get
something
accomplished. But if, if, if you can you know after
getting lay you know, into the middle of something
switching from that to another task. Is, is sometimes very difficult to do, if, if
you're, if, if you're middle of
something. But, I can do that very easily. I can switch back and forth. And I seem
to be able to go back to the original task, and, and, and take up where
I left off. So, so that's one way of, of accomplishing
a lot and I get I have, fortunately I have a lot of very
good students and helpers. And enormously productive environment that
I'm working in, so it's been, it's really a joy to be here. >> How do you apply
your knowledge of
neuroscience, to your own learning? Well, you know, I think there are many
little ways that, I have applied what I've actually learned in the lab, and let me
give you just one example to make it
concrete. One of my colleagues at the Salk Institute, Rusty Gage, made a very
important discovery. If you read the textbooks, it will tell
you that all the neurons that you have in your brain
you had a birth. And after birth, the wiring takes place
and learning, and that changes at the, the connections
between the neurons. But the, but they're the same old neurons
that you had when you were born. Some die. You know, so there is shrinkage of your,
of your cortex. However, Rusty discovered that, in an
important part of your brain for learning, and memory,
the Hippocampus. And which is located right in the middle
here, of this model brain. New neurons are being born, even in your
adulthood. And, this, this is very important for
learning and memory. It is obviously something that is very,
very useful to be able to have new neurons. Now here's what we discovered together.
We discovered that. If you have a animal, we use a, a rat as
our model system. And, if you give it an enriched
environment, in which the rat is able to move around, and do things, and
interact with other rats. That, and then look in the hippocampus,
you find that the hip, the, the strengths of the connections between the neurons,
is much stronger
there. It, it can be made by a factor of two,
much stronger than in a rat that has been kept in a cage where
there is impoverished environment. Now, and here's now the, the key, okay so
having an enriched environment is, is, is even as an adult is
going to help you. Right? Instead of locking yourself, a monk in the
room you really want to be surrounded by other people who
are stimulating you. And events that are happening that you can actively
participate in, so, so that
important. Now here is something Rusty discovered
which I think is incredibly important. That in the absence of an enriched
environment exercise will also increase the number of new neurons that
are being born and survive. And, so I, am very, avid at running. I've already
mentioned that I get lots of
good ideas when I run, but I also, know, that my brain is, helping me remember
things, because of the
fact that I have new neurons being born, and surviving
in my hippocampus. So that's one of many examples that I can
point to, in which what we've learned about neuroscientists, from neuroscience,
has really changed the way I think and its a pity if
you look at the way our, our new educational
reforms and schools. What do they cut out when they want to add
a new, a, session for example learning something,
for example, how to pass a test, right. Tests are being given now to help assess,
how well a student is doing and how well a school
is doing. Well, it's recess. And what happens during a recess? Exercise. It's
running around. It's exactly what you need, what your brain
needs. It needs that moment of pause of, of using
your muscles rather than your brain. To be able to process that information and to,
and, and get the neurons working on
it. So I think that this is, again something
that is, should be a policy that we need to have our children
out there running around. >> Have there been any special techniques
you've acquired over the years that help you focus, learn or
create more effectively. I find that, being in a, a creative environment, where
other people, are, are creative is, is, is a way of, enhancing
your own creativity. I, I think that. Although the image we have of the creative
thinker as being isolated genius may be true of some people, it's
not true of me. I really find that I have better ideas if
I'm talking to somebody, and trying to explain
to them my ideas. Often, that process can, it boosts the creative process and the
facts, I
think that you know, having other people around to bounce your ideas off of is
really for me a very,
very important part of doing science. >> How about test taking? Any special advice
there? >> Tests are like any other skill. You can learn them. You can learn to be a
better test
taker. And you have a lot of good ideas
about that. I've discovered that the... what
you need... things to avoid, for example. Don't get hung up if you can't answer a
question. Go on to the next, because you can always come back and in fact, often,
the answer
to the problem that was holding you back may
actually pop in to your brain later on in the test. This is how our brains work,
things work
along parallel tracks. How do you approach your creative work in
science? How do you keep yourself creative in the
face of the onslaught of more routine day by
day tasks? >> I've been very fortunate, because I
have a great lab, and my students and colleagues,
keep me young in terms of learning new things,
looking at things with new perspectives. So, I think that having youth around
really is a, a great way to keep yourself
youthful. >> If you had any advice for a young high
school or college student, about how to learn
effectively, what would you say? >> That success isn't necessarily come by
being smart. I know a lot of smart people who are not
successful. But I know a lot of people, who are very,
very passionate. And persistent. A lot of success in life is that passion
and persistence, of really staying the course, staying working
on it, and, not letting go. Not giving up. That's really, I think the most
important,
quality that I see in students, that I work with, who are
successful. >> Terry, I cannot thank you enough, for
your great answers, that I think people will
find very helpful. >> Wonderful, now I want to, this is, give
a little intro here. I'd like to introduce you to Francis
Crick's brain. So, I first met Francis 30 years ago, and
this brain was sitting in his office. And, Francis was a close colleague of, I,
moved here about 25 years ago, and got to know Francis much
much better. And one day, we were chatting, and Francis
pointed out this brain that had been sitting there for
decades and said Terry do you know that I just
recently realized that this brain is much bigger than a real
brain. And in fact you could not fit this brain
in my skull if you actually look at the
relative sizes. It's, it's, this is a teaching tool for
medical students. You know, you could take apart the
different parts of the brain. But isn't it interesting that Francis Crick
didn't realize that until much, much later, when he actually
looked at it with new eyes? And so, you know, this is something about. Learning
with fresh new eyes. >> Isn't it extraordinary, even in a Nobel
Prize winning discoverer of DNA. >> Well, there are things to discover
every day about things around us, ordinary
things, that you just have to look at them with a different set of eyes and a
different
perspective. [BLANK_AUDIO]