Sentience
Sentience is a podcast hosted by neuroscientist Daniel Toker, PhD, that explores the biggest questions about minds, consciousness, and intelligence. Each episode asks what it means to be a thinking, feeling being and why those answers matter. Through conversations with scientists, philosophers, physicians, historians, and entrepreneurs, the show examines ideas that could reshape how we understand ourselves. It is aimed at curious listeners interested in neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and the future of intelligence.
Episodes
19. AI and Animal Consciousness, and the Future of Ethics with Jeff Sebo, PhD
What if the biggest moral mistake of our time is failing to recognize the minds around us?Philosopher Jeff Sebo, author of The Moral Circle, joins Sentience to explore one of the most consequential questions of our time: who deserves moral consideration? We discuss why the scientific case for animal consciousness has grown so strong, why fish and invertebrates are often overlooked, and how humans
18. Do Elephants Have Names? The Hidden Minds of Animals with Mickey Pardo, PhD
What if we’ve been dramatically underestimating what it’s like to be another animal?In this episode of Sentience, animal cognition researcher Mickey Pardo, PhD takes us inside the minds of other animals—from woodpeckers that track relationships between other birds to elephants that appear to use name-like calls to address one another.We explore how scientists can investigate the private mental liv
17. Bruno Olshausen, PhD on how the brain compresses, sees, and makes sense of the world
In this episode of Sentience, Bruno Olshausen, PhD, professor at UC Berkeley, tells the story of how he went from wanting to build brain-like robots to uncovering one of neuroscience's most surprising results. Early in his career, he and a collaborator showed that if you train a simple computer model to represent images as efficiently as possible, it spontaneously reinvents the same kind of vi
16. Yi-Li Wu, PhD on the forgotten global history of anesthesia
In this episode of Sentience, Yi-Li Wu, PhD, Associate Professor of History and Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Michigan, explores the overlooked history of anesthesia and pain management. We discuss medieval Chinese surgical practices, herbal anesthetics, and the transmission of medical knowledge across centuries and cultures. Wu explains how physicians balanced the therapeuti
15. Osh Agabi on wetware, biological sensing, and the future of living machines
In this episode of Sentience, Osh Agabi, CEO of Koniku Inc., explores what happens when technology is built not just with silicon, but with living biology. We discuss his journey from growing up in Lagos to leading efforts in “wetware computing,” where engineered biological systems are designed to sense, adapt, and solve problems in the real world. Agabi explains how biological chips can smell the
14. Joel Frohlich, PhD on brain waves, entropy, and consciousness
In this episode of Sentience, Joel Frohlich, PhD explores how scientists study consciousness through brain signals. We discuss why familiar brain waves can sometimes mislead us, how ideas from entropy and information theory offer deeper insight into conscious states, and what neurodevelopmental conditions and brain injury reveal about long-held assumptions in neuroscience. Frohlich also shares his
13. Alysson Muotri, PhD on how brain organoids are transforming neuroscience, evolution, and medicine
In this episode of Sentience, Alysson Muotri, PhD, professor at UC San Diego, discusses how brain organoids—lab-grown neural tissues derived from stem cells—are reshaping neuroscience. He explains how organoids can model early brain development, uncover the roots of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, and accelerate the search for new treatments. We also explore how these systems shed light
12. Thomas Hartung, PhD on how lab-grown and artificial intelligence can phase out animal testing
In this episode of Sentience, we talk with Thomas Hartung, PhD, about how organoids and AI are reshaping biomedical science. Hartung explains how AI models can predict the toxicity of chemicals more accurately than animal tests and how organoids—tiny, lab-grown versions of human organs—can stand in for animals in studying disease and drug effects. We explore the concept of organoid intelligence, t
11. Shaolei Ren, PhD on AI’s hidden environmental costs and the path to sustainable computing
In this episode of Sentience, we speak with Shaolei Ren, PhD, about the hidden environmental footprint of artificial intelligence. From the enormous water and energy demands of data centers to the trade-offs between carbon emissions and cooling needs, Ren explains how his research uncovers these overlooked costs. We discuss geographical load balancing, fairness in resource allocation, brain-inspir
10. Barbara Finlay, PhD on how brains develop and evolve
In this episode, I speak with evolutionary neuroscientist Barbara Finlay, PhD, whose pioneering research has reshaped our understanding of brain evolution. Barbara shares her scientific journey, from her early inspiration in vision science to her groundbreaking discoveries about how brains scale and evolve. We explore how brains self-organize to process sensory information, why humans don't have a
9. Glenn Fox, PhD on the science of gratitude
In this episode of Sentience, neuroscientist Dr. Glenn Fox takes us on a fascinating journey through the science of gratitude. From his pioneering brain-imaging studies on Holocaust survivor testimonies to developing practical frameworks for entrepreneurs, Glenn reveals how gratitude impacts our brains, emotional health, and resilience. We discuss why gratitude is uniquely powerful, especially dur
8. Farah Lubin, PhD on epigenetics and the brain
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Farah Lubin, a neuroscientist from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, to explore the fascinating world of epigenetics in the brain. Dr. Lubin shares her groundbreaking research on how gene expression can influence memory formation and neurological disorders like epilepsy. We also discuss how understanding these mechanisms could lead to novel therapies, al
7. Gill Livingston, MD on preventing dementia
In this episode, I chat with Dr. Gill Livingston about her groundbreaking research on dementia. Dr. Livingston has played an important role in uncovering the lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors that contribute to our risk of developing dementia. Follow her on X @Gill_Livingston for more insights.
Timestamps:
(00:00) - Introduction to Dr. Gill Livingston and Her Research on Dementia(00:3
6. Athina Demertzi, PhD on the neuroscience of consciousness
In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Athina Demertzi, PhD, a neuroscientist at the University of Liège who studies human consciousness, especially in patients with severe brain injuries. We discussed her fascinating work on disorders of consciousness like the vegetative and minimally conscious states, and how brain imaging techniques have advanced our understanding of these conditi
5. Stephen Coombes, PhD on neural field theory
In this episode, I talk with Stephen Coombes, Ph.D. about neural field theory, or the theory of brainwaves. Dr. Coombes is Professor of Applied Mathematics in the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Nottingham. We explore the foundations of neural field theory, how it models large-scale brain activity, and its relevance to understanding states of consciousness, visual hallucinatio
4. Jay Skelton, PhD and Andrew Leker on AI for mental health
In this episode I talk with clinical psychologist Jay Skelton, Ph.D. and software engineer Andrew Leker about Willow. Willow is a new, empathetic AI specifically designed to be a mental health tool (and not a replacement for a licensed therapist). We take a deep dive into how Willow was trained, how strict safety guardrails were put in place, how Willow is already being used in mental health clini
3. Michael Treanor, PhD on the science of cognitive-behavioral therapy
In this episode, I talk with Michael Treanor, PhD about the science of cognitive-behavioral therapy, and its foundations in the psychology and neuroscience of learning and memory.
You can find out more about Dr. Treanor's clinical practice at https://www.cacenterforanxietytrauma.com/.
2. Grace Lindsay, PhD on neuroscience and artificial intelligence
In this podcast, Grace Lindsay, Ph.D. and I discuss some of the many fascinating intersections between neuroscience and artificial intelligence.
1. Minimally conscious patient meets scientist who woke him up
Bradley Crehan wasn't regaining consciousness after his brain injury, but then he became the first person in the world to receive an experimental treatment developed at UCLA by Martin Monti, PhD and his colleagues.
You can support our research here: https://thebrainscientist.com/donate/
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