To the Best of Our Knowledge: Wiring the Brain

In this hour, the "connectome" is one of the most audacious science projects ever conceived: a detailed map of the human brain, neuron by neuron, synapse by synapse. MIT computational neuroscientist Sebastian Seung explains what we can learn.

Next, if your mind is nothing more than brain chemistry, do you have free will? Cognitive neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga says new brain science should change our thinking about this old philosophical question..

Then, Daniel Levitin is a neuroscientist with a twist; he's also a musician and record producer. He says brain imaging is showing how our brains listen to and make music

After that, psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist says most neuroscientists have downplayed the differences between the left and right sides of the brain. He thinks the left hemisphere has become so dominant in Western culture that we're losing the sense of what makes us human.

Following that, Neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor nearly died from a massive stroke at the age of 37. Her recovery took 8 years, and the experience gave her insights into how the mind perceives the world.

Then, Karen Slavick-Lennard's husband talks in his sleep - and says the craziest things. We talk with Karen and hear audio excerpts of "sleep talkin' man."

And finally, sleep may be an utterly common activity, but neuroscientist Giulio Tononi believes it's the greatest experiment in consciousness. [Broadcast Date: November 21, 2012]