In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Thomas R. Verny about his work on the embodied mind. They discuss Thomas' background and motivation for writing his most recent book and how the embodied mind is an extended mind. They discuss the importance of the gut microbiome and the enteric nervous system. They talk about the vagus nerve, epigenetics, and stem cells and CRISPR. They also provided details on regeneration, hibernation, and metamorphosis using the example of the Planarian flatworm. They also talk about consciousness, the self, and many other topics.
Thomas R. Verny is a psychiatrist and author. He has taught at many academic institutions such as Harvard, University of Toronto, and York University, Toronto. He founded the Pre- and Perinatal Psychology Association of North America (PPPANA, renamed APPPAH—Association for Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health – in 1995), and served as its president for eight years. He also launched the APPPAH Journal – the Journal of Pre- and Perinatal Psychology and Health (JAPPAH) (Human Sciences Press, New York), which he edited from its inception until 1990. He is a member of the Ontario Review Board (ORB) and Associate Editor of the Journal of the Association for Pre- and Peri-natal Psychology and Health (JAPPPAH). He has almost 50 papers in the scientific journals and is the author of numerous books, including the most recent, The Embodied Mind: Understanding the Mysteries of Cellular Memory, Consciousness, and Our Bodies. You can find his work at his website.
#156 - The Embodied Mind: A Dialogue with Thomas R. Verny