Podcast #9: The SCIENCE of cognitive control and motivation – Roshan Cools
Our guest today is Roshan Cools. Roshan is a Professor of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry at the Radboud University Medical Center and Principal Investigator at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour.
Roshan is interested in Willpower. How does it work and how do underlying factors such as cognitive control and motivation influence it? Her research goes even further and looks into how these factors are modulated by dopamine and serotonin.
In this conversation we talk about her research and how many of the topics of cognitive control overlap with memory and decision making.
We cover many topics ranging from reward and the role of dopamine as well as cognitive enhancers such as ritalin or adderall and if they are actually effective or not.
We also touched upon how UX design could impact cognitive control and how you should think about it.
Show Notes
Reach out to Roshan Cools at:
Twitter: @CoolsControl
Website: www.roshancools.com
Articles / Books:
Thinking fast and slow – Daniel Kahnemann
On Task – David Badre
Videos / Movies / Documentaries:
The Marshmallow Test
Adjmal is the CEO and one of the founders of MindTrace. He always enjoys a good challenge. That led him down the path to study the brain and getting his PhD in Neuroscience from the Donders Institute for Brain Research. He enjoys explaining neuroscience related concepts and is working hard to make MindTrace accessible to everyone.
Cognitive control is the outward and visible manifestation of inner processes that have been greatly impacted in most by the fast pace and anxiety triggered by technology and modern life. The deep unconscious has become an enemy rather than a friend for many, that’s why Robert Langs (see Wikipedia) thought it was important to make what he called self-analysis and later self-processing widely available.