Shows
Gresham College LecturesThe Turbulent Brain: Rhythms and Waves - Alain GorielyDespite its quiet appearance, the brain is the seat of complicated wave dynamics. Indeed, cognitive processes are carried out through communications between neurons, leading to synchronisation and oscillations at different frequencies that can be recorded. Together, these oscillations also create waves that propagate through different regions. Apart from this electrical activity, the brain is also the siege of slow chemical waves that can cause migraine and mechanical waves arising from trauma. In this lecture, we will study the influence of all these waves on brain function.This lecture was recorded by Alain Goriely on 18th March 2025 at...2025-04-1156 minGresham College LecturesThe Connected Brain: Network and Communication - Alain GorielyWatch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/bKMV8i9Mq40The brain is mostly organised in small modular regions connected to each other. Typically, each region performs different cognitive tasks, from image processing to language. This organisation leads us to model the brain as a network, the ‘brain connectome’. This fundamental view of the brain has become a central paradigm for neurosciences linking topological properties of networks to brain functions. This lecture presents ideas from graph theory to study this network and understand the way that the brain learns and operates.This lecture was...2025-02-1156 minGresham College LecturesThe Convoluted Brain: Wrinkles and Folds - Alain GorielyWatch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/_Q_30OIPzXwThe human brain has a very distinct and complex appearance with valleys and ridges folding over themselves. The same convolutions are found in large mammals, but not in smaller ones. This observation suggests that size and geometry play a role. Yet, these beautiful shapes have defied a complete description or understanding. This lecture will address questions stemming from this picture: How do these shapes emerge? How are they arranged? Simple mathematical models can help us understand the emergence of these beautiful patterns during development a...2024-11-1949 minGresham College LecturesDoes having a big brain make your smarter? - Alain GorielyWatch the Q&A session here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFCDvsq6N5gFor centuries scientists have tried to identify what is special about the human brain. How do we approach this problem from a mathematical standpoint? The first hypothesis is that bigger is better, in some sense. In this introductory lecture, scaling laws and simple ideas from statistics will be used to study this problem, both in humans and animals, as well as uncover some basic principles that govern brain size and test hypotheses connecting intelligence to size in humans and animals..2024-09-2055 min
Instant GeniusHow maths can help us to understand the human brainIt’s often said that the human brain is the most complex structure in the known Universe. So how do we go about studying it? You may think that we should leave this to biologists or neuroscientists, but approaching the brain as a mathematical object and investigating its geometry and structure is providing researchers with more and more new insights.In this episode we catch up with mathematician Alain Goriely, professor of geometry at Gresham College, London ahead of his series of free public lectures entitled Mathematics and the Brain....2024-07-0830 min
BBC Inside ScienceUK Covid-19 InquiryKey scientific witnesses including former Chief Scientific Adviser Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty are called to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. The BBC’s Jim Reed brings us his three key moments from the evidence heard over the past few days that have been dubbed “science week”. NASA has managed to let loose a tool kit in the Earth’s orbit -- and you can even see it in the night sky with binoculars. Lucinda King explains how this is possible and if space junk is getting out of control. The United N...2023-12-2128 minBBC Inside ScienceThe state of nature in the UKIn this week’s episode Victoria Gill speaks to Nida al-Fulaij, conservation research manager at the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, about the UK’s new State of Nature report. Climate change, habitat loss and intensive agricultural practices have been blamed for the decline in species. But all is not lost. Victoria pays a visit to an eco-friendly farm and finds out how innovative agricultural practices can boost wildlife in the UK’s fields. We’re kicking off our series of programmes covering The Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize. Chair of the judges is Alain Goriely, P...2023-10-2628 min
Front RowThe Last Black Man in San Francisco, Economics of Publishing, Ravel's BoleroFollowing a Best Director win at Sundance, Joe Talbot discusses his film The Last Black Man in San Francisco, along with its star Jimmie Fails. Based on Jimmie Fail's own life, it's about his attempt to reclaim the house his grandfather built in the heart of San Francisco. At the busiest time in the publishing calendar with Frankfurt Book Fair just around the corner, agent Clare Alexander and Unbound publisher John Mitchinson discuss the economics of the publishing industry, from huge advances to the impact of Amazon.Oxford Professor Alain Goriely thinks that the repetitive...2019-10-0728 min
The Secrets of MathematicsJohn Ball in conversation with Alain GorielyJohn Ball is retiring as Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy, Oxford oldest Scientific Chair. In this interview he charts the journey of the Applied Mathematician.as the subject has developed over the last 50 years. Describing his struggles with exams and his time at Cambridge, Sussex and Heriot-Watt before coming to Oxford in 1996, John reflects on walking round St Petersburg with Perelman, his views on how to choose and pursue your research, his work at the International Mathematical Union and in Nepal and the vital importance of family (and football).2018-07-271h 08The Secrets of MathematicsOxford Mathematics Public Lectures - Can Mathematics Understand the Brain?' - Alain GorielyThe human brain is the object of the ultimate intellectual egocentrism. It is also a source of endless scientific problems and an organ of such complexity that it is not clear that a mathematical approach is even possible, despite many attempts. In this talk Alain will use the brain to showcase how applied mathematics thrives on such challenges. Through mathematical modelling, we will see how we can gain insight into how the brain acquires its convoluted shape and what happens during trauma. We will also consider the dramatic but fascinating progression of neuro-degenerative diseases, and, eventually, hope to learn a...2018-03-1654 minThe Secrets of MathematicsWhat Maths Really Does: From modelling the brain to modelling the climate - Alain GorielyHow has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.2014-12-0400 minThe Secrets of MathematicsWhat Maths Really Does: From modelling the brain to modelling the climate - Alain GorielyHow has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.2014-12-0458 minThe Secrets of MathematicsWhat Maths Really Does: From modelling the brain to modelling the climate - Alain GorielyHow has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.2014-12-0458 min
Alumni WeekendWhat Maths Really Does: From modelling the brain to modelling the climateHow has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.2014-10-0658 minAlumni WeekendWhat Maths Really Does: From modelling the brain to modelling the climateHow has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.2014-10-0658 minAlumni WeekendWhat Maths Really Does: From modelling the brain to modelling the climateHow has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.2014-10-0658 minAlumni WeekendWhat Maths Really Does: From modelling the brain to modelling the climateHow has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.2014-10-0658 minAlumni WeekendWhat Maths Really Does: From modelling the brain to modelling the climateHow has mathematics emerged over recent decades as the engine behind 21st century science? Alain Goriely looks at this question and more.2014-10-0658 min