STEIN Fireside Podcast: Waves of the Mind-S1-Ep7

In this episode of the STEIN Fireside Podcast, Dr. Kai Miller and Bryan Klassen sits down with world renowned neuroscientist, psychiatrist, mathematician — and lifelong surfer — Dr. Michael Breakspear. They dive into Breakspear’s unconventional path through math, medicine, physics, and psychiatry, and how those experiences shaped his groundbreaking work on neural field theory, brain oscillations, and large scale brain dynamics. From his early days programming on 1980s Mac computers to surfing the powerful reefs of Newcastle, Breakspear shares how curiosity, creativity, and lifestyle balance fuel his scientific thinking. You’ll hear discussion on: • How dynamical systems and wave equations reveal hidden structure in brain activity • Why large scale brain modes may explain attention, cognition, and consciousness • How hippocampal traveling waves shape memory, behavior, and epilepsy • What theory of mind, autism, and interoception might look like through a dynamical-systems lens • The parallels between neuroscience and AI, including latent manifolds and generative modeling • The importance of pure mathematics in modern science • The role of physical embodiment, stress regulation, and human connection in psychiatry Whether you’re into neuroscience, physics, AI, medicine, or just love a good story about surfing and science colliding, this episode is a deep, engaging ride through the brain’s most beautiful patterns. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share to support the STEIN Fireside Podcast. 0:00 Welcome and Introducing Dr. Breakspear 0:45 What Sparked His Early Love of Science 1:26 High School Experiments, Coding and Early Tech 2:39 Discovering Telnet and Predicting No Future 3:32 Torn Between Mathematics and Medicine 4:09 Studying Medicine and Applied Mathematics Together 5:14 Choosing Psychiatry and Early Clinical Experiences 7:00 Entering Psychiatry Training and Starting a PhD 7:55 Moving to London and Meeting Carl Friston 8:50 Friston’s Influence on Brain Imaging and Theory 10:12 Mentorship, Scientific Writing and Academic Development 12:21 How Surfing Shapes Life and Scientific Balance 16:00 Linking Surf Waves to Brain Wave Mathematics 17:48 Foundations of Dynamical Systems in the Brain 20:26 The Evolution of Neural Field Theory 24:04 Visual System Connectivity and Exponential Distance Rule 27:52 The “Roar of the Crowd” Neural Field Analogy 29:55 Attention, Brain Modes and Large Scale Activity 34:45 Exploring Hippocampal Waves and Memory Coding 46:15 Social Interaction, Physiology and Autism Insights 51:44 Reflections on Science, Math, and Global Collaboration From Mayo Clinic to your inbox, sign-up for free: https://mayocl.in/3e71zfi Visit Mayo Clinic: https://mayocl.in/2COVmlm Like Mayo Clinic on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mayoclinic/ Follow Mayo Clinic on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayoclinic/ Follow Mayo Clinic on X, formerly Twitter: https://x.com/MayoClinic Follow Mayo Clinic on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mayoclinic