# In search of: Radiolab episode - brain feedback analogy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 22, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-search-of-radiolab-episode-brain-feedback-analogy/772741 "2016-11-22T15:06:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-search-of-radiolab-episode-brain-feedback-analogy/772741/1 "2016-11-22T15:06:46Z")
I recall listening to a Radiolab ([Radiolab: Podcasts | WNYC Studios | Podcasts](http://www.radiolab.org/archive/)) episode where Robert Krulwich made an analogy about the sequence of events that takes place when we do any action. I think he talked about “wagging your tongue”. First, the brain decides it wants to wag the tongue. “Mission control, we need to wag the tongue”. Then, the brain sends signals to the tongue which makes it wag. Then, there is some feedback to the brain indicating the the tongue did, indeed, wag. “Mission control, we have tongue wag confirmation. The tongue is wagging.” I can’t seem to find the episode and/or clip despite hours of searching. Any help? Thanks in advance… ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-search-of-radiolab-episode-brain-feedback-analogy/772741/2 "2016-12-01T20:02:19Z")
Bump…just in case… ---
**Author:** ![albino\_manatee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/albino_manatee/32/2_2.png) [@albino\_manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/albino_manatee)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-search-of-radiolab-episode-brain-feedback-analogy/772741/3 "2016-12-02T03:12:24Z")
just posting, more or less, because nobody else ventured forth, malaka. i took a portion of your paragraph and asked google … once i stripped away the quotes, became more apparent: > **[This device allows blind people to see through their tongues](https://www.theplaidzebra.com/device-allows-blind-people-see-tongues/)** > > The story of Emilie Goissiaux, a 25-year-old artist living in Brooklyn but originally from New Orleans, is an amazing one. In 2010, an 18-wheel truck hit Emilie, giving her a traumatic brain injury, multiple fractures, and leaving her in a coma. and within that article, is a mention of radiolab: > **[Finding Emilie](https://www.radiolab.org/podcast/110206-finding-emilie)** > > In this segment, we take an emotional left turn to a story of a very different kind of lost and found. ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-search-of-radiolab-episode-brain-feedback-analogy/772741/4 "2016-12-03T19:34:20Z")
**albino\_manatee** , Thanks for your reply. Part of the trouble with my search was that the topic had nothing to do with “tongues”. Instead, Robert simply used “tongue wagging” as an analogy for some other topic. In fact, I’d run across the Radiolab episode you mentioned during my search. I listened to it (and its part 2) again, to be sure I hadn’t missed something. Unfortunately, neither was the episode I was seeking. However, your post did make me rethink how I was thinking. I was searching with terms like “tongue” and “brain”. Instead, I thought, “What might a conversation between the brain and an extremity be an analogy for?” and that reminded me of the phenomenon of “phantom limbs”. I imagined that Robert was using the “tongue wagging” analogy to describe the way the brain communicates with an extremity…even one that isn’t there. One search and listen later, and I’d found my episode: [The Butcher's Assistant](http://www.radiolab.org/story/91526-the-butchers-assistant/) (starting at 1:10). Thanks for helping jog my memory! ---
**Author:** ![albino\_manatee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/albino_manatee/32/2_2.png) [@albino\_manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/albino_manatee)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-search-of-radiolab-episode-brain-feedback-analogy/772741/5 "2016-12-04T02:46:29Z")
_"mission control, we have a wagging … "_ ahahah well done, malaka … nice to know you were able to find the missing piece to your puzzle.