Pain can be felt anywhere in the body, but it all originates in the same place: the brain. Lorimer Moseley, a professor of clinical neurosciences at the University of South Australia and a specialist in how the brain produces pain signals, joins us today to talk about how pain is created as a protective strategy. Your brain, which is constantly monitoring your environment for signs of danger vs safety, sends pain signals when it detects a painful stimulus (a process called nociception). ...

Yes, your pain is all in your head - but that doesn't mean it's not "real". Dr. Lorimer Moseley, author of the best selling classic "Explain Pain" is a trailblazer in the field of contemporary pain science.   In our next episode he explains how all pain is real, but you can train your mind to understand what each pain "means", and choose how to experience it.  

Babies and toddlers have truly outstanding brains - they absorb information broadly, quickly, and indiscriminately as they learn about the world, with processing speeds that leave AI-powered robots in the dust. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of Philosophy at U.C. Berkeley, has been studying baby brains for decades, and she joins us today to talk about how we could look to them to make computers smarter. https://thisisyourbrain.com/ 

Dr. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of Philosophy at U.C. Berkeley, has been studying baby brains for decades.  She says the world of AI has much to learn from babies  - including teaching computers to be playful and curious! http://alisongopnik.com/ 

Your early experiences literally change the way you think and feel about the world -- they even shape what you see and hear. Dr. Chantel Prat,  a cognitive neuroscientist and professor at the University of Washington, studies how variations in brain wiring make each of us unique individuals and drive our understanding of each other, and of the world. In this episode, learn which parts of the brain are "experience-expectant" (waiting for input on how to develop), and why trade-offs in the...

Dr. Chantel Prat, a cognitive neuroscientist and professor at the University of Washington, studies how variations in brain wiring make each of us unique individuals and drive our understanding of each other.

Our brains evolved for a simpler life, and today they struggle to cope with a deluge of distraction from technology. Dr. Adam Gazzaley, professor of neurology at the University of California San Francisco, reveals why the brain loves multi-tasking even though it's so bad for productivity; why "single-tasking" is so hard to relearn; and why 60-year-olds can't filter out irrelevant information. Plus... a prescription video game that can help kids with ADHD and others change their brains to find...

How can our "ancient" brains struggle to cope with the deluge of distraction from modern-day technology?   Dr. Adam Gazzaley, professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco reveals how cellphones and video games are designed to capture and hold our attention by triggering instinctual responses that stem from our deep evolutionary past.

Speech therapists have long used music to help patients regain their voices after stroke or brain injury. Today's music therapists are going even further, developing strategies that use music on patients with Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, cognitive issues, and more. Hear from Neurologic Music Therapist Caitlin Hebb about how the rhythm and rhyme of music work on memory, gait, and language. https://www.medrhythmstherapy.com/teamcaitlin  Plus... what's that earworm?

Speech therapists have long used music to help patients regain their voices after stroke or brain injury.  Hear from Neurologic Music Therapist Caitlin Hebb about how the rhythm and rhyme of music can also work on memory, gait, and balance.

Unlike a broken bone or clogged artery, a brain that goes awry due to disease or injury—or even an errant molecule—causes weird and unpredictable changes in personality. Hear some of the bizarre tales of tiny particles that alter behavior from neurologist Sara Manning Peskin, author of A Molecule Away From Madness. https://saramanningpeskin.com/  Plus... how parasites hijack animal brains, sometimes turning a host into a zombie in their quest to reproduce.

Dr. Sara Manning Peskin, a neuroscientist and assistant professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, describes how the very molecules that allow us to exist can also sabotage our minds.  

The impact of mild traumatic brain injury extends far beyond the gridiron – concussions can happen anywhere, including playing fields, bike paths, and war zones. Kenneth Kutner, PhD, who specializes in head injuries and has been the team neuropsychologist for the New York Giants for 30 seasons, joins us to talk about what the latest research has revealed about concussion and how it affects physical health and cognitive function. From the military to the NFL, and even in the corporate...

For decades, college and professional football players used to ignore even the most painful head injuries and severe concussions.   Players were admired for "getting their bell rung" and getting back into the game.  "No more", says Dr. Kenneth Kutner - Team Neuropsychologist for the New York Giants for 30 seasons and the lead author of the Sideline Concussion Checklist, one of the first sideline diagnostic tools utilized in the NFL.  "Concussions are real" says Dr Kutner. He points out that...

Temple Grandin, PhD, wants kids -- especially those on the autism spectrum -- to start using their hands again. The woman Oliver Sacks called "the anthropologist on Mars" explains how our brains may be naturally wired to think in words, mathematics, or visuals, and there's nothing disordered about any of them. Dr. Grandin urges us to respect our young visual thinkers and celebrate their strengths instead of labelling them disabilities.

The woman Oliver Sacks called "the anthropologist on Mars" explains how our brains may be naturally wired to think in words, mathematics, or visuals, and there's nothing disordered about any of them. Dr. Temple Grandin urges us to respect our young visual thinkers and celebrate their strengths instead of labelling them disabilities.

Giggles, guffaws, or belly laughs -- whenever we crack up, we're communicating more than we realize. Laughter, says Dr. Sophie Scott, a neuroscientist at University College London as well as a standup comic, is pretty complicated. It's a way of expressing group membership and affection (as long as nobody is laughing AT you) and involves a physical reaction as well as an emotional one. Scott can make you laugh -- and then explain why you did!

Laughter, says Dr. Sophie Scott, is pretty complicated. It's a way of expressing group membership and affection (as long as nobody is laughing AT you) and involves a physical reaction as well as an emotional one. 

Extreme athlete Wim Hof has set records for immersion in icy water, and he recommends it for physical and mental health. Find out why his wife's suicide drove Hof to master controlled hyperventilation -- in breathtaking cold -- to become happy, strong, and healthy. (Everything else, he'll tell you, is BS!) Surprisingly, heart and brain science just may support the Wim Hof Method.  Plus... contrasting Ice with Fire.  http://www.wimhofmethod.com/

Extreme athlete Wim Hof has set records for immersion in icy water, and he recommends it for physical and mental health. Find out why his wife's suicide drove Hof to master controlled hyperventilation -- in breathtaking cold -- to become happy, strong, and healthy. (Everything else, he'll tell you, is BS.)

With each of us receiving more than 30,000 messages a day - everything from news headlines to print, TV, radio, and online advertising - how do today's marketing professionals have a chance of getting a product or service to stand out?  Dr. Christophe Morin is a "neuromarketer," combining his expertise in neuroscience with his passion for understanding how to persuade people to do or buy almost anything. This week, Dr. Morin talks about the "emotional cocktail" that is our response to...

Dr. Christophe Morin is a "neuromarketer," combining his expertise in neuroscience with his passion for understanding how to persuade people to do or buy almost anything. Next week, Dr. Morin talks about the "emotional cocktail" that is our response to advertising messages, and why appeals to the rational brain don't work.

Your brain, your heart -- in fact, every cell in your body -- has its own clock telling you when to be alert and when to pack it in. You probably know that jet lag and daylight savings time affect that clock, but did you know that the food you eat (and when you eat it) as well as your activity level can also wreak havoc on it? Emily Manoogian, PhD, chronobiologist and clinical researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, explains how shift work, long flights, eating...

Your brain, your heart -- in fact, every cell in your body -- has its own clock telling you when to be alert and when to pack it in. Dr. Emily Manoogian, chronobiologist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies explains how disrupting your circadian rhythms through shift work, long flights, eating at the wrong times, and even staying up too late on weekends can affect your health, mood, and emotional regulation.

Magicians and illusionists rely on our brains' tendency to predict what comes next—and the surprise we feel when we're wrong. Dr. Luis Martinez, a neuroscientist at the Spanish National Research Council at the Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante, Spain, explains how card tricks, illusions, and other sleight of hand is all about the brain's interpretation of reality. Hint: your reality is different from the magician's.   ...