Brain Matters

On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. Alex Huk (Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Texas at Austin) talk about how our brains process vision and motion.

Creating new proteins is necessary for neurons to change the strength of their connections with each other. This process, known as translation, is controlled by a complex system of molecules and signlaing pathways. Anthony spoke with Dr. Eric Klann (Professor, New York University) about how understanding the minutiae of translational control in neurons can help us understand learning and memory, as well as developing potential therapeutics for cognitive disorders.

When we make a decision, we draw from our past experiences to guide our actions, but we are also willing to modify our behavior if we fail to predict the correct outcome. Anthony spoke with Dr. Yael Niv (Associate Professor, Princeton University) about this kind of trial and error learning, and how the brain learns how to learn.

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On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. René Hen (Professor, Columbia University) talk about how mood and anxiety is regulated by serotonin and adult neurogenesis, and how Dr. Hen's molecular tools have helped us understand how emotions are processed.

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How can we use our thoughts to regulate our emotional responses? On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. Tor Wager (Associate Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder) discuss how our mental states and context can influence the perception of pain.

Alzheimer's disease has been a difficult disease to find treatment for. On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt and Dr. Joanna Jankowsky (Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine) talk about how to model Alzheimer's disease in mice to research the progression and treatment options for the disease.

Anthony and Dr. David Linden (Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) talked this week about David’s neuroscience research and how he gets inspiration in and out of lab. Anthony also asked David about his journey to becoming a successful scientist and best-selling author.

This episode of Brain Matters was brought to you be Audible.com. To get a free audiobook go to audiblepodcast.com/brainmatters

On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talked with Dr. Massimo Scanziani (Professor, UC San Diego; HHMI Investigator) not just about his contributions to neuroscience, but about his journey as a scientist, a student, and a mentor. Massimo’s history is fascinating and motivating.

For our 25th episode, Matt and Dr. Marina Wolf (Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science) talk about Marina's work in addiction and how this is related to mechanisms in learning and memory.

On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talked with Dr. Ben Strowbridge (Professor of Neuroscience, Case Western Reserve University). Ben and his lab study neurons in the hippocampus and the olfactory bulb and are trying to understand how they come together to make functional modules.

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On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talks about memories with Dr. Paul Frankland (Principal Investigator, Neurobiology Laboratory at The Hospital for Sick Children). How do the details of memories become lost forever? And why is it that your first memory falls so late in life?

On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt and Dr. Rajesh Miranda (Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Theraputics, Texas A&M University) talk about fetal alcohol syndrome. Rajesh is passionate about finding ways to help those who fall on the spectrum of this syndrome by uncovering the ways alcohol interacts with the development of the fetal brain.

Anthony and Dr. Maria Geffen (Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania) talk about how the brain encodes the auditory world. Maria has had a very interesting career studying many of the senses including the somatosensory and visual systems before starting her auditory lab.

Matt sits down to with Dr. Wendy Suzuki (NYU). They have a great talk about the anatomy of memory, and how exercise impacts memory. Find out more about Dr. Suzuki at http://suzukilab.com/

Anthony and Dr. David Dickman (Professor of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine; Neuroscience Program Director, Rice University) talked about neuroscience in the skies from navigation in pigeons to orientation in monkeys. And some of those monkeys were in space! David also offers some encouragement for those interested in pursuing a career in science.

Is stress good or bad? Do the negative impacts of a stressful life outweigh the benefits of the adaptive physiological response? Matt and Dr. David Morilak (Professor of Pharmacology, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio) talk about what defines a stress response and why we have them to begin with. We also find out if stress researchers have the secret to beating anxiety.

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Anthony sat down with Dr. Anthony Wagner (Professor, Stanford University) and talked about memory. Wagner is a cognitive neuroscientist studying memory in humans using techniques like functional MRI imaging. What does our brain look like when it forgets something? How do we make inferences? And can we detect a real memory from a false memory?

Matt and Dr. Andreas Tolias (Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine) talk about how the brain processes information.

Anthony and Dr. Nao Uchida (Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University) talk about how we can understand decision-making by looking at animals making decisions while we record from neurons in their brain.

On this episode of BRAIN MATTERS, Matt and Dr. Brian Derrick talk about the hippocampus. Dr. Derrick has a fascinating story about how he became interested in the hippocampus and what he and his colleagues are currently working to understand.

Anthony and Dr. Amelia Eisch talk about two major questions. First, what are new neurons good for. And second, what is good for making these new neurons. We hope you enjoy this one. Amelia is charismatic and enthusiastic about her fascinating work.

Anthony and Dr. Bruce Hope talk about how researchers can identify and manipulate the activity of neurons that are active during a specific experience. Toward the end of their conversation, Bruce gets into the importance of perseverance and the personality traits of the successful scientists he has worked with.

This week, Matt and Dr. Erin Schuman talk about how neurons make all the proteins they need to function and how a cell gets these proteins all the way to dendrites and synapses.

Anthony and Dr. Kenneth Kosik had a chance to talk about Ken's path to becoming a neuroscientist. It's a different story than the ones we are used to hearing and offers some new perspectives on what it takes to become a great scientist. They also talk about the approaches Ken uses in his lab to study Alzheimer's Disease.

Matt and Dr. Shawn Lockery met up to talk about Shawn's work in C. Elegans, a worm that allows neuroscientists to study the link between the brain and behavior. They also got into a fascinating discussion about how science and art can come together.

On this episode, Anthony and Dr. Dwight Bergles talk about the diverse functions of glia in the nervous system.

On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. Thomas Otis talk about how the cerebellum helps coordinates movements.

On this episode, Matt and Dr. Vasanthi Jayaraman talk about glutamate receptors and how Vasanthi came to be a neuroscientist. They also discuss how science training and teaching can impact both the student and the teacher.

On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. Chris Ahern talk about exciting new research with ion channels. They also chat about Chris's interesting path into science and what it's really like to tackle some of the most interesting questions in neuroscience!

On this episode of BRAIN MATTERS, Matt and Dr. Alyssa Brewer talk about her research in visual neuroscience and her unique path to becoming a scientist.

On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talks about addiction with Dr. John Dani, chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania. They talk about learning, memory, and the behaviors associated with nicotine addiction.

On this episode of BRAIN MATTERS, we talk Dr. Michael Beierlein, a scientist at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. We learn about his path to becoming a scientist and the circuitry of neurons in the basal forebrain and thalamic reticular nucleus.

On this episode of Brain Matters, we discuss fear memories with Dr. Marie Monfils (Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin). We answer questions about how fear memories are created and if these memories can be changed once they are formed. Dr. Monfils also discusses how she began studying fear and how she approaches the scientific process.