From Our Neurons to Yours

Jun 20 2024 21
From Our Neurons to Yours Podcast artwork

From Our Neurons to Yours is a show that crisscrosses scientific disciplines to bring you to the frontiers of brain science, produced by the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University. Each week, we ask leading scientists to help us understand the three pounds of matter within our skulls and how new discoveries, treatments, and technologies are transforming our relationship with the brain.

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How a new kind of brain plasticity could help make sense of addiction | Michelle Monje and Rob Malenka

Jun 20 2024 22 mins  
This week, we're diving into recent research that sheds light on a new form of brain plasticity involving changes in the insulation of nerve fibers — called myelin. It turns out that myelin plasticity is implicated in a number of serious conditions, from epilepsy to drug abuse and addiction.We're excited to bring back two previous guests on the show to share their insights on thi

Our plastic brains: learning, memory and aging with the one and only Carla Shatz (Rerelease)

Jun 06 2024 21 mins  
-- We're re-releasing our conversation with Carla Shatz, one of our favorites from the archive, which comes up all the time on the show in the context of brain plasticity and aging. Enjoy, and see you next time! -NW -- When we're kids, our brains are amazing at learning. We absorb information from the outside world with ease, and we can adapt to anything. But as we age, our brains

Programming Announcement

May 30 2024
Hi everyone — quick programming announcement. As we head into summer, we'll be moving to an every-other-week cadence as we prepare more conversations from the frontiers of neuroscience. I'm very excited about what we're working on for you, so stay tuned!In the meantime, we'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] with your thoughts, praise, critiques, or j

Neuroscience and AI: What artificial intelligence teaches us about the brain (and vice versa) | Surya Ganguli

May 23 2024 27 mins  
The powerful new generation of AI tools that has come out over the past few years — DALL-E, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and the rest — have blown away our old ideas about what AI can do and raised questions about what it means for computers to start acting... intelligent?This week, we ask what the rise of these systems might teach us about our own biological intelligence — and v

How we remember, why we forget | Anthony Wagner

May 16 2024 29 mins  
At some point in our lives, we all struggle with memory — learning a new name, remembering that book you were reading just yesterday or that word on the tip of your tongue. So what can neuroscience teach us about why we remember, why we forget, and how we might even improve our memories? To answer this question, I spoke with neuroscientist Anthony Wagner, a memory expert in Stanf

Psychedelics Part 2: How do drugs alter our perceptions? | Boris Heifets

May 09 2024 23 mins  
Today, we're going to talk about how psychedelics alter our perception of reality and what that says about... reality! Welcome to part two of our conversation with Stanford anesthesiologist and psychedelics researcher Boris Heifets! Last time, we talked with Boris about the question of why psychedelics help people with mental health disorders. This week, we're going to dive into a

Psychedelics, placebo, and anesthetic dreams | Boris Heifets (part 1)

May 02 2024 30 mins  
Psychedelics are a hot topic in psychiatry today. They’re producing dramatic reversals for patients with severe depression, PTSD, and other mental health conditions. But scientists still have fundamental questions about why these drugs are so effective. For example, is the "trip" even necessary? Some think it is not and are working to design drugs with similar brain chemistry but

Why our brains are bad at climate change | Nik Sawe

Apr 25 2024 23 mins  
This week on From Our Neurons to Yours, we're talking about the neuroscience of climate change with neuroeconomist Nik Sawe.If you follow the science or the news, you know how big of a risk climate change is. Storms, coastal flooding, heat waves, extinctions, mass migration — the list goes on. But — as you can probably also appreciate — it’s really hard to properly perceive

Famous & Gravy: Mind Traveler | Oliver Sacks

Mar 14 2024 59 mins  
This week we’re doing something a little different. My good friend Michael Osborne, who produces this show also has his own podcast, called Famous & Gravy – Life Lessons from Dead Celebrities.I recently guest-hosted an episode about one of my all time scientific and writerly heros, Oliver Sacks, which we're releasing for both our audiences. I hope you enjoy!---We've conclud

The clocks in your body | Tony Wyss-Coray

Mar 07 2024 22 mins  
Today: the clocks in your body.We're talking again this week with Tony Wyss-Coray, the director of the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience here at Wu Tsai Neuro. Last year, we spoke with Tony about the biological nature of the aging process. Scientists can now measure signs of aging in the blood, and can in some cases slow or reverse the aging process in the lab. We discussed ho