From Our Neurons to Yours

Dec 05 2024 49 ep. 22 mins 24
From Our Neurons to Yours Podcast artwork

From Our Neurons to Yours crisscrosses scientific disciplines to bring you to the frontiers of brain science. Coming to you from the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University, 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.

Finalist for 2024 Signal Awards!

  Science  Health & Fitness
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How to live in a world without free will | Robert Sapolsky

Dec 05 2024 40 mins  
Today, we are speaking with the one and only Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford neurobiologist, a MacArthur "Genius", and best-selling author of books exploring the nature of stress, social behavior, and — as he puts it — "the biology of the human predicament." In his latest book, Determined, Sapolsky assertively lays out his vision of a world without free will — a world where as mu

The power of psychedelics meets the power of placebo: ketamine, opioids, and hope in depression treatment | Boris Heifets & Theresa Lii

Nov 21 2024 35 mins  
Join us as we dive back into the world of psychedelic medicine with anesthesiologists Boris Heifets and Theresa Lii, who share intriguing new data that sheds light on how ketamine and placebo effects may interact in treating depression.We explore provocative questions like: How much of ketamine's antidepressant effect comes from the drug itself versus the excitement of being in a p

Seeing sounds, tasting colors: the science of synaesthesia with David Eagleman (re-release)

Nov 07 2024 21 mins  
Today, we are going back into the archives for one of my favorite episodes: We are talking to neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and best-selling author, David Eagleman. We're talking about synaesthesia — and if you don't know what that is, you're about to find out.Special NoteWe are beyond thrilled that From Our Neurons to Yours has won a 2024 Signal Award in the Science Podcast cate

The BRAIN Initiative: the national vision for the future of neuroscience is now in doubt | Bill Newsome

Oct 24 2024 39 mins  
Earlier this year, President Obama's signature BRAIN Initiative, which has powered advances in neuroscience for the past 10 years, had its budget slashed by 40%. Over the past decade, the BRAIN Initiative made roughly $4 billion in targeted investments in more than 1500 research projects across the country and has dramatically accelerated progress tackling fundamental challenges in

The cannabinoids within: how marijuana hijacks an ancient signaling system in the brain | Ivan Soltesz

Oct 10 2024 37 mins  
Given the widespread legalization of cannabis for medical and recreational uses, you'd think we'd have a better understanding of how it works. But ask a neuroscientist exactly how cannabinoid compounds like THC and CBD alter our perceptions or lead to potential medical benefits, and you'll soon learn just how little we know.We know that these molecules hijack an ancient signaling s

Memory Palaces: the science of mental time travel and the brain's GPS system | Lisa Giocomo (Re-release)

Sep 26 2024 25 mins  
Today we are re-releasing an episode we did last year with Stanford neurobiologist Lisa Giocomo exploring the intersection of memory, navigation and the boundaries we create between ourselves and the world around us.This episode was inspired by the idea of memory palaces. The idea is simple: Take a place you're very familiar with, say the house you grew up in, and place information

Why new Alzheimer's drugs don't work | Mike Greicius, Stanford University School of Medicine

Sep 12 2024 25 mins  
In the past few years, Big Pharma has released not one, but three new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Aducanemab (2021), Lecanemab (2023), and Donanemab (2024), are the first treatments to effectively clear the brain of amyloid plaques — the sticky protein clumps whose build-up in the brain has defined the disease for decades. The problem? They may not help patients at all.

Depression's distinctive fingerprints in the brain | Leanne Williams, Stanford University

Aug 29 2024 28 mins  
Getting help for depression can be like purgatory. Setting aside for a moment the stigma and other barriers to seeking treatment in the first place, finding the right combination of medication and/or therapy can be a months- or years-long process of trial and error. And for about one third of people, nothing seems to work.Today we're talking with Dr. Leanne Williams, the founding d

How the brain helps cancers grow | Michelle Monje

Aug 15 2024 21 mins  
Today, we're talking with Stanford neuro-oncologist, Michelle Monje. This is actually the third time we've had Michelle on the show, in part because she's been a pioneer of three exciting frontiers in neuroscience — so far! This week, we're going to talk about cancer neuroscience. Michelle founded this new field with her discovery that deadly brain tumors not only link up physica

Unraveling Timothy Syndrome: the new science of human brain development | Sergiu Pasca

Aug 01 2024 30 mins  
This week on From Our Neurons to Yours, we're talking about using new techniques for growing human brain tissue in the lab to solve a rare neurological disorder.Host Nicholas Weiler sits down with Sergiu Pasca an innovative Stanford scientist who has developed groundbreaking technologies to grow human brain tissue in the lab, creating "organoids" and "assembloids" that model brain