Author: This Is Your Brain producer
Many of us speak with our hands, but what is this signaling really communicating? Dr. Susan Goldin-Meadow, an expert on gestures and professor of psychology and comparative human development at the University of Chicago, shares the significance of gesturing when speaking, and ways our hands can reveal more than we realize. Plus… learn what NOT to do with your hands to avoid unintended insults while traveling to do different countries! Dr. Phil Stieg: Most of us know someone who uses their hands when they talk, but we rarely think about what they are trying to say with them or why…
Menopause can wreak havoc on mood and body temperature as it signals the end of fertility, but some of the biggest changes it causes are in the brain. Emily Jacobs, assistant professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences at UC Santa Barbara, explains how the precipitous decline in estrogen during the “change of life” disrupts the endocrine system and makes a woman’s brain more like…a man’s! Plus, hear from real women describing the wide range of effects they have experienced Phil Stieg: Hello, today, I have with me Dr. Emily Jacobs. Emily is a neuroscientist at the University of…
Is the deluge of digital media killing our ability to focus? Psychologist Gloria Mark explains how we are shaped by what we pay attention to – and why today’s short snippets of everything are reinforcing short attention spans. Phil Stieg: Today, we’re honored to welcome Dr. Gloria Mark to the podcast. She is Chancellor’s Professor of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine, and a leading expert in the impact of digital media on our lives. Her recent book, Attention Span, is a comprehensive exploration of how digital media influences our ability to maintain focus. Her work has reshaped our…
Near-death experiences may seem like the stuff of supermarket tabloids, but there are real patterns to what people report after coming close to departing this life. Dr. Bruce Greyson has been studying near-death experiences for decades and has stories to tell about out-of-body phenomena, that light at the end of the tunnel, and a near-universal finding of new meaning in life after coming close to death. Plus… a glimpse of what happens to your brain after death.Phil Stieg: Hello, I’d like to welcome Dr. Bruce Greyson, professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. Today he is going to…
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 boardroom, this invisible injury is finally emerging from the shadows. Plus… why don’t woodpeckers get concussions? Phil Stieg: Hello I’d…
Dogs and the humans who cherish them have a unique bond unlike any other. We wonder all too often, do our dogs love us as much as we love them? What are they really thinking? Are we projecting our own feelings onto these treasured family members in trying to understand them? In this “classic” episode first released in 2020, Emory University neuroscientist Dr. Gregory Berns discusses some of his extraordinary findings. After spending years using MRI imaging technology to study the human brain, he then used this same approach to study dogs’ brains. It turns out that our furry friends…