Author: This Is Your Brain producer
What makes us happy? The warm feelings of closeness that we have with family and friends are rooted in the neurochemical oxytocin–the love hormone, if you will. Oxytocin facilitates social engagement, encourages bonding, and just makes us feel happier. My guest today, neuroscientist Paul Zak, has done decades of research into the role of oxytocin and discovered that this feel-good chemical motivates us to engage with others. Not only that, but immersing ourselves in social circles, among people who are nice to us, increases oxytocin and improves our mood. (High stress, on the other hand, inhibits oxytocin and makes us…
Daniel Levitin says we can all age successfully if we take our choices more seriously now.The neuroscientist and author reveals the keys to reaching our senior years in the best possible shape, explains what happens to dopamine levels when we stop trying new things, and tells us the three things older adults are better at than younger ones.Plus… what primatologist Jane Goodall told him about the key to healthier aging.Phil Stieg: Hello. I’d like to welcome to Dr. Daniel Levitin, bestselling author and a true Renaissance man, author of bestselling books, a musician with 17 gold and platinum records and…
We are the only species that creates and experiences art – not just visual art but music, poetry, dance, theater, and even architecture. The impact that art has on us cannot be overstated, as it affects cognition, mental health, and physical wellbeing.Today’s guests are Susan Magsamen of the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Ivy Ross, vice president of design for the Hardware Product Area at Google and an artist and designer in her own right. Magsamen and Ross co-authored a book about the brain and the arts; the new field of neuroaesthetics…
Dr. Tony Nader, an academic, author, and the leader of the Transcendental Meditation movement, knows how you can find inner peace. TM is like a deep dive to the stillness at the bottom of the ocean, leaving the turbulent waves far above.Learn how the body and mind are inextricably bound, and how meditation can improve mental and physical health. Plus… what the Beatles taught us about meditation.Phil Stieg: Hello, I’d like to welcome to Dr. Tony Nader, head of the Transcendental Meditation Organization, globally and successor to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. How can we explain the brain-body interaction? What can…
Where do imagination and creativity live in the brain – and how can we tap them? Neuroscientist and author Anna Abraham reveals the three elements of creativity and explores the myths surrounding it. Phil Stieg: Our guest today is Dr. Anna Abraham, a neuroscientist and renowned expert on one of the most fascinating aspects of the human brain, creativity and imagination. We are here to discuss her most recent book, The Creative Brain: Myths and Truths. She’ll answer some of the most perplexing questions about the creative mind. Do our brains work differently when creating a poem or painting compared…
Dolphins have large, complex brains that are a lot like the human model — what if we could get inside their heads and communicate with them? Meet cognitive psychologist and marine mammal scientist Diana Reiss, PhD, who has been doing just that. Turns out our underwater friends have a lot going on in their brains, if only we could learn to decode it. Plus… Hear from one of the musician/scientists who discovered fifty years ago that whales produce actual songs. Phil Stieg: Hello. Some of us remember the TV show Flipper and how he developed an appreciation for the intelligence…