Author: This Is Your Brain producer
Humans are so powerfully wired for survival that it can be hard to understand suicide – especially in adolescents. What happens in the brain that can override such a profound instinct for self-preservation?Dr. Sakina Rizvi, a researcher and psychotherapist in Toronto, Canada specializing in suicide prevention, reveals the social, biological, and psychological facets of suicidal ideation.Hear how childhood trauma, current life stressors, and brain impairment may all play a role in suicide, and learn how to recognize warning signs in a loved one.Plus… the do’s and don’ts of talking to someone at risk.Phil Stieg: Today, we are joined by Dr.…
The past 30 years have produced an epidemic of obesity — mostly because evolution did not prepare us for so many calories and so little physical activity. Dr. Louis Aronne, a leading authority on obesity, explains how a period of caloric excess can damage the neural connections that manage your metabolism, throwing your weight regulation out of whack. More importantly, he talks about the new drug that tackles obesity at two different hormonal sites and promises to become an actual “weight loss pill.” Plus…the real reason to skip the bread basket (it’s in your brain). Phil Stieg: Hello and welcome.…
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…