Author: This Is Your Brain producer

Coma and vegetative states are confounding for loved ones of brain-injured patients. Dr. Joseph Fins, Chief of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medicine, explains the sobering discovery of hidden consciousness in coma patients and shares a painfully fascinating patient story. Dr. Stieg: We’re back again with Dr. Joseph Fins, Chief of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medicine / New York Presbyterian Hospital. I now want to get into the area of your particular expertise, which is brain injury and altered conscious states to see where medical ethics plays such a dominant role in that whole subject. Can you briefly describe…

Throughout history, humans have experienced pain as punishment from the gods, a metaphysical struggle, or a simple biological process. Journalist Melanie Thernstrom, author of The Pain Chronicles, talks about the different ways humans have tried to conquer pain over the centuries. Dr. Stieg: Today I’m with Melanie Thernstrom, a journalist and author of several books including the New York Times Best Seller, The Pain Chronicles. She served on the National Academy of Science Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Advancing Pain Research, education and care in response to a congressional mandate to investigate the state of pain treatment in the United…

Talking with your neurosurgeons during brain surgery may seem terrifying or like science fiction. But actually, as two patients share, it was a necessary part of making their surgeries successful. Dr. Rohan Ramakrishna joins Dr. Stieg to talk about how awake craniotomies provide a critical real-time assessment into the inner workings of the brain. Dr. Stieg: In the process of performing brain surgery, a neurosurgeon often has a patient under something called general anesthesia, but there are occasions when the patient must be awake and fully conscious during the surgery so that the surgeon can communicate with the patient to…

The drive to reproduce – to move our DNA into tomorrow – may be behind our ability to do math, make music, and even play sports. Evolutionary anthropologist Helen Fisher explains why our complicated brains evolved in response to a very primal urge to mate. Dr. Stieg: Today I’m with Dr. Helen Fisher. She is one of the world’s leading experts on love, an author, and biological anthropologist. She is a senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute of Indiana University and a member for the Center for Human Evolutionary Studies in the Department of Anthropology at Rutgers University. Helen,…

A faulty risk/reward area of your brain can get you into trouble, but it can also free you to think outside the box. Cognitive neuroscientist Heather Berlin explains how the prefrontal cortex develops – or doesn’t – and how cognitive behavioral therapy can help you harness the power of neuroplasticity. Dr. Stieg: I’m with Dr. Heather Berlin, who is a cognitive neuroscientist and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Today we’re going to talk about what happens in our brains when we control or lose control of our unconscious impulses and how…

Ethics and emotions often clash at the bedside of terminally ill patients—especially those with brain injuries. Dr. Joseph Fins, Chief of Medical Ethics at Weill Cornell Medicine, talks with Dr. Stieg about what we can do to best prepare for our final days and who has the legal and moral authority to make life and death decisions. Dr. Stieg: I’m delighted to have with me Dr. Joe Fins. Joe is the Chief of Medical Ethics and Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He serves as co-director of the Consortium for the Advanced Study of Brain Injury at…