Author: This Is Your Brain producer
Where in the brain is that little something that makes top performers feel so confident in their ability? Can that confidence be developed in someone who is naturally more timid? Dr. Nate Zinsser, director of West Point’s Performance Psychology Program and author of The Confident Mind, explains how a sense of mastery develops, and why butterflies in your stomach are a signal from the brain when you’re about to do something great. Plus… why Ted Lasso wants us all to be a little more like goldfish.Phil Stieg: Hello, and welcome to Dr. Nate Zinsser, director of performance psychology for the United…
Did you ever notice when you see a close up of Julia Roberts smiling on the big screen, you have an urge to smile back? That’s an effect of your brain’s “Mirror Rule” according to Dr. Jeff Zacks of Washington University. Watching movies in a theater stimulates the signals in our brains more than almost any other activity. Dr. Zacks investigates the various ways your brain is being manipulated while you are watching movies – including how propaganda movies embed into your memory more powerfully than books or any other medium. Plus – how “the talkies” changed us! Phil Stieg:…
Dr. Robert Hariri, a surgeon and stem cell entrepreneur, explains how a temporary product of pregnancy, often discarded as waste, is actually an example of evolution at its best, a veritable “nature’s supermarket” for cells with amazing regenerative properties. Phil Stieg: Hello. Today, our guest is Dr. Robert Hariri, jet aviator, physician, surgeon, biomedical scientist, and business executive. He is CEO of Celularity, a stem cell company that promises to bring stem cell therapies to address anti-aging and multiple diseases. He and his wife are also philanthropists, and I am honored to be the first Margaret and Robert J. Hariri:…
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.…
All of life is set to music — or at least to a rhythm. From the graceful undulation of a jellyfish to the irresistible urge to bop along to our favorite songs, the urge to sway is hard-wired. Dr. Laurel Trainor, a professor of psychology, neuroscience, and behavior at McMaster University and director of the “LIVELab” there, conducts research into auditory development. She has found that our unconscious movements connect us in surprising ways, whether it’s band members playing in concert, a mother singing to her infant, or couples on a speed date. As it turns out, it can even…
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…