Author: This Is Your Brain producer

Our brain pathways are designed to get us through life’s traumas, as painful and debilitating as they are. Neurologist Lisa Shulman, MD, joins us this week to talk about how to make sense of grief, how trauma interrupts the connection between the cognitive and emotional parts of the brain, and how the brain learns to consolidate traumatic experiences and allow us to move forward. Plus… humans are not the only creatures to feel grief – hear how other animals experience loss. Phil Stieg: Hello. I’d like to welcome Dr. Lisa Shulman, director of the University of Maryland’s Movement Disorder Center…

Whether you’re a believer or not, God is taking up space in your head – the prefrontal cortex, to be exact. Jordan Grafman, PhD, of Northwestern University has been studying where religious belief systems are stored in the brain and how they overlap with moral, political, and social systems. This fascinating episode explores near-death experiences, how brain injury can influence belief, and how religion has been used to enforce cultural and social rules. Plus – the disappearing boundary between  Religion and Politics in America. Phil Stieg: Hello and welcome.  It is my pleasure to have Dr. Jordan Grafman, a neuropsychologist and…

Smell is our most evocative sense, with instant associations with emotions and memories. Cognitive neuroscientist Rachel Herz, PhD, explains why she loves the stink of a skunk, why a blow to the head can kill off your sense of smell, and how you get a new nose every month. Plus… why stores, hotels, and other brands create signature scents. Phil Stieg: Hello, I’d like to welcome to Dr. Rachel Herz, the world’s leading expert on the psychology of smell. She is an academician at Brown University and Boston College who has published multiple books that analyze the relationship between smell,…

The human brain is designed to “snap” under threat, but 100,000 years of evolution did not prepare us for the world we live in today. R. Douglas Fields, PhD, describes how the brain’s rage circuitry is activated — whether that’s a car that cuts you off on the highway or a pickpocket who steals your wallet. The primal rage response also explains a lot about the January 6 mob mentality, the unruly airline passenger who strikes a flight attendant, or a terrorist attack. Learn the nine triggers that are programmed to make you snap (and how to identify the “misfires”).…

Language originates as brain signals — mysterious lines of squiggles — that somehow turn into speech. Meet the neuroscientist who is turning those squiggles into conversations, using artificial intelligence (A.I.) to translate brain activity into words and sentences. Dr. Edward Chang of UCSF talks with Dr. Stieg about the painstaking “magic” of decoding that has allowed a paralyzed man to speak after 20 years of aphasia, essentially live streaming signals from his brain and transforming them into language. Plus – Why are A.I. voices always female? Phil Stieg: Hello, I’d like to welcome Dr. Edward Chang, professor, and chair of neurological…

Depression, anxiety, low libido… your mood is directly related to what you eat. Nutritional psychiatrist (and chef) Uma Naidoo, MD, examines the “gut-brain romance” and explains the delicate balance between your diet and your mental health. If you haven’t given up junk food to lose weight or reduce the risk of diabetes, maybe you’ll do it to feel happier? Plus… what happens when you try too hard to eat healthy. Phil Stieg: Hello, I’d like to introduce Dr. Uma Naidoo, director of the Nutritional and Metabolic Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital. Good nutrition is about much more than weight loss,…