This Is Your Brain With Dr. Phil Stieg

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!

Placental stem cells have the potential to stop cancer and autoimmune disorders in their tracks, slow or even halt the aging process, and perhaps even tackle the next pandemic. 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. Plus - learn how some cells are more "potent" than others. 

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)

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 make us better, more altruistic people. Plus, what's it like to be inside a performers head?  https://livelab.mcmaster.ca/

Many of us worry about memory loss, but it's surprisingly important to forget. Scott Small, MD, director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Columbia, says pruning our memories is good for us. We all know "forgive and forget" is key to emotional health, but forgetting is also critical to cognitive health. Find out why a healthy dose of forgetting is not a pathology, but a way of clearing away extraneous information and improving our more important memories. Plus... why their memories keep chimps in a state of rage and fear, while forgetting makes bonobos so happy.  https://www.neurology.columbia.edu/profile/scott-small-md  

The hemispheres of the brain are responsible for different views of the world - one literal, narrow-beam, and maybe a little angry, and the other broad-minded, nuanced, and appreciative of beauty. Psychiatrist, philosopher, and literary scholar Iain McGilchrist has spent his career studying how the two hemispheres of the brain work, together and separately, to forge our understanding of our world. https://channelmcgilchrist.com/ Plus...the curious case of Mr. Phineas Gage.

Extreme athlete Wim Hof has set records for immersion in icy water, and he recommends it for physical and mental health. Find out why his wife's suicide drove Hof to master controlled hyperventilation -- in breathtaking cold -- to become happy, strong, and healthy. (Everything else, he'll tell you, is BS.) Surprisingly, heart and brain science just may support the Wim Hof Method.   http://www.wimhofmethod.com/ Plus...contrasting ice and fire, with a firewalking story courtesy of Jim Metzner www.pulseplanet.com    

Dancer and neuroscientist Julia Basso, PhD, wants us all to dance -- together or separately, it's all good. Dancing with a partner creates a synchrony that's remarkably like that between a mother and infant, and even dancing alone benefits body and brain alike. Find out how dance produces new neurons and engages brain processes, and why it is that joyful movement optimizes brain function. Plus... Dance for Parkinson's Disease! https://www.juliabasso.com/home Sign up for our newsletter at www.ThisIsYourBrain.com

This week, a reprise of one of our most popular episodes from Season 2 - Sound may be the least understood of the five senses, with music the most mysterious of all. Neuroscientist Nina Kraus of Northwestern University takes us on a tour of how the brain processes music and explains the lifelong benefits of music education. Find out how music can help offset the effects of poverty, and how concussion distorts the perception of music in the brain. Plus… Why you really should make your child take piano lessons! https://brainvolts.northwestern.edu/ 

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. For bonus content, sign up for our newsletter at www.ThisIsYourBrain.com

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. https://rachelherz.com/   Sign up for our newsletter at www.ThisIsYourBrain.com 

The human brain is designed to "snap" under threat, but 100,000 years of evolution did not prepare us for the 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 9 triggers that are programmed to make you snap (and how to identify the "misfires") Sign up for our newsletter at:  www.thisisyourbrain.com

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 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?   Sign up for our newsletter at www.ThisIsYourBrain.com

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 obsessing about healthy eating becomes UNhealthy  :  https://umanaidoomd.com/ 

From the outside, a human brain appears fairly uniform – but what’s inside is very different depending on where you look. Your brain has complex maps within that allow you to see, understand, imagine, and recognize everything from faces to objects to abstract concepts like love, time, and debt. This week, neuroscientist Rebecca Schwarzlose of Washington University explains what parts of your brain are at work when you pick up an object, see someone you know, or read a book. Plus... is your GPS map app weakening your brain? www.rebeccaschwarzlose.com https://gardenofthemind.com  

Can you communicate with someone who's sound asleep, and is it possible to influence their dreams?  Ken Paller, professor of psychology at Northwestern and a leading sleep researcher, talks about "lucid dreaming" — the state of dreaming while knowing you're in a dream — as well as about how researchers can reach into the brain of a sleeping person and actually create the experience they have in their dreams. Is it ethical to influence the dream state? What are the implications for brain health if we can never turn off Plus... "Sleep Learning" with the 1920s Psycho-Phone.

Near-death experiences may seem like the stuff of supermarket tabloids, but there are real patterns to what people report after coming close to departing this life.   Dr. Bruce Greyson has been studying near-death experiences for decades and has stories to tell about out-of-body phenomena, that light at the end of the tunnel, and a near-universal finding of new meaning in life after coming close to death. Plus... a glimpse of what happens to your brain after death. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250265869/after 

ASMR, or the autonomous sensory meridian response, is a state of deep calm accompanied by a sense of “brain tingles.” Not everyone experiences it, but if you do, you know what triggers it: a whisper or other soft sounds, a gentle touch or movement, even watching a Bob Ross video. Physiologist Craig Richard explains the science behind ASMR, and why in some people induces a deeply relaxing response that can resolve insomnia, relaxation, and stress. Plus: Who are the top “artists” of ASMR?    https://asmruniversity.com/about-dr-Richard

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.   To read the transcript: https://thisisyourbrainpodcast.com/category/podcast-season-3/ For more information about Dr. Grafman: https://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/faculty-profiles/az/profile.html?xid=26439

It's effective against depression, can help you stop smoking, even ease end-of-life distress. It's non-addictive, naturally occurring, and has been used for thousands of years -- but you can't have it. It's psilocybin, the compound that creates the "magic" in dozens of species of mushrooms. Johns Hopkins researcher Albert Garcia-Romeu, Ph.D. knows just how magical it is. He's conducting research on psilocybin's therapeutic value for everything from persistent Lyme disease to a range of mental health conditions. Find out what this psychedelic drug can do, and why it got such a bad reputation. Plus... revisiting Timothy Leary's rise and fall as he turned on, tuned out, and dropped out. https://hopkinspsychedelic.org/garcia-romeu