Episode 48 - Space and Time with Dr. Mayank Mehta

On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt and Mayank Mehta (Professor, UCLA) talk about how rodents and human perceive space and time. Mayank has always been obsessed with time and merges physics and neuroscience to understand how the brain deals with these abstract concepts.

This episode was brought to you by Maze Engineers. Get 10% off your quote by visiting mazeengineers.com/brainmatters and enter the offer code: brain. They have some incredible behavioral neuroscience mazes and other neuroscience goodies so check them out.

Music on today’s episode by Equip and Sangam. Both are artists on the Dream Catalogue label

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Episode 47 - Becoming A Curious Scientist with Dr. André Fenton

What’s the most important thing about being a scientist? According to Dr. André Fenton: Curiosity. Anthony and André talked about how André tinkered his way to researching learning and memory at NYU.

André mentioned this famous article by Jerry Lettvin - What the Frog’s Eye Tells the Frog’s Brain

Here’s an article about the interesting story of PKMzeta, a molecule André has been studying for over a decade.

Music on today’s episode by Sure

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Episode 46 - The Nature of Nature (and the brain too) with Dr. David McCormick

This week on Brain Matters, Matt and Dr. David McCormick (Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, Yale) start off 2017 right. On this episode you’ll get a quick briefing on the early history of neuroscience, information about Frankenstein’s monster, a look at neural circuits, and perspective from the Buddhist Monks of Tibet. You’re gonna want your cochleas ready for this one. 

David mentioned a ton of people and books. Here’s a list in case you wanna dive in.

Major Figures in the Early History of Neuroscience:
Luigi Galvani, Giovanni Aldini, René Descartes, Jan Swammerdam, Alessandro Volta, Emil de Bois-Reymond

Texts David Referenced:
1. Animal Electricity (Galvani, 1791)
2. Essay on Galvanism: “Précis des expériences galvaniques faites récemment à Londres et à Calais“ (Aldini, 1803)
3. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818)
4. The Cerebellum as a Neuronal Machine (Eccles, 1967)

 Further Reading (if you’re into it like we are):
1. Early History of Neuroscience, Charles Gross
2. Giovanni Aldini: From Animal Electricity to Human Brain Stimulation, André Parent
3. History of Psychology, Ideas and Context (Chapter 8) King et al.


We partnered with Wiley Neuroscience on this one. Follow them on twitter! Shout out to their team for getting the twitter handle coveted most by neuroscientists.

The music on this episode was by Noveller. The first track was “Trails and Trials” from the soon to be released album “A Pink Sunset for Noone”, the second track was “Rubicon” from the Fantastic Planet LP. Go check out and purchase her music on bandcamp, or at her current label, Fire Records.

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Episode 40 - Molecular Mechanisms of Depression with Dr. Lisa Monteggia

On this episode of Brian Matters, Anthony and Dr. Lisa Monteggia (Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center) talked about depression and the molecular mechanisms underlying the efficacy of antidepressants. They also talked about Lisa’s work on MeCP2, the gene linked to the autism spectrum disorder. Towards the end, Lisa opens up about how important mentorship is in the career of a young scientist.

Ride the Tiger: A Guide Through the Bipolar Brain premiers April 13, 2016 at 10/9c. It features neuroscience experts Thomas Insel, Paul Keck, Kafui Dzirasa, Karl Deisseroth, and Helen Mayberg.

Music on today’s episode by Diamondstein and Immune

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Episode 38 - Stroke and Aphasia with Dr. Argye Hillis

Anthony and Dr. Argye Hillis (Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University) talk about a medical perspective on neuroscience research. Argye’s research focuses on understanding how language and emotional functions recover after stroke.

Music on today’s episode by Jade Statues and Remember

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Episode 35 - Contextualizing Fear with Dr. Michael Fanselow

On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony interviewed Dr. Michael Fanselow (Distinguished Professor, Psychology, UCLA). They talked about Michael’s contributions to our understanding of fear memories and how the context of an event can impact learning.

The music featured in this episode is by Steve Beres. Check out The Steve Martin Album.

Thanks to Audible for supporting our podcast. Get a free 30 day trial at audiblepodcast.com/brainmatters

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Episode 33 - Motion Perception with Dr. Alex Huk

On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. Alex Huk (Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin) talk about how our brains process vision and motion.

Music from today’s episode is by Foreign Language: http://foreignlanguageband.bandcamp.com

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Episode 29 - Pain and Placebo Effect with Dr. Tor Wager

How can we use our thoughts to regulate our emotional responses? On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. Tor Wager (Associate Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder) discuss how our mental states and context can influence the perception of pain.

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Episode 28 - Animal Models of Alzheimer’s with Dr. Joanna Jankowsky

Alzheimer’s disease has been a difficult disease to find treatment for. On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt and Dr. Joanna Jankowsky (Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine) talk about how to model Alzheimer’s disease in mice to research the progression and treatment options for the disease.

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Where does your neural “pleasure buzz” come from? David Linden thinks it might be from your most recent tweet or text! Does your pleasure buzz come from the buzz of your cell phone?

David Linden thinks neurons are slow, unreliable, and not that efficient. But human are really clever, despite the “crummy parts”. How does our humanity emerge from this lousy system?

Fingertips To Hair Follicles: Why 'Touch' Triggers Pleasure And Pain

In his latest book, neuroscientist David Linden explains the science of touch. He tells Fresh Air how pain protects, why fingertips are so sensitive and why you can’t read Braille with your genitals.

Our interview with David Linden is free on iTunes. But we didn’t talk just about his book. We dove into the newest research David and his lab are working on and the personal side of being a neuroscientist.

David Linden thinks the brain is a FREAKING MESS.