A Grey Matter

"Anxiety is often something that you can't even attach to something. It's just almost an existential feeling of dread or fear." Mia Freedman is the founder and director of the Mamamia Women's Network and seems to have it all together. But here she talks openly about her personal struggle with anxiety, how she was convinced she had a non-existent cancer, and when her world...

Sleep. We all need it, but are we getting enough? How much sleep do we need to function on a day to day basis without feeling fatigued or irritable? What are the side effects of sleep deprivation? It is sleep awareness week and to get all the important answers we are talking to Dr Chelsie Rohrscheib, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Cognitive and Behavioural Lab of Associate Professor Bruno Van...

What is basic/fundamental science? Dr Steven Zuryn explains the slow burn of basic science, how it is the building block for many of our current scientific endeavours and that it has the ability to help affect generations to come. CREDIT Hosted by Donna Lu Produced by Jessica McGaw

Most of what we know about neuroscience has been worked out from research on animals in the sea. One of those things is vision. Professor Justin Marshall talks about how important sea creatures are to our understanding of neuroscience, particularly vision. And Dr Fanny De Busserolles tells us what we can learn about vision from the creatures that inhabit the deep, dark depths of the oceans. CREDIT...

What does the science say when it comes to healthy ageing? In this episode of A Grey Matter we speak to pioneering neuroscientist Professor Perry Bartlett about healthy ageing and how the brain regenerates itself. CREDIT Hosted by Donna Lu Produced by Jessica McGaw

In this special edition of a A Grey Matter we talk with Rachel Corbett, who shares her personal experience with dementia and its harrowing effect on her family. CREDIT  Hosted by Donna Lu  Produced by Jessica McGaw

What is autism exactly, what causes it and why are diagnoses on the rise? We talk to international autism expert Professor Elliott Sherr, from Neurology and Pediatrics at the Institute of Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco to find out more. CREDIT  Hosted by Donna Lu  Produced by Jessica McGaw

We talk to three of our female researchers about their passions and experiences in neuroscience - Dr Mia Schaumberg (how excercise affects cognition), Dr Xiaoying Cui (Schizophrenia), and Dr Chelsie Rohrscheib (sleep models in fruit flies)

Glioblastoma is the most aggressive cancer originating in the brain, and it affects people of all ages. Dr Jens Bunt, a scientist in the Brain Disorders and Development lab at QBI, is researching to find a cure. In this episode, he explains what brain cancer is and how tumours occur. A Grey Matter is the Queensland Brain Institute's podcast about neuroscience.  CREDIT Hosted by Donna Lu &...

To mark Mental Health Week, we meet Dr Marta Garrido. Marta is a laboratory leader at QBI, and recently won a highly competitive UQ Research award for her work in schizophrenia. She's researching ways to use brain imaging to identify the onset of schizophrenia as soon as possible, to provide that all-important early intervention. But to understand how the brain works in people at risk of schi...

In a calendar full of awareness weeks and days, the need for a Schizophrenia Awareness Week remains paramount. Despite affecting more than 21 million people worldwide, schizophrenia is one of the most misunderstood disorders in the broader community, and one of the most puzzling for neuroscientists.  QBI’s Dr James Kesby recently received a $300,000 Advance Queensland Research Fellowship to resear...

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an increasingly common procedure for neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease. This week's episode of A Grey Matter features Professor Peter Silburn, Director of the Queensland Brain Institute’s Asia-Pacific Centre for Neuromodulation. Professor Silburn is a neurologist and world expert in DBS. He and neurosurgeon Associate Professor Terry Coyne ha...

This week the grey matter in question is not, in fact, the brain, but the bleached corals of the Great Barrier Reef. Professor Justin Marshall leads the Sensory Neurobiology laboratory at the Queensland Brain Institute. He talks about working with Sir David Attenborough, the citizen science project Coral Watch, and the unprecedented coral bleaching that is unfolding on the Great Barrier Reef. A Gr...

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental illness that affects more than 21 million people worldwide. While genetics plays a part, several environmental factors can predispose someone to getting the condition. This episode of A Grey Matter features Professor John McGrath, a psychiatrist and schizophrenia researcher at the Queensland Brain Institute. He talks about smoking, vitamin D, and how common i...

The recent furore about the booing of AFL player Adam Goodes has reignited a debate about racism in both the sport and in Australia. Why do we show prejudice towards people whom we perceive to be different to us? In this episode of A Grey Matter, we discuss how your brain might respond differently when you see the pain of someone from another racial group.  CREDIT  Hosted, produced and edited by D...

In Australia, around 1.2 million people are involved in the care of a person with dementia. Suhanya Raffel, Deputy Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, was one of them—her mother Carmel suffered from Alzheimer's for nearly a decade after diagnosis. Tune in to find out about the benefits of speaking two languages, and the exciting breakthrough QBI researchers have made in the race t...

What do Christopher Reeve and a tiny transparent worm have in common? What does a Sega video game have to do with the brain? In this episode of A Grey Matter we're talking about the Australian Brain Bee, and nerve regeneration, which might provide an avenue for treating spinal cord injury.  CREDIT Hosted, produced and edited by Donna Lu

Would you know what to do if someone were having a stroke? What if it were you, and you were 31? That's exactly what happened to Dr Lavinia Codd, a stroke researcher. Tune in to find out why she started memorising her children's clothes, and hear about the exciting work she's doing at QBI. CREDIT Hosted, produced and edited by Donna Lu