Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University, Nicholas Weiler

From Our Neurons to Yours

Science EN ↓ 81 episodes

This award-winning show from Stanford’s Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute is a field manual for anyone who wants to understand their own brain and the new science reshaping how we learn, age, heal, and make sense of ourselves. Each episode, host Nicholas Weiler sits down with leading scientists to unpack big ideas from the frontiers of the field—brain-computer interfaces and AI language models; new therapies for depression, dementia, and stroke; the mysteries of perception and memory; even the debate over free will. You’ll hear how basic research becomes clinical insight and how emerging tech mi...

Author

Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University, Nicholas Weiler

Episodes

Is Addiction a Disease? | Keith Humphreys 23.02.2023 10:08

What makes addiction a disease? I think we all know at this point that addiction is another major epidemic that is sweeping our country and the world, but there are few topics that are more misunderstood than addiction. In fact, some people question whether addiction is even truly a disease. To delve into this question of why neuroscientists and health policy experts do think of addiction as a di...

Your gut - the second brain? | Julia Kaltschmidt 16.02.2023 14:22

You may have heard the idea that the gut is the second brain, but what does that really mean? Maybe it has to do with the fact that there are something like 100 to 600 million neurons in your gut. That's a lot of neurons. That's about as many as you'd find in the brain of say, a fruit bat, or an ostrich, or a Yorkshire Terrier. And it turns out, this network of intestinal neurons,...

The Octopus Brain | Ernie Hwaun & Matt McCoy 09.02.2023 13:42

What can octopus and squid brains teach us about intelligence? One of the incredible things about octopus's is that not only do they have an advanced intelligence that lets them camouflage themselves, use tools and manipulate their environments and act as really clever hunters in their ecosystems, they do this with a brain that evolved essentially from something like a slug in the oceans hund...

The Mystery of Migraines | Gabriella Muwanga 02.02.2023 13:27

If you've ever had a migraine, you know that the symptoms — splitting headache, nausea, sensitivity to light — mean you're going to want to spend some time in bed, in a dark room. Migraines are flat out debilitating, and the statistics back this up. Migraines are the third most common neurological disorder. They affect as many as a billion people around the world, making them one of the...

Psychedelics and Empathy | Rob Malenka 26.01.2023 18:42

Why are psychiatrists taking a fresh look at MDMA? Recently, there's been growing excitement in the scientific community about revisiting the potential medical benefits of psychedelic drugs that have been off limits for decades. Scientists are discovering or rediscovering applications of psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and other compounds for treating people with depression, anxiety, and post-traumati...

Announcing: From Our Neurons to Yours! 10.01.2023 1:39

Announcing: From our Neurons to Yours, the new podcast from the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University. On this show, we criss-cross scientific disciplines to bring you to the frontiers of brain science, one simple question at a time. Send us a text! Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and...