Neuroverse

In this episode, Carolina and Clara discuss more examples of science misinformation. From collagen to therapy apps, this episode focuses on how the lifestyle industry uses science misinformation to sell products and ultimately propogates the spread of scientifically false beliefs. --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friends and family, it means a lot to us🤍 Neur...

Sometimes called the "Wood Wide Web", mycelium or mycorrhizal networks are a form of fungi that have an incredible capacity to connect plants and transport nutrients and signals. How do mycelia contribute to plant intelligence? Join Carolina and Clara as they compare mycelium and neural networks, plant and human intelligence, taking inspiration from the work of Paul Stamets, Suzanne Sima...

In this episode Carolina and Clara discuss the philosophy of machine learning with Alex Mussgnug who is doing a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in the epistemology of machine learning. They compare computational models of machine learning and how it is applicable to science.  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friends and family, it means a lot to us🤍 Neurov...

This week, Carolina and Clara dicuss why and how science can be misinformed and miscommunicated, using the example of human-animal chimeras. What are human-animal chimeras, really? How have they been misconceived in the media? Are scientists evil? Join us as we debunk science misinformation and conspiracy theories about human-animal chimeras.  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to...

Carolina and Clara discuss the evidence for and against consuming caffeine. As the most consumed psycho-stimulant beverage with billions of cups of coffee consumed every day it is relevant to know just how good or harm drinking coffee is having on your body!  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friends and family, it means a lot to us🤍 Neuroverse Website ⁠⁠⁠⁠htt...

In this episode Carolina and Clara discuss with special guest Liza Rozenberg, a Princeton graduate in Physics, how we understand the world through physics. Addressing questions such as: Can we expand our mathematical toolbox and if so, would it allow us to understand the world better? How can we study something from inside the system of interest (the world, the brain), our probing interferes with...

Silence: In the Age of Noise by Erling Kegge is the inspiration for today’s episode! Carolina and Clara discuss the book and the value of silence in an age of noise, with a neuroscientific lens. “There is a love no one remembers. In a way it is the silence that speaks”- Jon Fosser  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friends and family, it means a lot to us🤍 Neu...

In this episode, Carolina and Clara discuss how spontaneous brain activity creates "noise". The same type of noise is found throughout physical and biological systems, such as in seismic activity and even stock market fluctuations. Could this enigmatic noise have a role in perception and cognition? We explore theories by Edmund Rolls, Georg Northoff, and others!  --- We hope you enjoy th...

In this episode, Carolina and Clara discuss what Reductionism means in the context of visual art and in the context of the brain. Based on Nobel prize winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel's book ( Reductionism in Art and Brain Science ) we explore how the brain perceives abstract art, what it can reveal about how our brains function, and whether a reductionist research approach is valuable. ---...

Why did we evolve to need oxygen? Carolina and Clara debate whether oxygen is the best element for metabolic reactions and whether the volatile nature of reactive oxygen species is beneficial or damaging. Could we have evolved differently?  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friends and family, it means a lot to us🤍 Neuroverse Website ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://neuroversepod....

In this episode, Carolina and Clara discuss Polyvagal Theory, a theory conceived by Dr. Stephen Porges that addresses neurobiology, psychology, and evolutionary mechanisms and ultimately proposes an important role for the vagus nerve in emotion regulation and social behaviour. What can this theoretical model explain about the evolution of human social behaviour? And how is it related to ancient yo...

In this episode we discuss the connection between muscle and mind with a special guest, Jubilent Amalendran, junior doctor and calisthenics lover. What is meant of the mind-muscle connection? How can conscious control of movement change our muscles? What is the importance of movement as a reflection of the mind at any one point in time? Join us as we discuss these fascinating questions!  --- We ho...

In this episode, Carolina and Clara introduce Materialistic and competing Dualistic philosophies of mind. They explore why consciousness is so difficult to understand (the hard problem) and whether mental phenomena are better explained by material or non-material processes, using well-known thought experiments to do so!  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friend...

Have you ever wondered why humans spend 1/3 of their lives asleep? What happens if you don’t sleep? Carolina and Clara discuss some existing evidence for how lack of sleep can kill, especially focusing on Dragana Regulja’s research.  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friends and family, it means a lot to us🤍 Neuroverse Website ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://neuroversepod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠...

In this episode, Carolina and Clara discuss why sleep is so important! They explore how sleep is needed for both memory consolidation and decluttering the brain of unimportant information, and how memory can be experimentally manipulated during sleep.  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friends and family, it means a lot to us🤍 Neuroverse Website ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ne...

Does structure determine function? In this episode Carolina and Clara discuss different studies that have swayed the structure-function argument into one side or another. Can this argument be solved or is it inherently cyclical? Be sure to listen to find out! They also talk about chaperones, protein folding, phase separation, whether neuronal structures lead to molecular and behavioural outputs, a...

Have you ever wondered how the breath and the mind are connected? In this episode, Carolina and Clara explore the neuroscience of breathing: how the rhythm of breathing influences brain-wide activity, providing a scaffold for the transfer of information across the brain, and how breathing influences our attentional and interoceptive states, which ultimately define our experience of being.  --- We...

This week Carolina and Clara discuss enzymes and enzyme-directed evolution. Enzymes are these incredible biological catalysts present in the natural world. However, with recent research carried out by Frances Arnold, and many others, enzymes have been directed to bind with non-organic matter!  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friends and family, it means a lot...

In this episode, Carolina and Clara discuss entropy, chaos, and disorder in the context of brain activity. In an attempt to reduce the amount of disorder, our brains may stick to a structured framework of activity, limiting its capacity to be creative and generate new ideas or connections. How does this influence our perception of reality? And how can we overcome this natural "negentropic&quo...

Predictive coding is an emerging framework for understanding how our brains incorporate external stimuli into our internal mental state. With it arises questions such as: How can we distinguish internally generated stimuli from external stimuli? How do we perceive our environment? Can we tell what reality is? In this episode Carolina and Clara explore and discuss these questions!  --- We hope you...

This episode is on evolution and the human brain! Carolina and Clara discuss how the human brain compares to that of other animals, and how understanding the process of evolution can help us better understand the function of the brain.  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friends and family, it means a lot to us🤍 Neuroverse Website ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://neuroversepod.com⁠...

This episode is on individuality. Carolina and Clara discuss what makes an individual, where one thing starts and another ends. Does an individual need to exist in spacial terms, temporal terms, or both? Is it all relative? Can a group of trees be considered an individual? Listen to hear us ponder these questions.  --- We hope you enjoy the episode! Please feel free to share with your friends and...