The Dr. Jud Podcast

Meditation Experience Is Associated with Differences in Default Mode Network Activity and Connectivity explores how mindfulness meditation impacts brain function.  In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and his colleagues reveal groundbreaking research using fMRI to compare experienced meditators and meditation-naïve controls. The study identifies reduced activity in the brain's default mode network...

Physician Anxiety and Burnout: Symptom Correlates and a Prospective Pilot Study of App-Delivered Mindfulness Training In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and colleagues delve into the alarming rise of physician burnout and its strong correlation with anxiety. This pilot study examines the efficacy of an app-based mindfulness training program, Unwinding Anxiety , designed specifically for busy physicia...

Awareness Drives Changes in Reward Value Which Predict Eating Behavior Change: Probing Reinforcement Learning Using Experience Sampling from Mobile Mindfulness Training for Maladaptive Eating In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and colleagues explore how mindfulness-based interventions can reshape maladaptive eating behaviors through changes in reward value. Leveraging reinforcement learning theory, t...

Clinical Efficacy and Psychological Mechanisms of an App-Based Digital Therapeutic for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and Alexandra Roy discuss a pioneering randomized controlled trial evaluating the clinical efficacy and mechanisms of the Unwinding Anxiety app for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The app integrates mindfulness training...

Self-Regulation Without Force: Can Awareness Leverage Reward to Drive Behavior Change In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and colleagues introduce a groundbreaking approach to sustainable behavior change that moves beyond willpower-based strategies. By combining insights from reinforcement learning, self-determination theory, and mindfulness, they explore how bringing present-moment awareness to habit...

Can Approaching Anxiety Like a Habit Lead to Novel Treatments? In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and Alexandra Roy explore how anxiety, a growing mental health epidemic, may be approached through the lens of habit formation. This groundbreaking review delves into worry-driven habit loops, the mechanics of reinforcement learning, and how mindfulness-based training offers a promising, scalable solutio...

Can Mindfulness Address Maladaptive Eating Behaviors? Why Traditional Diet Plans Fail and How New Mechanistic Insights May Lead to Novel Interventions In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and colleagues explore the limitations of traditional diet plans and reveal how mindfulness training offers a new, mechanistic approach to addressing maladaptive eating behaviors. They discuss how reward-based learnin...

The Posterior Cingulate Cortex as a Plausible Mechanistic Target of Meditation: Findings from Neuroimaging Join Dr. Jud Brewer and Kathleen A. Garrison as they explore the neurobiological underpinnings of mindfulness and meditation. This episode delves into how the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), a key node in the brain's default mode network, plays a pivotal role in self-referential thinki...

Quitting Starts in the Brain: A Randomized Controlled Trial of App-Based Mindfulness Shows Decreases in Neural Responses to Smoking Cues That Predict Reductions in Smoking In this episode, Dr. Jud Brewer and his team dive into groundbreaking research on mindfulness and its impact on smoking cessation. Discover how app-based mindfulness training influences the brain’s default mode network, specific...

Title: Mindfulness Training for Addictions: Has Neuroscience Revealed a Brain Hack by Which Awareness Subverts the Addictive Process? Description: Can mindfulness offer a revolutionary approach to overcoming addictions? In this episode, we dive into Dr. Jud Brewer’s 2019 review article exploring how mindfulness-based interventions target reward-based learning mechanisms to interrupt addictive beha...

Being empathetic with patients is important for their recovery but it has its limits. In this podcast, you will learn: - How empathy fatigue can lead to burnout.  - How to recognize coping behavior strategies employed by clinicians to protect from patients’ suffering that become habits and contribute to exhaustion. - How to name the core elements of the process of reinforcement learning in habit l...

Compassion is a way to feel patients’ suffering without being emotionally exhausted by it.  In this podcast, you will learn: -        How to differentiate between empathy and compassion. -        How to stay with patients’ suffering without being consumed by it.   A way to feel patients’ suffering and not be consumed by it is to not take it personally, by removing the “me” element: not getting stu...

Intrusive thoughts are distracting and can cause great distress.  In this podcast, you will learn: -        How our minds deal with intrusive thoughts. -        To apply skills to manage intrusive thoughts in clinical settings and private life. We have no control over our thoughts. One thought can lead to another until we are overwhelmed by a train of thoughts. The harder we try to stop these thou...

Self-judgement gets in the way of doing our own tasks and interacting with patients and it contributes to exhaustion. In this podcast, you will learn: -How to name the core elements of the habit loop of self-judgment. -New strategies to step out of habit loop of self-judgment. -How to practice kindness toward oneself and others. Self-judgment gets in the way of being grounded in the present moment...

Our brain does not like uncertainty and this causes stress and anxiety. In this podcast, you will learn: -             How the brain works with uncertainty. -             How to reduce stress and anxiety for uncertainty Information is like food for our brain. Uncertainty is like that hunger signal telling us that we don’t have enough information, and need to gather it.  Uncertainty can cause stres...

Emotional contagion is unconscious and can be toxic when we interact with other people.  In this podcast, you will learn: -        How emotional contagion impacts on the interactions with patients and colleagues. -        How to use curiosity against the maladaptive effects of emotional contagion.      Emotions can be unconsciously spread from one person to another through facial expression, tone...

Pain is subjective and several factors influenced the diagnosis and treatment of pain in patients. In this podcast, you will learn: -        The complexities involved in diagnosing and treating pain. -        How to recognize and deal with our own biases in the diagnosis and treatment of pain.       Diagnosing and treating pain are not straightforward because pain is a complex and subjective exper...

In this podcast, you will listen to the summary of all we have explored in the course. To ask questions or suggest future topics, please comment below or connect with me on Twitter @judbrewer Click here to subscribe to my Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi6bQu-Df7Wh2x3gFT5a8aw Build your body awareness using mindfulness practices, like those in the free "Breathe by Dr. Jud&qu...

In today’s episode, you’ll learn the following: -Why people have been buying what seems like a decade’s worth of the toilet paper in the grocery store, and why when you see them, you suddenly feel the urge to buy toilet paper yourself. -The mechanics of reward based learning, which underpins all of our anxious thinking and behavior. -The role of the neocortex in anxiety. The neocortex is the part...

During this time of panic and uncertainty, it's critical to build good mental habits and practice mental hygiene. In this podcast, you'll learn: -What to do whenever you notice stress or anxiety, and how to nip it in the bud. All you need is your breath and your awareness. -How to respond to urges to check social media or to call someone -The power of this question: "What do I need...

In today’s podcast, you’ll learn the following: -Why you can't stop checking the news -Why information is like food -Why you sometimes get a surge of emotions when you read a big news headline, and what to do about it -The concept of intermittent reinforcement and how this drives your news consumption behavior -What to do if you are already in the habit of constantly checking the news -The ro...

In today's podcast, you'll learn how to balance your need to plan for the future in the midst of massive uncertainty. Here's what you'll learn: -Why our brains are set up to plan for the future -What happens when there isn't enough information to plan (like right now, since the Coronavirus and socioeconomic situation is rapidly changing) -Why your brain is similar to a com...

This podcast teaches you to leverage your brain’s reward system to use the energy of crisis to replace division and separateness with unity and connection. Inspired by Kitty O’Meara’s poem gone viral (Oprah’s magazine dubbed her the “poet laureate of the pandemic”), Dr. Brewer explains the psychology behind shifting old entrenched mindsets to new ones based in kindness. He gives three actionable t...

In this podcast, you'll learn the science behind why panic buying spreads, and four things you can do to help. Here is a preview of what's in the video: -Panic is driven by the "old" part of the brain -Why lack of information leads to sudden and uncontrollable anxiety -How to get the "new" part of the brain back online during moments of panic -What somebody can say to...

Anxiety makes it difficult to sleep, and lack of sleep makes you more anxious. This episode will show you how it affects your nervous system, and 3 simple tips to help you fall asleep and stay asleep. Here's what you'll learn: -My own journey with interrupted sleep (I and my wife have been experiencing difficulty sleeping) -The two types of interrupted  sleep that i see at my clinic -Why...