Your Brain Uncovered with Aya Tarabeine

With everyone holidaying for summer, travel sickness is going to be an issue for many. Now, what seems to cause this? These feelings could be an evolution-based glitch in the brain, resulting from activation of the vestibular system . Joining us on this episode is Dr Laura Smith. She is a Lecturer in Cognitive Psychology at the Uni of Kent who is here to offer us illuminating insight into the link...

From the decision to paint a baby’s room pink or blue onward, many people have been taking young children’s sex as a guiding principle for minor and major socialization decisions regardless of their children’s individual characteristics and behaviours. In this episode, I am joined by Dr Erik Gustafsson in an incredible conversation exploring how parents and society influence children’s socializati...

My guest in this episode is Mr Piotr Grzegorczy, the aspiring CEO of Covid Genomics , and one of the youngest entrepreneurs to be contributing to the development of RNA vaccines. Here, we discuss the ambition behind his biotechnological start-up and the ways his team is working alongside laboratories and pharmaceutical companies to help Predict future virus mutations and save lives.  - Mr Pio...

Implicated in everything from traumatic brain injury to learning ability, boredom has become extremely interesting to scientists. In this episode, I am joined by the fantastic experimental social psychologist Dr Wijnand Van Tilburg. His research mainly looks at the study of emotions in the context of decision making and has a very keen interest in the science of Boredom. Tune in to gain a deep und...

So we all have our little set of belief systems that is always with us, shaping our opinions and attitudes about ourselves and the world around us. Sometimes we fall into self-defeating beliefs that negatively impact our lives.  Fortunately,  In this episode, the amazing social psychologist Dr Rael Dawtry explains the science behind self-defeating behaviour and provides us with ways to o...

I am inspired and excited to interview Dr Michael C Ashby. He is a senior lecturer at the School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience at the University of Bristol. In this episode, he joins me in an incredible conversation exploring neuroplasticity, the science of changing your brain, and how internal and external factors affect the brain throughout the lifespan. - Highly interesting pub...

I am honoured to welcome the award-winning science journalist David Robson to today's episode of Your Brain Uncovered. Here we discuss his latest book "The Expectancy Effect". Diving deep into the placebo effect, the connection between the way we describe food and how much we eat, as well as how to take the sting out of exercise, tricky mental problems, and ageing. 

In this episode, I am delighted to be joined by Dr Anthony Mangiacotti who is a Post-doctoral Researcher at the MCClab at Middlesex University. Being the co-director of the MusiCare Project, he generously gives us insight into their most remarkable work being done to Protect the Cognitive Functions and Well-being of the ageing population and infants. Tune in to learn more about their use of Music...

If there is a topic on which the humanities might make a distinctive claim, it is that of consciousness. Philosophers, psychologists, and musicologists have argued that music has the capacity to make its own claims in relation to consciousness. In this mind-boggling episode, I am joined by Professor Jorg Fachner, the co-director of the Cambridge Institute for Music Therapy Research. Tune in to our...

In this episode, we are fortunately joined by Dr Riccardo Manco, a neuroscientist and tenured research fellow at Brunel University London, to discuss the growing literature on psychosis and delusion in Alzheimer’s disease. There is a lot to be gleaned out of his work. Instead of thinking of psychotic features as this taboo, icky subject, hopefully, today’s discussion will help clarify that it's a...

In this episode, I am joined by the Neuropsychologist Dr Catherine Loveday who has an immense knowledge bank on human memory and also happens to specialize in music. Right here, we dive into the astounding impact of music on learning. Particularly looking at the effects music has on academic achievement and motivation to learn for students. - Kindly find below the link to Dr Catherine Loveday's ve...

I am joined here by the amazing expert at Flow, Dr Jasmine Tan. She is currently immersed in her studies at Oxford, but in this episode, she provides us with insights into the findings of her own PhD project with Professor Joydeep Bhattacharya in the domain of Flow.  This episode pays tribute to the founder of the field himself Dr Csikszentmihalyi who has recently passed away. May his soul re...

In his book, "Hallucinations" Oliver Sacks cites a host of vivid examples from 100 Varieties of Hallucinatory Experience: From Dancing Patterns to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Yes, you guessed it,  just like the ones in Alice in Wonderland. Here is your bite-size review! 

This week I am joined by the brilliant Hamzah Selim , the CEO of the app “Mindsteps” . Hamzah is an imperial alumni, and UCL medical student who is playing a major role in increasing accessibility to neurological care for dementia patients. Today he is here to share with us the driving ambition behind his app and how he is hoaxing in on preventive medicine to improve the overall life quality...

Here is my book summary of The Tell-Tale Brain by V.S. Ramachandran. If you were to take away one thing from this book that would be that it is impossible to understand the human brain without understanding how it first evolved! 

What is the neurology of a Tic? In this episode, I am joined by the wonderful speech therapist Liz Hajj Nicholas to explain the fundamental neural underpinning of Tourettes Syndrome. This is a multi-faceted neurological disorder that requires understanding the individual symptoms and integrating the co-morbidities. She emphasizes how the recognition of the complexity of the underlying mechanisms a...

Here is a snappy episode summarizing The Brain That Changes Itself , which was written by Norman Doidge. It explores the groundbreaking research in neuroplasticity and shares fascinating stories of people who can use the brain’s ability to adapt and be cured of ailments previously incurable!

At this very moment, as you read this, you’re experiencing a form of controlled hallucination called “ reality”. This talk will leave you questioning the very nature of your existence, as we dive into how your brain generates conscious experience.

Joining me on this episode is the wonderful French Speech and Language Therapist Hélène Malik! Here we are unravelling the gifts alongside the nuts and bolts of a dyslexic mind..  What is so amusing is that dyslexics, when they are fully empowered and recognize that innate intelligence, represent 35% of all entrepreneurs. They represent 40% of all self-made millionaires, and you know those rocket...

Do not miss this! This is a highly anticipated episode with the one and only Dr Sneha John! As a clinical psychologist she has an abundance of experience working in the NHS, and the biggest heart to provide us with tremendously valuable tools and tactics to help soothe our anxiety in a proactive way. - Feel free to reach out to her via her Instagram platform for any queries @snehajohn.posychologis...

Here are my thoughts on Mathew Walker’s fascinating book, “Why We Sleep”..

Here is a quick overview of what the book on the Biology of Humans at Their Best and Worst entail. Lengthy 800 page book coming to you in a snippet!

Why are some people so quick to recover from setbacks? Why are some so attuned to others that they seem psychic? Why are some people always up and others always down? Let’s find out ..

In love, we fall. We're struck, we're crushed, we swoon. Our hearts ache, and then they break! This episode will give you a scoop into the three brain systems responsible for this since the birth of time..

Do you like jazz? Listen to what researchers have to say on what happens inside a jazz musician’s brain as they improvise euphonious melodies!