Your Brain on Music ... and/or Dopamine

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 My workday is full of people wearing headphones. Almost everybody on the bus to work is plugged into a music player or a smartphone. The bicyclists pushing pedals along the busy El Camino Real road that bisects Silicon Valley are also almost universally equipped with devices that occupy their ears, though arguably they would be better off paying attention to the sounds of traffic (for a summary of American laws regulating this matter, see here). Once I get to my laboratory, I have no one to say good morning to, as the hearing of my co-workers is engrossed by whatever is playing on their computers. Pretty soon, I also feel the urge to plug in to my Internet radio station and tune out the world. Once I do, I’m happier. And that got me wondering. How much do we know about the neurobiology behind compulsive behavior that generates pleasure and does the craving for music exhibited by many people around me share this neurobiology?

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NeuroTalk S2E8 Marc Freeman

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This week on NeuroTalk, Marc Freeman talks to us about falling in love with biology, eating injured axons, and more!

This week, Marc Freeman talks to us about falling in love with biology, eating injured axons, and more! Marc Freeman is an assistant professor of neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.


Marc Freeman is an assistant professor of neurobiology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Our conversation with professor Freeman can also be streamed or downloaded here: NeuroTalk S2E8 Marc Freeman

You can also subscribe to NeuroTalk though iTunes by searching for "Neuwritewest" in the iTunes store and subscribing to our channel.

NeuroTalk S2E7 Cagla Eroglu

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This week, we talk to Cagla Eroglu about the eureka moments in scientific discovery, the role of astrocytes in synapse formation, and more!

This week, we talk to Cagla Eroglu about the eureka moments in scientific discovery, the role of astrocytes in synapse formation, and more! Dr. Eroglu is an assistant professor of cell biology at Duke University.

 

Dr. Eroglu is an assistant professor of cell biology at Duke University. Our conversation with professor Eroglu can also be streamed or downloaded here: NeuroTalk S2E7 Cagla Eroglu. 

You can also subscribe to NeuroTalk though iTunes by searching for "Neuwritewest" in the iTunes store and subscribing to our channel.

NeuroTalk S2E6 Jeff Isaacson

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This week on NeuroTalk, we talk to Jeff Isaacson about his journey from rock shows to neuroscience, the importance of inhibition, the BRAIN Initiative, and more!

This week, we talk to Jeff Isaacson about his journey from rock shows to neuroscience, the importance of inhibition, the BRAIN Initiative, and more! Dr. Isaacson is a professor of neuroscience at UC San Diego.

Dr. Isaacson is a professor of neuroscience at UC San Diego.

Our conversation with professor Isaacson can be streamed or downloaded here: NeuroTalk S2E6 Jeff Isaacson. 

You can also subscribe to NeuroTalk though iTunes by searching for "Neuwritewest" in the iTunes store and subscribing to our channel.

Penguins, pyjamas and postdocs

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What started as an idea for a birthday party got a little out of hand. The California Academy of Sciences (one of the largest natural history museums in the world) runs an annual sleepover for grownups, during which visitors can explore the museum after hours then roll out their camping gear and sleep with the fishes in the aquarium or with the penguins in the African hall. This year, Antoine de Morrée (co-chair of the Stanford University Postdoctoral Association) decided that instead of convincing a handful of friends to attend the sleepover, the association should get together a committee to convince 40 Stanford postdocs to spend days preparing samples and scientific stories to share with the public. Astonishingly, that’s exactly what happened.

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Neurotalk S2E5: Graeme Davis

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Each week the Stanford Neurosciences Institute (SNI) invites a prominent scientist to come to campus and share their most recent work with the Stanford community. Each week, as part of the Neuwrite West podcast NeuroTalk, we engage the SNI speaker in an informal interview/conversation. This week, we talk to Graeme Davis about teaching neurobiology at Wood's Hole, how a synapse maintains homeostasis, and more!

Dr. Davis is a professor of neuroscience at UC San Francisco.

Listen to NeuroTalk S2E5 Graeme Davis by NeuWriteWest | Explore the largest community of artists, bands, podcasters and creators of music & audio.


Listening options: Our conversation with professor Davis can be streamed or downloaded here: NeuroTalk S2E5 Graeme Davis You can also subscribe to NeuroTalk though iTunes by searching for "Neuwritewest" in the iTunes store and subscribing to our channel.

Curing Mice to Cure Humans

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How useful is the laboratory mouse to research on neurodegenerative disease? Anybody who’s dissected a mouse knows that its organs are strikingly similar to textbook pictures of human organs. However, the brain is a special case. Though there are broad similarities, such as that both humans and mice have a hippocampus, humans have many more neurons, many more connections between them, and vastly more intellectual capacity. With this in mind, some neurobiologists advocate using mice to study biochemical pathways that may underlie neurodegenerative disease and not the symptoms or the clinical outcomes. The latest breakthrough in research on neurodegenerative diseases, announced in an October 9 paper in Science Translational Medicine by Julie Moreno and colleagues, is a good example of this approach.

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NeuroTalk S2E4 Gail Mandel

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Each week the Stanford Neurosciences Institute (SNI) invites a prominent scientist to come to campus and share their most recent work with the Stanford community. Each week, as part of the Neuwrite West podcast NeuroTalk, we engage the SNI speaker in an informal interview/conversation. This week, we talk to Gail Mandel about her long, and winding journey into neuroscience, what makes a neuron a neuron, how astrocytes contribute to neurological disorder, and more!

Dr. Mandel is a Senior Scientist at the Vollum Institute and a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Oregon Health and Science University, as well as an HHMI investigator.

Gail Mandel talks about her long, and winding journey into neuroscience, what makes a neuron a neuron, how astrocytes contribute to neurological disorder, and more! Dr. Mandel is a Senior Scientist at the Vollum Institute and a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Oregon Health and Science University, as well as an HHMI investigator.


Listening options:

Our conversation with professor Mandel can be streamed or downloaded here: 

NeuroTalk S2E4 Gail Mandel

You can also subscribe to NeuroTalk though iTunes by searching for "Neuwritewest" in the iTunes store and subscribing to our channel.

NeuroTalk S2E3 Penguins & Pajamas

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 This week on NeuroTalk, we bring you a special report about a scientific sleepover hosted by the California Academy of Science called Penguins & Pajamas! Stanford postdocs from a variety of disciplines presented on their research, and we bring stories from the event, and speak with Mary Cavanagh and Antoine de Morree from the Stanford postdoc association. Below, you'll also find full interviews with many of the postdocs at the event.  

This week we bring you a special report about a scientific sleepover hosted by the California Academy of Science called Penguins & Pajamas! Stanford postdocs from a variety of disciplines presented on their research, and we bring stories from the event, and speak with Mary Cavanagh and Antoine de Morree from the Stanford postdoc association.

David Zhang talks about the science behind cloning, and the ongoing efforts to clone a woolly mammoth.

Felice Kelly and Fiona Strouts talk about how live bacteria and yeasts transform simple ingredients into more complex flavors.

Gazi Yildirim talks about the Quake Catcher Network, the world's largest, low-cost strong-motion seismic network.

 

Learn more about the Quake Catcher Network here: http://qcn.stanford.edu/

Jenny Lumb describes the science of hula-hooping!

Jolyn Gisselberg

Merav Vonshak talks about the worldwide domination of invasive ants and consequences for biodiversity.

Rico Rojas talks about cholera, climate change, and the ecological relationships between humans and their pathogens.

Zeeshan Maan talks about translating research from the bench to the bedside.

Urvi Vyas talks about conducting brain surgery without ultrasound.

Viola Caretti talks about a novel approach to studying brain cancer by using light-activated neuronal stimulation.

Stefano Bonetti explains how to use magnetism to get a levitating train.

Avi Adhikari talks about the neurobiology underlying anxiety.

All pictures by Mark Padolina and Luqia Hou.

You can find more information about the Stanford Postdoc Association on their website: http://www.stanford.edu/group/supd/

or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordUniversityPostdoctoralAssociation

You can find more information about Penguins & Pajamas on the California Academy of Sciences website: http://www.calacademy.org/events/sleepovers/

For more information about Stanford's involvement in Penguins & Pajamas, and other events, you can also contact Mary Cavanagh directly at museumpostdocs@gmail.com