In this podcast, we speak with Dr. Marco Iacoboni, Director of the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Lab at the Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.  Dr. Iacoboni is currently leading some of the most advanced research on the human mirror neuron system and its role in both social behavior and social disorders. 

Be sure to listen in on this provocative interview where we discuss Dr. Iacoboniâs new book, Mirroring People: The New Science of How We Connect with Others (May 2008, Farrar, Straus and Giroux), and delve into the fascinating details of one of the most exciting new areas of scientific discovery.

Join us in this timely and insightful conversation where we explore the key factors that influence peopleâs buying and borrowing behavior and help explain why people overspend in the first place.

In this program, we speak with Dr. Nikolai Shevchuk, author of the November 2007 study, Adapted Cold Shower as a Potential Treatment for Depression. Dr. Shevchukâs work has been instrumental in identifying and explaining how cold temperatures activate specific areas of the brain that appear to be involved with the regulation of mood in humans. 

Join us as we explore the hard science of cold water therapy and examine how our current âambient temperatureâ? lifestyle might potentially be a factor in our mood states.  

In this segment, we speak with Stephan Mittermeyer of BrainLAB, a medical equipment company headquartered in Munich, Germany.  Stephanâs group has developed an integrated approach to circumventing the blood brain barrier that involves a process known as convection enhanced delivery, or CED.  Join us as we explore BrainLABâs innovative technique for delivering drugs directly into the brain â one that is as much a tale of physics and engineering as it is of biology.   

In this podcast, we go beyond the superficial controversy and instead delve into the fascinating details of how humans process and perceive color â and how we might indeed be hardwired to perceive it in different ways.  Join us for a fascinating and dynamic discussion with Dr. Ling where we explore the real story at a much deeper and more scientific level. 

Join us for a fascinating discussion of virtual reality and how this dynamic visual environment is proving to be an indispensable rehabilitation tool for patients with all types of neurological disorders that affect both balance and posture in humans.  

I think there are two reasons for this.  First, with all the back-and-forth e-mails, phone calls, and appointment (re)schedulings, you really get a feel for a personâs temperament and personality.  Second, both my guest and I are bound by a strong mutual interest â namely, we are insatiably curious about the inner workings of the human brain and mind.  And itâs this fascination with exploring the unknown that, I believe, helps us connect at a much deeper level. 

I had the great pleasure of working with Dr. Ann E. Kelley back in late March of 2006.  At that time, we were transitioning NeuroScene towards a syndicated content model, and Dr. Kelley was one of our first podcast guests.  I recall Dr. Kelley as being an exceptionally bright and engaging individual who had the rare dual blessings of both loving oneâs field of study â and of being one of the worldâs best at it. 

Sadly, Dr. Kelley lost her battle with cancer last month.  As a tribute to her, we are reposting the original interview, âThe Neuroscience of Obesity,â? with an updated introduction.

Whatâs surprising, however, is that the blood brain barrier continues to be significantly disregarded as an essential area of focus within both Big Pharma and the academic neuroscience establishment.  And the unfortunate byproduct of this neglect is a substantial over funding of neuroscience research projects that produce few commercially viable therapies that can effectively address the growing threat of many age-related neurological conditions. 

In this program, we speak with Dr. William Pardridge, Professor of Medicine at the UCLA Brain Research Institute and founder of ArmaGen Technologies.  Join us for an eye-opening discussion of the science and politics of blood brain barrier drug delivery, and learn more about some of the fascinating new areas of research and development in this critical, but very often overlooked, area of neuroscience. 

But this may be changing in the near future.

The secret to our subliminal sexual attraction might very well lie with a little known â and rather controversial â cranial nerve known as ânerve zero.â?   Although it was discovered back in 1878, nerve zero has largely been overlooked as a potential conduit for transmitting human pheromone signals.  In fact, you wonât find even nerve zero referenced in most brain anatomy textbooks.
 

In this program, we speak with Dr. R. Douglas Fields, Chief of the Nervous System Development and Plasticity Section, NICHD and adjunct professor at the University of Maryland.   Dr. Fields has spearheaded much of the recent research with nerve zero, and he provides an excellent overview of some of the most recent findings surrounding this fascinating new area of scientific discovery.  

In this program, we speak with Dr. Paul Zak, a Professor at Claremont Graduate University in Southern California and one of the founders of the field of neuroeconomics.

Dr. Zakâs research was the first to identify the role of the neuropeptide oxytocin in mediating trusting behaviors between unacquainted humans in 2004.  In addition to directing the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University, Dr. Zak has an upcoming book â "Moral Markets: The Critical Role of Values in the Economy" â which will be soon be available through Princeton University Press in 2007.

Join us for a fascinating discussion of neuroeconomics, and how trust and the role of oxytocin affect us at both an individual and a societal level.

Over the next 5 years, Dr. Omalu conducted post-mortem tests on additional former pro football players, and he began to notice an emerging pattern which seemed to indicate an entirely different form of progressive chronic traumatic encephalopathy.  Termed "Dementia of Football," this syndrome was very different from dementia pugilistica, or the boxers' "punch-drunk syndrome."  In contrast, "Dementia of Football" tended to occur without the presence of any motor symptoms - which would explain why it would often be misdiagnosed or completely overlooked. 

Join us in this fascinating conversation with Dr. Omalu where we discuss this newly emerging syndrome in detail and ponder what could very well be one of the next major public health issues to affect athletes - both amateur and professional - worldwide.