Minding the Brain

Dr. Jim Davies, Dr. Kim Hellemans, and Dr. Andrea Howard explore what research really says about social media's impact on youth mental health. This episode [...]

Why does cannabis give some people anxiety? Can your brain heal after alcoholism? Does brain training work? Join Kim and Jim as they answer listener [...]

Dr. Ian Gold joins Minding the Brain to talk about his research on delusions. What are delusions? Is there a link between delusions and conspiracy [...]

Are near-death experiences real? Given the uniqueness of every brain, are brain implants a plausible future technology? Can people teach themselves to lucid dream? Join [...]

How does culture impact our brains and the way that mental disorders manifest? How does schizophrenia look different across cultures? What about eating disorders? Can [...]

Could LLMs like ChatGPT ever lead to AGI? Could we ever erase traumatic memories? Why do some people hate evolutionary psychology? What has neuroscience learned [...]

Cat Bohannon joins Minding the Brain to talk about the evolution of women. Get ready to learn about prehistoric gynecology, sexual dimorphism in humans, why [...]

Are the brains of transgender people different than the brains of cisgender people? Can experiencing racism cause lasting neurological damage? Can a deeper understanding of [...]

Dr. Argel Aguilar-Valles joins Kim to discuss psychedelics. Does microdosing work? Are psychedelics effective for treating depression? How do these substances interact with the brain? [...]

Is dopamine addiction real? What about dopamine detoxes? Is it safe to use cannabis after the age of 25? Can psychedelic drugs cause schizophrenia? Does [...]

Rebecca Merkley joins Jim to discuss the math abilities of babies. How early do children begin to understand math? What kind of mistakes do children [...]

Kim and Jim discuss the neuroscience of emotion: Which regions of the brain process emotions? What is the relationship between substance withdrawal and our natural [...]

Daniel Schacter joins Minding the Brain to talk about memory errors. How and why is memory prone to failure? Do people repress traumatic memories? Does [...]

Jim interviews Matt Coleman of Giving Multiplier, a website that provides evidence-based recommendations to help people give to the most effective charities. They discuss the [...]

Kim interviews Dr. Jodi Pawluski about mommy brain and the mental load of motherhood. How is society failing mothers? Is it okay to take anti-depressants [...]

Dr. Kim Hellemans interviews Dr. Pete Kelly about personality disorders. What are personality disorders and what are some common symptoms? What does therapy look like for [...]

Jim talks to Dr. Doug Oman, a scientist and scholar with a special interest in spirituality and health. They discuss the practice of mantra meditation, [...]

Jim and Kim explore the role of cultural evolution in shaping human behavior and survival. What has enabled humans to dominate the globe more successfully [...]

Jim and Kim answer student questions about magic mushrooms, Chat GPT in academia, ice baths, caffeine, the impact of listening to music, self-efficacy and reducing [...]

Jim interviews Gordon Pennycook about the phenomenon of fake news. What types of misinformation tend to spread? What role will generative AI play in the [...]

Kim interviews Orsha Magyar about the emerging field of nutritional neuroscience. How can we combat nutritional pseudoscience on social media? Are there such things as [...]

Kim interviews Dr. Robert Coplan about aloneliness and the value of solitude. What are the benefits of solitude? How should we balance solitude and social [...]

Jim interviews Darren McKee, author of Uncontrollable: The Threat of Artificial Superintelligence and the Race to Save the World. What are the long-term dangers of [...]

Jim interviews Kim about the topic of eating disorders. They discuss clinical and behavioral symptoms of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and the [...]

Jim interviews Hollywood composer Joe Kraemer about the psychology of soundtracks. Joe is responsible for the music in films such as The Way of the [...]

Jim interviews Johanna Peetz about money and spending. Why does money cause so many problems in relationships? What does the research say about how best [...]

How are false memories created? Do children believe their imaginary friends really exist? Why aren't we always mistaking our imaginings for reality? Join Jim and [...]

Are other animals conscious? Why is animal consciousness important to understand? What function does consciousness serve? Take a deep dive into the fascinating world of [...]

Kim and Jim discuss the scientific evidence surrounding multitasking. Does multitasking make you more or less efficient? When should you multitask? Is it safe to [...]

What does it feel like to have schizophrenia? What is the history of the schizophrenia diagnosis and are there effective treatments for the condition? Find [...]

In this episode of Minding the Brain, Jim and Kim explore various theories of consciousness. What are the most popular theories of consciousness? What is [...]

Some people are left handed and some people are right handed, why? Join Kim and Jim as they explore the science behind the phenomenon of [...]

Do brain training apps work? Is reading fiction a waste of time? How dangerous is artificial intelligence? Join Kim and Jim for a special Q&A [...]

Why does time seem to pass slowly when you're a child and more quickly when you're an adult? How does the brain measure time? What [...]

Why are goals important? Why are we successful in the pursuit of certain goals, but not others? Jim Davies interviews Marina Milyavskaya about how science [...]

Can someone get addicted to video games? Join Kim and Jim as they talk about the science of addiction as applied to video games. Featuring [...]

Do video games increase aggression? Are they addictive? Can video games make you smarter? Jim and Kim discuss the research on video games in this [...]

Why did plants evolve to be caffeinated? When did humans start using caffeine? What are the benefits of caffeine? Can caffeine be dangerous and is [...]

If the universe is teeming with life, and even a fraction of that life is intelligent, where are all the aliens? Join Jim and Kim [...]

Alcohol is, by far, the most commonly used addictive drug, but how much do you really know about it? How does alcohol interact with the [...]

Kim and Jim tell you how to hack your reward system! What is the brain's reward system and why did it evolve? Is it possible [...]

Kim interviews Dr. Benicio Frey about the future of depression treatment. What is depression and what are the symptoms? How is depression treated? How important [...]

Jim Davies and Darren McKee talk about happiness. What is happiness? What does science say about how people can be happier? Find out the answers [...]

Jim interviews Dr. Richard E. Nisbett about Eastern and Western thinking. What are the differences between Eastern and Western thinking? How do economic differences impact [...]

Kim interviews Michael Hildebrand about the topic of pain. Does everyone experience pain the same way? Why do we experience pain? Is there such a [...]

Kim interviews Jim about the phenomenon of geniuses. Are there as many geniuses born today as there were previously? Are groundbreaking scientific discoveries still being [...]

Jim interviews Carole Hooven, Harvard evolutionary biologist and author of the new book T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us. [...]

Jim interviews Kim about the phenomenon known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Why do searches for “depression” peak in November and February? What kinds of [...]

What is free will? Can humans make conscious decisions? What does the scientific evidence tell us about the existence of free will? Find out on [...]

The idea of brain lateralization has attained a high degree of popularity in culture. People will often refer to themselves as being “right brained” or [...]

Kim interview Jim about conspiracy theories. What makes conspiracy theories so appealing? What is the relationship between scientific literacy and the likelihood that someone will [...]