Podcasts about your brain's ability

Lots of people listen to music when they are working because they believe it helps them concentrate and be more productive? Does it? This episode begins by exploring which, if any kind of music really helps your concentration and productivity. https://www.businessinsider.com/10-minute-trick-to-boost-your-productivity-2016-1How suggestible are you? Could you be hypnotized into believing something that isn’t true? What about placebos? If I tell you a sugar pill will cure your headache, will your headache go away? It’s fascinating to think that the human brain can be fooled into thinking and doing things. Science writer Erik Vance is a science writer who has explored why it seems your brain is so suggestible - even if you think it isn't. He is the author of the National Geographic book, Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal (https://amzn.to/2L5ptqn) and he joins me to shed light on this interesting quirk of the human brain and what it means. You know when you go to drug store and right next to the name brand lotion or shampoo or pain reliever is the store brand in a bottle that looks kind of like the name brand but a lot cheaper? So is it the same as the name brand? Listen to discover the answer. (Shopsmart magazine Dec 2014 issue)When you are sick and go to the doctor, you expect the doctor will treat you. And the doctor knows you expect him or her to do something – and so you walk out with a prescription. But there is often a flaw in that process that is leading to a lot of patient overtreatment. Norway neurosurgeon Christer Mjåset has explored this problem and has come up with 4 questions you should ask your doctor went he prescribes a medication or medical test. Hear what they are and discover why this is such an important subject. Dr. Mjåset did a TED talk on this which you can see here: https://www.ted.com/talks/christer_mjaset_4_questions_you_should_always_ask_your_doctor?language=enThis Week’s Sponsors-Fetch Rewards. Download the Fetch Rewards app and use promo code SYSK to receive 4000 points when you scan your first receipt.

Science writer and reporter Erik Vance says today’s brain scientists are like astronomers of old: They’ve unsettled humanity’s sense of itself by redrawing our picture of the cosmos within our own heads. Vance has investigated the healing power of stories and the “theater of medicine” (white coats included). It turns out that the things that make us feel better are often more closely connected to what we believe and fear than to the efficacy of some treatments. In fact, most drugs that go to trial can’t beat what we’ve dismissively called the “placebo effect,” which is actually nothing less than an unleashing of the brain’s superpowers.Erik Vance is a Pulitzer Center grantee and the author of “Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal.” His work has appeared in several publications, including the “New York Times,” “Harper’s Magazine,” “Scientific American,” and “National Geographic.“Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

Science writer and reporter Erik Vance says today’s brain scientists are like astronomers of old: They’ve unsettled humanity’s sense of itself by redrawing our picture of the cosmos within our own heads. Vance has investigated the healing power of stories and the “theater of medicine” (white coats included). It turns out that the things that make us feel better are often more closely connected to what we believe and fear than to the efficacy of some treatments. In fact, most drugs that go to trial can’t beat what we’ve dismissively called the “placebo effect,” which is actually nothing less than an unleashing of the brain’s superpowers.Erik Vance is a Pulitzer Center grantee and the author of “Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal.” His work has appeared in several publications, including the “New York Times,” “Harper’s Magazine,” “Scientific American,” and “National Geographic.“ This interview is edited and produced with music and other features in the On Being episode "Erik Vance — The Drugs Inside Your Head." Find more at onbeing.org. 

This episode we travel to a future where you can choose to turn off your ability to deceive yourself. Are you now a perfectly clear eyed genius? Or a perpetually depressed misanthrope? Maybe both?     This episode was suggested by my mom. It begins with two tales of self deception, one from Jacquelyn Gill, an assistant professor of paleo-ecology at the University of Maine and the host of a podcast about climate change called Warm Regards, and the other from Beth Duckles, a writer, researcher, ethnographer and social scientist. Then we talk to Zoë Chance, an assistant professor of marketing at the Yale School of Management and an expert on self-deception. After that, we go to therapy, and Chamin Ajjan, a clinical psychotherapist and author of Seeking Soulmate: Ditch the Dating Game and Find Real Connection explains what she does when she sees a case of self-deception in her office. And finally, Erik Vance, science journalist and author of Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal helps us understand what might really happen if we could truly turn off this ability to deceive ourselves.     Further reading:    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Self Deception  The Elements of a Scientific Theory of Self-Deception  People don’t know when they’re lying to themselves  Temporal view of the costs and benefits of self-deception  The slow decay and quick revival of self-deception   DENIAL: Self-Deception, False Beliefs, and the Origins of the Human Mind   Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal  Seeking Soulmate: Ditch the Dating Game and Find Real Connection    Patrons are going to get a really fun bonus segment next week that didn’t quite make it into this episode. It’s about hypnosis. So if you want that, go to Patreon and sign up as a $5 donor!   Flash Forward is produced by me, Rose Eveleth. The intro music is by Asura and the outtro music is by Hussalonia. The voice from this episode’s future was provided by Cynthia Graber. The episode art is by Matt Lubchansky.   If you want to suggest a future we should take on, send us a note on Twitter, Facebook or by email at info@flashforwardpod.com. We love hearing your ideas! And if you think you’ve spotted one of the little references I’ve hidden in the episode, email us there too. If you’re right, I’ll send you something cool.   And if you want to support the show, there are a few ways you can do that too! Head to www.flashforwardpod.com/support for more about how to give. But if that’s not in the cards for you, you can head to iTunes and leave us a nice review or just tell your friends about us. Those things really do help.   That’s all for this future, come back next time and we’ll travel to a new one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we had the pleasure to chat with Erik Vance, the author of Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal Curious about his new book? Find out more here: Suggestible You Website Who is Erik? (Taken from www.erikvance.com) Erik Vance is a native Bay Area writer replanted in Mexico as a non-native species. Before becoming a writer he was, at turns, a biologist, a rock climbing guide, an environmental consultant, and an environmental educator.  His work focuses on the human element of science – the people who do it, those who benefit from it, and those who do not. He has written for The New York Times, Nature, Scientific American, Harper’s, National Geographic, and a number of other local and national outlets.  His first book, Suggestible You, about how the mind and body continually twist and shape our realities was inspired by his feature in Discover and is available for pre-order on Amazon. Show Notes for this Episode The story of why Erik currently lives in Mexico City and his favorite foods to eat since moving to the DF  The definition of "placebo" and "placebo effect" Can patients with Parkinson's disease be influenced by the placebo effect? Why are pills different colors? (Hint: It's not because they need to be different colors) Language and it's impact on pain Erik's personal experience with physical therapy Pain and it's potential to be influenced by placebo effects Can we test the impact of placebo effects in physical therapy? The role of empathy and our environment in treating patients

Erik Vance is a science journalist, author of "Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform and Heal", www.erikvance.com

Erik Vance is a science journalist, author of "Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform and Heal", www.erikvance.com

We talk to science writer Erik Vance about his new book Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain's Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal.