Behind Your Behavior

This episode explores Music and the Brain with our guest, Dr. Michael Kaplan. We discuss the definition of music, changes in the brains of musicians, and the universality of music!

Dr. Kaplan has been associated with Penn for over 20 years as a graduate student, a postdoctoral fellow, and most recently as a Lecturer and Lab Coordinator for the Biological Basis of Behavior (BBB) Program. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he graduated from Wesleyan University with degrees in biochemistry and philosophy, then sojourned in New York City to dabble in the music business, where he wrote non-hit songs with titles like “Brain in a Jar.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, he ended up back in science. His research at Penn has focused on synaptic plasticity, both short-term (with Dr. Marc Dichter) and long-term (with Dr. Ted Abel). He is the Master of Ceremonies and head zookeeper at the Neurolab, an undergraduate teaching lab for electrophysiology and computer simulations. Dr. Kaplan has won the BBB Society Teaching Award and was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching by Affiliated Faculty in 2009. He teaches The Neuroscience of Music.

This episode explores Aesthetics in the Brain with our guest, Dr. Anjan Chatterjee. We discuss how the brain responds to aesthetically pleasing faces, places, and things, along with the different ways art can be used. 

Dr. Anjan Chatterjee is Professor of Neurology, Psychology, and Architecture and the founding director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. He is a member of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the Center for Neuroscience and Society at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his BA in Philosophy from Haverford College, MD from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his neurology residency at the University of Chicago. Dr. Chatterjee is a founding member of the Board of Governors of the Neuroethics Society, the past President of the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics, and the past President of the Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology Society. He currently serves on the Boards of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia and Haverford College. He has served on the boards of the Norris Square Neighborhood Project and the Associated Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. 

This episode explores addiction in the brain with our guest, Dr. Claudia Padula. We explore how addiction manifests in the brain, her experience working with a Veteran population, and upcoming studies in the BRAVE lab!

Dr. Claudia Padula is the head of the BRAVE lab. Her official title is research health science specialist at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (MIRECC) and Instructor (Affiliate) at Stanford School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, but her passion for science goes beyond this role. She ultimately wants to improve treatment outcomes for Veterans suffering from addiction by leveraging the power of where neuroscience and clinical psychology intersect. Dr. Padula completed her undergraduate work and research assistant positions at the University of California San Diego and received her masters and doctorate degrees at the University of Cincinnati in psychology with an emphasis in neuropsychology. She fulfilled her APA-accredited clinical internship in neuropsychology at Patton State Hospital and is an alumni of the APA-accredited Sierra Pacific MIRECC postdoctoral fellowship with an emphasis in geropsychology. Claudia enjoys traveling the world, cooking, spending time with her husband and fulfilling her role of academic mama to two kids.

This episode explores perception and behavior with our guest, Dr. Chaz Firestone. We explore the field of cognitive science, objective vs subjective perception, and ongoing projects in the Perception and Mind Lab!

Dr. Chaz Firestone earned his bachelor's degree from Brown University in both cognitive neuroscience and philosophy, and then stayed at Brown for a Master's Degree in Philosophy before moving to Yale University, where he earned a PhD in cognitive psychology. He then joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins University, where he is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences and is also a faculty member in the departments of Philosophy and Cognitive Science. At Hopkins, Dr. Firestone directs the Perception and Mind Laboratory, a group of cognitive scientists and philosophers who study how we perceive the world around us, and how our perception of the world interacts with other processes in our minds. Dr. Firestone also enjoys introducing new students to the science of psychology, and teaches a popular Introduction to Psychology course with its own curated playlist.

Find the Perception and Mind Lab's new paper here!

To stay updated, follow @chazfirestone on Twitter! 

This episode explores stress & sickness behavior with our guest, Dr. Staci Bilbo. We discuss how the brain and immune system interact, what sickness behavior looks like, and how social distancing may be playing a role in this.

Dr. Staci Bilbo is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University whose research is broadly focused on the mechanisms by which the immune and endocrine systems interact with the brain to impact health and behavior, particularly during critical developmental windows. Her research program is primarily aimed at exploring the mechanisms by which innate central nervous system immune cells, microglia, and signaling molecules such as cytokines and chemokines, influence both normal and abnormal brain development, and the implications for (mal)adaptive behavioral outcomes later in life, including a focus on neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder. Dr. Bilbo received her B.A. in Psychology and Biology from the University of Texas at Austin and her PhD in Neuroendocrinology at Johns Hopkins University. She was on the faculty at Duke University from 2007-2016 before she joined the faculty at Harvard in 2016 where she served as the Lurie Family Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and as the Director of Research for the Lurie Center for Autism at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children. She returned to Duke in 2019 as the Haley Family Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, and maintains an appointment at Harvard to continue her research collaborations in Boston and beyond. 

This episode explores behavior in the era of digital health with our guest, Dr. Sohila Zadran. We discuss the growth of technology in healthcare and increasing access for underrepresented populations.

Dr. Sohila Zadran completed her undergraduate studies in Molecular Cell Biology and Neurobiology at UC Berkeley, and her doctoral studies in Neuroscience and Neuro-engineering at the age of 23 under National Academy of Sciences member, Dr. Richard Thompson. She subsequently completed her post-doctoral fellowship in Systems Neuroscience, Bioinformatics, Computational Modeling at the California Institute of Technology as a National Institute of Health fellow. By the age of 25, Dr. Zadran had published over a dozen first-author publications in leading scientific journals in the field of genomics, cancer biology, neurobiology, systems biology, cancer stem cells, and computational modeling of cell state transitions. By the age of 30, she had founded three biotech and digital health companies. Dr. Zadran also teaches a course on Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks at Stanford University and serves as an advisor to several biotech, digital health companies and several Silicon Valley accelerators. She has worked for leading Venture Capital firms, including Pacific Capital Hong Kong, BCG Digital Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Strawberry Creek Ventures.

This episode explores social interactions and group behavior with our guest, Dr. Michael Platt.  We discuss the concept of collective effervescence, the impact of virtual interactions, and human resilience.

Dr. Michael Platt currently serves as the director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative and a professor for the Perelman School of Medicine, Wharton School of Business, and the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. He is well known for asking some of the most challenging questions in neuroscience - focusing on biological mechanisms that underlie decision-making in social environments. Dr. Platt received his B.A at Yale and his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, both in anthropology, and did a post-doctoral fellowship in neuroscience at New York University. He is winner of a MERIT award from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Williams Faculty Research Prize in the Duke University School of Medicine, and was an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow. Dr. Platt is an editor of major textbooks in neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience, and he is a former president of the Society for Neuroeconomics. He is the former Director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, former Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University, and founding Co-Director of the Duke Center for Neuroeconomic Studies. Dr. Platt's work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, the Guardian, and National Geographic, as well as on ABC’s Good Morning America, NPR, CBC, BBC, and MTV.

Welcome to the Behind Your Behavior podcast! In this short ten-minute trailer, Roshni and Tina discuss their backgrounds and goals for the podcast.