Brain Matters

By Brain Matters Neuroscience

Natural Sciences

What's Brain Matters about?

Brain Matters the Podcast is an exciting way for anyone to learn about the fascinating world of neuroscience directly from the researchers who have dedicated their lives to uncovering the mysteries of the brain. Our mission is to make neuroscience accessible, relatable, and intriguing while still respecting the integrity of the science we love.

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LAST EPISODE

But Always See First with D...

01.09.2019

On this episode, Anthony spoke to Dr. Roderick MacKinnon (Professor, Rockefeller University, HHMI) about ion channels, studying what fascinates you, and the importance of thinking childishly. The music on today's episode was by The Caretaker: thecaretaker.bandcamp.com

Brain Matters episodes:

01.09.2019 But Always See First with Dr. Roderick MacKinnon On this episode, Anthony spoke to Dr. Roderick MacKinnon (Professor, Rockefeller University, HHMI) about ion channels, studying what fascinates you, and the importance of thinking childishly. The music on today's episode was by The Caretaker: thecaretaker.bandcamp.com
05.22.2018 Being Romantic and Practical with Dr. Richard Tsien On this episode, Matt spoke to Dr. Richard Tsien (Professor & Chair, New York University). Dr. Tsien has a diverse career, contributing many important findings to the field of cellular and molecular neuroscience, with a primary focus on understanding how ...
12.26.2017 Barflies: Alcohol and Fly Genetics with Dr. Fred Wolf On this (50th!) episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talks to Dr. Fred Wolf (Assistant Professor, UC Merced). Dr. Wolf is interested in how alcohol and other drugs of abuse change our genes when we take them. Using the fruit fly ...
04.19.2017 Alzheimer's and C. elegans with Dr. Jon Pierce On this episode of Brain Matters, we talked with Dr. Jon Pierce (University of Texas at Austin). Jon uses to C. elegans to study Alzheimer's, Down Syndrome, alcoholism, and more. Jon is currently raising money to fund undergraduate research and ...
03.07.2017 Space and Time with Dr. Mayank Mehta On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt and Mayank Mehta (Professor, UCLA) talk about how rodents and human perceive space and time. Mayank has always been obsessed with time and merges physics and neuroscience to understand how the brain deals ...
02.13.2017 Becoming a Curious Scientist with Dr. André Fenton What's the most important thing about being a scientist? According to Dr. André Fenton: Curiosity. Anthony and André talked about how André tinkered his way to researching learning and memory at NYU.
01.30.2017 The Nature of Nature (and the brain too) with Dr. David McCormick This week on Brain Matters, Matt and Dr. David McCormick (Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, Yale) start off 2017 right. On this episode you’ll get a quick briefing on the early history of neuroscience, information about Frankenstein’s monster, a look ...
12.12.2016 Engineering the Brain with Dr. Caleb Kemere On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Caleb Kemere (Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University) talk about Caleb's path to studying real time neural engineering.
11.13.2016 Bonus - SfN 2016 The Brain Matters team will be at the 2016 Society for Neuroscience convention in San Diego. Come say hey! We also got some exciting news - Brain Matters is now officially award-winning and Science-approved!
10.13.2016 Neurons, Mitochondria, and Human Evolution with Dr. Franck Polleux On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt and Dr. Franck Polleux (Professor, Department of Neuroscience at Columbia University and the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute) cover a lot of ground. Franck talks about his work as a graduate student and ...
08.08.2016 Sensorimotor Circuits in Zebrafish with Dr. Tod Thiele On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt and Dr. Tod Thiele (Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Scarborough) talk about a model organism we haven't featured on the podcast yet- zebrafish. In his new lab, Tod is continuing his work on ...
06.23.2016 Enhancing Cognition with Video Games with Dr. Adam Gazzaley On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talked with Adam Gazzaley (Professor, UCSF) about his work on cognition. Adam develops and designs video games that are fun to play and also have enhancing cognitive effects. Thank you for listening! We'd ...
05.09.2016 The Vestibular System with Dr. Dora Angelaki On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talked with Dr. Dora Angelaki (Professor & Chair of the Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine) about her work in the vestibular system. Dora refers to the vestibular system as 'the sixth ...
04.01.2016 Molecular Mechanisms of Depression with Dr. Lisa Monteggia On this episode of Brian Matters, Anthony and Dr. Lisa Monteggia (Professor, UT Southwestern Medical Center) talked about depression and the molecular mechanisms underlying the efficacy of antidepressants. They also talked about Lisa's work on MeCP2, the gene linked to ...
03.14.2016 The Resting Brain with Dr. Gagan Wig On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt talked with Dr. Gagan Wig (Assistant Professor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas) about his research on brain networks. Gagan studies the brain using functional magnetic resonance imaging or ...
02.04.2016 Stroke and Aphasia with Dr. Argye Hillis Anthony and Dr. Argye Hillis (Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University) talked about a medical perspective on neuroscience research. Argye's research focuses on understanding how language and emotional functions recover after stroke.
01.15.2016 Sleep Circuits with Dr. Yang Dan On This episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talked with Dr. Yang Dan (Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor of Neurobiology, UC Berkeley). Yang studies the circuits in the brain that control sleep. Perk up your cochlea and jump into ...
12.22.2015 Cortical Columns with Dr. David Fitzpatrick On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt and Dr. David Fitzpatrick (Chief Executive Officer & Scientific Director, Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience) chat about the cortex. They talked about the visual system and David's research on his friend the ...
11.12.2015 Contextualizing Fear with Dr. Michael Fanselow On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony interviewed Dr. Michael Fanselow (Distinguished Professor, Psychology, UCLA). They talked about Michael's contributions to our understanding of fear memories and how the context of an event can impact learning. The music featured in ...
10.27.2015 Rich Perspectives with Dr. Rick Aldrich Dr. Rick Aldrich (Professor, University of Texas at Austin) is a man who wears many hats - biophysicist, neuroscientist, molecular biologist, structural biologist. Throughout his career, he has contributed extensively to our understanding of mechanisms of ion channel function. Matt ...
09.11.2015 Motion Perception with Dr. Alex Huk On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. Alex Huk (Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Texas at Austin) talk about how our brains process vision and motion.
08.03.2015 Translational Control in Neurons with Dr. Eric Klann Creating new proteins is necessary for neurons to change the strength of their connections with each other. This process, known as translation, is controlled by a complex system of molecules and signlaing pathways. Anthony spoke with Dr. Eric Klann (Professor, ...
07.10.2015 Trial and Error Learning with Dr. Yael Niv When we make a decision, we draw from our past experiences to guide our actions, but we are also willing to modify our behavior if we fail to predict the correct outcome. Anthony spoke with Dr. Yael Niv (Associate Professor, ...
06.12.2015 Molecular Manipulation of Mood with Dr. René Hen On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. René Hen (Professor, Columbia University) talk about how mood and anxiety is regulated by serotonin and adult neurogenesis, and how Dr. Hen's molecular tools have helped us understand how emotions are ...
05.26.2015 Pain and Placebo Effect with Dr. Tor Wager How can we use our thoughts to regulate our emotional responses? On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. Tor Wager (Associate Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder) discuss how our mental states and context can influence the perception ...
04.30.2015 Animal Models of Alzheimer's with Dr. Joanna Jankowsky Alzheimer's disease has been a difficult disease to find treatment for. On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt and Dr. Joanna Jankowsky (Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine) talk about how to model Alzheimer's disease in mice to research the ...
04.10.2015 Memory, the Cerebellum, and Axons with Dr. David Linden Anthony and Dr. David Linden (Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) talked this week about David’s neuroscience research and how he gets inspiration in and out of lab. Anthony also asked David about his journey to becoming a successful ...
03.31.2015 Discovering Circuits with Dr. Massimo Scanziani On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talked with Dr. Massimo Scanziani (Professor, UC San Diego; HHMI Investigator) not just about his contributions to neuroscience, but about his journey as a scientist, a student, and a mentor. Massimo’s history is ...
03.09.2015 Addiction and Glutamate Transmission with Dr. Marina Wolf For our 25th episode, Matt and Dr. Marina Wolf (Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science) talk about Marina's work in addiction and how this is related ...
02.06.2015 Neuronal Modules in the Brain with Dr. Ben Strowbridge On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talked with Dr. Ben Strowbridge (Professor of Neuroscience, Case Western Reserve University). Ben and his lab study neurons in the hippocampus and the olfactory bulb and are trying to understand how they come ...
01.21.2015 Decaying Memories with Dr. Paul Frankland On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony talks about memories with Dr. Paul Frankland (Principal Investigator, Neurobiology Laboratory at The Hospital for Sick Children). How do the details of memories become lost forever? And why is it that your first ...
12.30.2014 Alcohol and the Fetal Brain with Dr. Rajesh Miranda On this episode of Brain Matters, Matt and Dr. Rajesh Miranda (Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Theraputics, Texas A&M; University) talk about fetal alcohol syndrome. Rajesh is passionate about finding ways to help those who fall on the spectrum ...
12.10.2014 Encoding the Auditory Environment with Dr. Maria Geffen Anthony and Dr. Maria Geffen (Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania) talk about how the brain encodes the auditory world. Maria has had a very interesting career studying many of the senses including the somatosensory and visual systems before starting her ...
11.21.2014 Making the Most of Memory with Dr. Wendy Suzuki Matt sits down to with Dr. Wendy Suzuki (NYU). They have a great talk about the anatomy of memory, and how exercise impacts memory. Find out more about Dr. Suzuki at http://suzukilab.com/
10.21.2014 Navigation and Orientation with Dr. David Dickman Anthony and Dr. David Dickman (Professor of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine; Neuroscience Program Director, Rice University) talked about neuroscience in the skies from navigation in pigeons to orientation in monkeys. And some of those monkeys were in space! David ...
10.08.2014 The Negative Impacts of Stress with Dr. David Morilak Is stress good or bad? Do the negative impacts of a stressful life outweigh the benefits of the adaptive physiological response? Matt and Dr. David Morilak (Professor of Pharmacology, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio) talk about what defines a ...
09.22.2014 What Can You Remember? with Dr. Anthony Wagner Anthony sat down with Dr. Anthony Wagner (Professor, Stanford University) and talked about memory. Wagner is a cognitive neuroscientist studying memory in humans using techniques like functional MRI imaging. What does our brain look like when it forgets something? How ...
09.03.2014 Brain Algorithms with Dr. Andreas Tolias Matt and Dr. Andreas Tolias (Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine) talk about how the brain processes information.
08.20.2014 Decisions in the Brain with Dr. Nao Uchida Anthony and Dr. Nao Uchida (Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University) talk about how we can understand decision-making by looking at animals making decisions while we record from neurons in their brain.
08.05.2014 Patterns in the Hippocampus with Dr. Brian Derrick On this episode of BRAIN MATTERS, Matt and Dr. Brian Derrick talk about the hippocampus. Dr. Derrick has a fascinating story about how he became interested in the hippocampus and what he and his colleagues are currently working to understand.
07.01.2014 What New Neurons Are Good For with Dr. Amelia Eisch Anthony and Dr. Amelia Eisch talk about two major questions. First, what are new neurons good for. And second, what is good for making these new neurons. We hope you enjoy this one. Amelia is charismatic and enthusiastic about her ...
06.17.2014 Snapshot of a Memory with Dr. Bruce Hope Anthony and Dr. Bruce Hope talk about how researchers can identify and manipulate the activity of neurons that are active during a specific experience. Toward the end of their conversation, Bruce gets into the importance of perseverance and the personality ...
06.02.2014 Building Proteins in Neurons with Dr. Erin Schuman This week, Matt and Dr. Erin Schuman talk about how neurons make all the proteins they need to function and how a cell gets these proteins all the way to dendrites and synapses.
04.14.2014 Alzheimer's Disease with Dr. Kenneth Kosik Anthony and Dr. Kenneth Kosik had a chance to talk about Ken's path to becoming a neuroscientist. It's a different story than the ones we are used to hearing and offers some new perspectives on what it takes to become ...
03.24.2014 Brains and Behavior in Nematodes with Dr. Shawn Lockery Matt and Dr. Shawn Lockery met up to talk about Shawn's work in C. Elegans, a worm that allows neuroscientists to study the link between the brain and behavior. They also got into a fascinating discussion about how science and ...
03.03.2014 Glial Cells with Dr. Dwight Bergles On this episode, Anthony and Dr. Dwight Bergles talk about the diverse functions of glia in the nervous system.
02.10.2014 Cerebellar Circuits with Dr. Thomas Otis On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. Thomas Otis talk about how the cerebellum helps coordinates movements.
01.20.2014 Visualizing Glutamate Receptor Action with Dr. Vasanthi Jayaraman On this episode, Matt and Dr. Vasanthi Jayaraman talk about glutamate receptors and how Vasanthi came to be a neuroscientist. They also discuss how science training and teaching can impact both the student and the teacher.
12.30.2013 Constructing Synthetic Ion Channels with Dr. Chris Ahern On this episode of Brain Matters, Anthony and Dr. Chris Ahern talk about exciting new research with ion channels. They also chat about Chris's interesting path into science and what it's really like to tackle some of the most interesting ...
12.02.2013 Topographic Visual Maps with Dr. Alyssa Brewer On this episode of BRAIN MATTERS, Matt and Dr. Alyssa Brewer talk about her research in visual neuroscience and her unique path to becoming a scientist.

Older episodes

Brain Matters

What's Brain Matters about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Brain Matters episodes:

But Always See First with Dr. Roderick MacKinnon

Being Romantic and Practical with Dr. Richard Tsien

Barflies: Alcohol and Fly Genetics with Dr. Fred Wolf

Alzheimer's and C. elegans with Dr. Jon Pierce

Space and Time with Dr. Mayank Mehta

Becoming a Curious Scientist with Dr. André Fenton

The Nature of Nature (and the brain too) with Dr. David McCormick

Engineering the Brain with Dr. Caleb Kemere

Bonus - SfN 2016

Neurons, Mitochondria, and Human Evolution with Dr. Franck Polleux

Sensorimotor Circuits in Zebrafish with Dr. Tod Thiele

Enhancing Cognition with Video Games with Dr. Adam Gazzaley

The Vestibular System with Dr. Dora Angelaki

Molecular Mechanisms of Depression with Dr. Lisa Monteggia

The Resting Brain with Dr. Gagan Wig

Stroke and Aphasia with Dr. Argye Hillis

Sleep Circuits with Dr. Yang Dan

Cortical Columns with Dr. David Fitzpatrick

Contextualizing Fear with Dr. Michael Fanselow

Rich Perspectives with Dr. Rick Aldrich

Motion Perception with Dr. Alex Huk

Translational Control in Neurons with Dr. Eric Klann

Trial and Error Learning with Dr. Yael Niv

Molecular Manipulation of Mood with Dr. René Hen

Pain and Placebo Effect with Dr. Tor Wager

Animal Models of Alzheimer's with Dr. Joanna Jankowsky

Memory, the Cerebellum, and Axons with Dr. David Linden

Discovering Circuits with Dr. Massimo Scanziani

Addiction and Glutamate Transmission with Dr. Marina Wolf

Neuronal Modules in the Brain with Dr. Ben Strowbridge

Decaying Memories with Dr. Paul Frankland

Alcohol and the Fetal Brain with Dr. Rajesh Miranda

Encoding the Auditory Environment with Dr. Maria Geffen

Making the Most of Memory with Dr. Wendy Suzuki

Navigation and Orientation with Dr. David Dickman

The Negative Impacts of Stress with Dr. David Morilak

What Can You Remember? with Dr. Anthony Wagner

Brain Algorithms with Dr. Andreas Tolias

Decisions in the Brain with Dr. Nao Uchida

Patterns in the Hippocampus with Dr. Brian Derrick

What New Neurons Are Good For with Dr. Amelia Eisch

Snapshot of a Memory with Dr. Bruce Hope

Building Proteins in Neurons with Dr. Erin Schuman

Alzheimer's Disease with Dr. Kenneth Kosik

Brains and Behavior in Nematodes with Dr. Shawn Lockery

Glial Cells with Dr. Dwight Bergles

Cerebellar Circuits with Dr. Thomas Otis

Visualizing Glutamate Receptor Action with Dr. Vasanthi Jayaraman

Constructing Synthetic Ion Channels with Dr. Chris Ahern

Topographic Visual Maps with Dr. Alyssa Brewer