Cerebrum

Helen S. Mayberg, M.D., a behavioral neurologist with an international reputation for her pioneering research to map the brain circuits implicated in depression, talks about coauthoring our Cerebrum article, "Neuroimaging Advances for Depression" and her recent move from Emory's School of Medicine to become the founding director of The Center for Advanced Circuit Therapeutics at Mt. Sinai.

New knowledge about microglia is so fresh that it's not even in the textbooks yet. Two leading microglia researchers talk about their recent Cerebrum article, "Microglia: The Brain's First Responders." They also about reflect on their personal journey to microglia research and where they stand on careers in neuroscience for women.

In our Cerebrum article, "The Illusion of the Perfect Brain Enhancer," Alvaro Pascual-Leone writes about the potential and pitfalls of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive form of neurostimulation in which constant, low current is delivered directly to areas of the brain using small electrodes. In our related podcast with Pascual-Leone, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, he discusses this emerging brain technology and some of the neuroethics issues associated with it.

In our Cerebrum article, "Olfaction: Smell of Change in the Air," Richard L. Doty writes that scientists studying smell have not only provided compelling evidence that it's more sophisticated than previously thought, but believe that the sense of smell impacts our mood and behavior and has the potential to detect and treat some neurological disorders. In our related podcast with Doty, Ph.D., the director of the University of Pennsylvania's Smell and Taste Center and the inventor of the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test, the olfaction researcher talks about the role that sense of smell plays in various facets of our lives.

In our Cerebrum article, "The Brain's Emotional Development," Nim Tottenham, Ph.D. writes about why emotional brain development lags behind thinking, mobility, and communication skills. In our related podcast with Tottenham, an associate professor of psychology at Columbia University and director of the Developmental Affective Neuroscience Laboratory, the researcher talks about the role that gender, puberty, and species plays in emotional development and how research advances could impact policy-makers and parents.

In our Cerebrum article, "The Sleeping Brain," sleep researchers Chiara Cirelli and Giulio Tononi write about what happens inside our brains when we sleep. In our related podcast with Cirelli, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin, the sleep researcher talks about the difference between sleep and rest, the impact of sleep on memory, different sleeping habits, and the ties between nutrition and sleep. She also tells us what we've learned from sleep research and what we still need to know.

In our Cerebrum article, "Gut Feelings on Parkinson's and Depression," microbiome pioneers Ted Dinan and John Cryan write that "in the next few years, new research will hopefully affirm the validity of modulating the gut microbiota as a viable therapeutic strategy for treating neurological and psychiatric disorders." In this podcast, Dinan, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and in the APC Microbiome Institute at University College Cork in Ireland, discusses the recent research breakthrough that links microbiota to Parkinson's disease and depression, some of the gut-axis research occurring in their 45-member lab, and other issues surrounding what many label "the second genome."

In our Cerebrum article, "The Four Pillars of Alzheimer's Prevention," co-author Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., president/medical director of the Alzheimer's Research and Prevention Foundation and the author of Brain Longevity, writes that "while a pharmaceutical approach to preventing Alzheimer's disease (AD) has proved elusive, practical lifestyle choices to reduce AD are based on good science and good sense." In this podcast, Khalsa explains the reasons that diet, exercise, medication, and psychological well-being offer the best chance for aging AD-free and nourishing a sharp mind. He also explains why drug development has proved so elusive and how advances in imaging are changing the research landscape.

In this podcast, you'll hear why telemedicine lends itself to psychological counseling, stroke, Parkinson's, and a host of other neurological disorders. You'll hear about how it is being adapted in other countries and the proliferation of venture capitalist money in companies that aim to manage home health care, as well as the many obstacles still in its path. This month we feature E. Ray Dorsey, M.D., M.B.A., director of the Center for Human Experimental Therapeutics and Levy Professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. In our most recent Cerebrum article, "Next Generation House Call," he and two colleagues write that "for different reasons, psychiatry and neurology have been early adopters of telehealth" and "as the burden of neuropsychiatric conditions rises along with the demand for convenient, patient-centered care, telehealth is poised to deliver care where it has always been needed most—at home."

In our Cerebrum article, "Examining the Causes of Autism," David G. Amaral, Ph.D., founding research director of the MIND Institute at UC Davis and Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, writes that autism has both a genetic and environmental component, and that it's very likely that someone who is autistic is born that way. In this podcast, Amaral explains his reasoning behind those conclusions and explores a whole range of other issues: the challenges of autism research, what inspired him to focus on the disorder, his thoughts on gene modification, environmental factors pregnant mothers may wish to avoid, why it is important for autistic adults to find their place in communities, and more.