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About the guest: Luis de Lecea, PhD is a neurobiologist whose lab at Stanford University studies the neural basis of sleep & wakefulness in animals.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. de Lecea discuss: the neural basis of sleep; sleep architecture & sleep phases (NREM vs. REM sleep); orexin/hypocretin neurons & the lateral hypothalamus; cortisol & stress; circadian rhythms; neuromodulators (norepinephrine, dopamine, etc); sleep across animal species; sleep drugs; ultrasound technology; and more.

Related episodes:

• Sleep, Dreaming, Deep Neural Networks, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, Overfitted Brain Hypothesis, Evolution of Fiction & Art | Erik Hoel | #43
• Consciousness, Anesthesia, Coma, Vegetative States, Sleep Pills (Ambien), Ketamine, AI & ChatGPT | Alex Proekt | #101

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

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About the guest: Iain Oswald, PhD is an organic chemist and Director of Research & Development at Abstrax Tech.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Oswald discuss: plant chemistry; marijuana strains and their aroma; the chemical basis of cannabis aroma; terpenes vs. non-terpene volatile organic compounds; and more.

Related episodes:

• Marijuana, Plant Chemistry, Terpenes, Volatile Sulfur Compounds, Cannabis Industry, What Pungent Weed Smells Like & Why | Iain Oswald | #114
• Endocannabinoids, Stress, Exercise, Cortisol, Anxiety, Cannabis & Effects of Marijuana on Brain Development | Matthew Hill | #123

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

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Health Products by M&M Partners:

• AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.
• OmegaQuant: At-home blood testing to see fatty acid profiles, including omega-3 fatty acids. Use link to see options and support M&M.
• SiPhox Health: Comprehensive, cost-effective bloodwork from the comfort of home. Use code TRIKOMES for 20% off.
• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
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About the guest: Rudyard Lynch is a history and anthropology scholar and host of the popular YouTube channel, whatifalthist.

Episode summary: Nick and Rudyard discuss: history of agriculture, diet & food; population density, social structure, and social behavior; the rise and fall of civilizations; history and future of religion & spirituality; and more.

Episodes in this podcast sub-series are available on Substack, YouTube, and elsewhere.

Related episodes:

• Organisms, Cities, Companies & the Science of Scale | Geoffrey West
• Psychedelics, Civilization, Religion, Death & Plant Medicine | Brian Muraresku

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

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Health Products by M&M Partners:

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• OmegaQuant: At-home blood testing to see fatty acid profiles, including omega-3 fatty acids. Use link to see options and support M&M.
• SiPhox Health: Comprehensive, cost-effective bloodwork from the comfort of home. Use code TRIKOMES for 20% off.
• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
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About the guest: Michael Lynch, PhD is an evolutionary biologist at Arizona State University who studies the origins of genomic and cellular complexity.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Lynch discuss: natural selection vs. genetic drift; genetic mutations & the speed of evolution; origin of life; the evolution of cellular complexity; epigenetics & the inheritance of acquired characteristics; and more.

Related episodes:

• Evolution & Animal Development: How Nature Builds & Changes Bodies | Sean B. Carroll | #138
• Evolution, Language, Domestication, Symbolic Cognition, AI & Large Language Models | Terrence Deacon | #141

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

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• OmegaQuant: At-home blood testing to see fatty acid profiles, including omega-3 fatty acids. Use link to see options and support M&M.
• SiPhox Health: Comprehensive, cost-effective bloodwork from the comfort of home. Use code TRIKOMES for 20% off.
• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
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About the guest: Richard Bazinet, PhD is neurochemist and nutritional scientist at the University of Toronto. His lab studies brain lipid metabolism in health and disease.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Bazinet discuss: lipid metabolism in the liver and brain; dietary fatty acids (saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated); fatty acids in brain health & disease; endocannabinoids; omega-3 PUFAs, seed oils & diet; and more.

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

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Health Products by M&M Partners:

• AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.
• OmegaQuant: At-home blood testing to see fatty acid profiles, including omega-3 fatty acids. Use link to see options and support M&M.
• SiPhox Health: Comprehensive, cost-effective bloodwork from the comfort of home. Use code TRIKOMES for 20% off.
• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
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About the guest: Tucker Goodrich is an independent researcher and self-described “seed oil zealot” who credits many of his own health improvements with minimizing his consumption of industrial seed oils. He runs a Substack page, and provides interesting commentary about scientific research on seed oils, metabolic health, and related topics.

Episode summary: Nick and Tucker discuss: what seed oils are and their history; differences between omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs); seed oils, sunburn, and oxidative stress; Seventh Day Adventism and the relationship between religion, ideology, and diet; paleobiology of human diet; and more.

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

Support the show

Health Products by M&M Partners:

• AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.
• OmegaQuant: At-home blood testing to see fatty acid profiles, including omega-3 fatty acids. Use link to see options and support M&M.
• SiPhox Health: Comprehensive, cost-effective bloodwork from the comfort of home. Use code TRIKOMES for 20% off.
• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
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About the guest: Melissa Sharpe, PhD is a neuroscientist. Her lab at the University of Sydney studies reinforcement and reward learning in rodents.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Sharpe discuss: dopamine and its association with reward learning and motivation; reinforcement learning & the brain; the lateral hypothalamus and feeding behavior; and more.

Related episodes:

• Drugs, Addiction & Neuroplasticity: Psychedelics, MDMA, Opioids, Cocaine, Amphetamine (Adderall), Nicotine, Marijuana & Alcohol | Robert Malenka | #162
• Neuroscience of Pleasure, Reward, Liking vs. Wanting, Motivation, Food vs. Drug Addiction & Emotion | Kent Berridge | #94

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

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Health Products by M&M Partners:

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• OmegaQuant: At-home blood testing to see fatty acid profiles, including omega-3 fatty acids. Use link to see options and support M&M.
• SiPhox Health: Comprehensive, cost-effective bloodwork from the comfort of home. Use code TRIKOMES for 20% off.
• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
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About the guest: Boris Heifets, MD, PhD is an anesthesiologist and researcher at Stanford University. His lab studies non-ordinary states of consciousness and psychoactive drugs like MDMA, ketamine, and psychedelics.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Heifets discuss: anesthesia and how anesthetics work; placebo effects & expectations in clinical research; ketamine as an antidepressant, anesthetic, and recreational drug; the subjective effects of psychedelics and other drugs; MDMA and Lykos Therapeutics’ attempts to gain FDA approval for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy; opioids & placebo effects; and more.

Related episodes:

• How Does Ketamine Work & Is It Addictive? | Christian Lüscher | #90

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

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Health Products by M&M Partners:

• AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.
• OmegaQuant: At-home blood testing to see fatty acid profiles, including omega-3 fatty acids. Use link to see options and support M&M.
• SiPhox Health: Comprehensive, cost-effective bloodwork from the comfort of home. Use code TRIKOMES for 20% off.
• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
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About the guest: Robert Malenka, MD, PhD is psychiatrist & neuroscientist. He has spent most of his career at Stanford University, where his lab studies synaptic plasticity, mechanisms of drug action in the brain, and the neural basis of behavior.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Malenka discuss: mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in the brain, such as LTP & LTD; addiction & the dopamine reward circuitry of the brain; psychoactive drugs ranging from stimulants (cocaine, nicotine, amphetamines) to opioids (fentanyl), psychedelics, MDMA, THC, and alcohol; and more.

Related episodes: 

• How Does Ketamine Work & Is It Addictive? | Christian Lüscher | #90
• Neuroscience of Social Behavior, Pain, Empathy, Emotion, Brain Mechanisms of MDMA | Monique Smith | #159

Support the show

Health Products by M&M Partners:

• AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.
• OmegaQuant: At-home blood testing to see fatty acid profiles, including omega-3 fatty acids. Use link to see options and support M&M.
• SiPhox Health: Comprehensive, cost-effective bloodwork from the comfort of home. Use code TRIKOMES for 20% off.
• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
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About the guest: Christoffer Clemmensen, PhD is scientist running the Metabolism & Molecular Pharmacology group at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. His lab studies the biological basis of obesity & other metabolic disorders.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Clemmensen discuss: GLP-1 & gut hormones; obesity & metabolic disease; GLP-1 agonists and weight loss drugs (e.g. Ozempic); novel, dual-action weight loss drugs his lab has created; and more.

Previous discussion: Metabolism, Obesity & Psychedelics for Metabolic Disease | Christoffer Clemmensen | #105

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.

Support the show

Health Products by M&M Partners:

• AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.
• OmegaQuant: At-home blood testing to see fatty acid profiles, including omega-3 fatty acids. Use link to see options and support M&M.
• SiPhox Health: Comprehensive, cost-effective bloodwork from the comfort of home. Use code TRIKOMES for 20% off.
• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
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For all the ways you can support my efforts