Mind & Matter

By Nick JikomesSociety & Culture Science Education

Mind & Matter episodes

February 07, 2023Obesity Surgery Works via Gut Hormones, Not a Smaller Stomach | Christoffer Clemmensen | Episode 105
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Nick talks to Dr. Christoffer Clemmensen, who runs the Metabolism & Molecular Pharmacology group at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. His lab studies the biological basis of obesity & other metabolic disorders. They discuss: the causes of obesity; environmental and biological factors influencing predisposition to obesity; novel anti-obesity drugs; gut hormones & peptides regulating food intake; whether psychedelics like psilocybin may be useful for treating obesity and other metabolic disorders.

*Not medical advice.

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1 hr 23 min
January 23, 2023Sunlight Lowers Blood Pressure Through Nitric Oxide, Not Vitamin D | Richard Weller | Episode 104
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Nick talks to academic dermatologist Dr. Richard Weller about: skin health; benefits & risks of sunlight & UV radiation exposure; nitric oxide, blood pressure & cardiovascular health; vitamin D; sunscreen & tanning; the evolution of skin color & skin physiology; and more.

*Not medical advice.

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Good Chemistry: Personalized, science-based health consulting. Work with Dr. Nick Jikomes directly.
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1 hr 42 min
January 17, 2023Gut Bacteria Boost the Dopamine Reward From Exercise in Mice | Christoph Thaiss | Episode 103
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Nick talks to biologist Dr. Christoph Thaiss, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. His lab studies how the body detects & responds to environmental stimuli, with a focus on interactions between the gut microbiome, immune & nervous systems. They discuss: sensory systems of the body & basic principles of how they work; gut microbiome & the consequences of depleting it with antibiotics; endocannabinoids & exercise; how microbiome composition influences the brain & motivation to engage in exercise; prebiotics & probiotics; circadian rhythms & eating patterns.

*Not medical advice.

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Good Chemistry: Personalized, science-based health consulting. Work with Dr. Nick Jikomes directly.
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1 hr 43 min
January 12, 2023Swap One Atom in LSD and You Get a Drug That Isn't Psychoactive | Ryan Gumpper | Episode 102
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Nick talks to biochemist & biophysicist Dr Ryan Gumpper, a postdoc in Dr. Bryan Roth's lab at the University of North Carolina. They discuss the biochemistry, molecular biology & biophysics of serotonin receptors, including the molecular details for what happens when serotonin and tryptamines psychedelics (e.g. LSD) bind to 5HT2A receptors in the brain. They also discuss how understand these details relates to the quest to discover novel psychedelic-derived compounds with therapeutic benefits, as well as the inspiration Ryan received from reading Alexander Shulgin's famous book, PIHKAL.

*Not medical advice.

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Good Chemistry: Personalized, science-based health consulting. Work with Dr. Nick Jikomes directly.
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1 hr 15 min
December 26, 2022Ambien Has Woken Some Patients From Long Minimally Conscious States | Alex Proekt | Episode 101
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Nick talks to anesthesiologist & neuroscientist Dr. Alex Proekt, who runs a lab at the University of Pennsylvania, about altered states of consciousness. They discuss: NREM & REM sleep, anesthesia & anesthetic drugs like propofol; coma & vegetative states; sleeping pills like Ambien; the relationship between consciousness & the underlying brain dynamics; how ketamine differs from other anesthetics & what it does to brain activity; AI & ChatGPT.

*Not medical advice.

Support the show
Support my work:
Good Chemistry: Personalized, science-based health consulting. Work with Dr. Nick Jikomes directly.
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For all the ways you can support my efforts.
1 hr 38 min
December 19, 2022Twitter Quietly Limited His Reach Over His COVID Policy Views | Jay Bhattacharya | Episode 100
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Nick talks to Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, who is a professor of medicine & economics at Stanford University. They discuss various aspects of the COVID pandemic, such as: how infectious, transmissible, and deadly SARS-CoV-2 is; mRNA vaccines, how well they stop transmission vs. severe COVID, and whether they can induce negative side effects such as myocarditis; how well masks really work; Jay's inclusion in the "TwitterFiles" and the suppression of speech on social media; what he thinks of Elon Musk after meeting him; his thoughts on the future of public health governance in the US.

Related episodes:
M&M #61: Public Health, Pandemics, Epidemiology, SARS-CoV-2 & COVID Public Policy | Martin Kulldorff
*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice
Support the show
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Good Chemistry: Personalized, science-based health consulting. Work with Dr. Nick Jikomes directly.
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2 hr 1 min
December 15, 2022Rats Learned to Seek Water When Their Transplanted Human Neurons Fired | Sergiu Pasca | Episode 99
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Nick talks to Dr. Sergiu Pasca, a developmental neuroscientist and professor at Stanford University. They discuss topics related to human brain development, the origins of neuropsychiatric disease like autism & schizophrenia, new technologies for studying brain development, stem cells, and recent experiments from Dr. Pasca'a lab utilizing brain "organoids," "assembloids," and human-animal transplantations.

*Not medical advice.

Support the show
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Good Chemistry: Personalized, science-based health consulting. Work with Dr. Nick Jikomes directly.
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1 hr 13 min
November 28, 2022Serotonin Got Tied to Mood by Antidepressants, Not by Discovery, He Says | Zach Mainen | Episode 98
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Nick talks to computational neuroscientist Dr. Zach Mainen, a neuroscientist and director of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme at the Centre of the Unknown in Lisbon, Portugal. His lab studies the neuroscience of decision making, neuromodulation & behavior using both experimental and computational approaches.

They discuss: what kinds of things animal brains are actually computing, and to what extent we can think about brains like computers; the difference between neurotransmitters and neuromodulators in the brain, including some discussion of what specific neuromodulators like dopamine and serotonin do in the brain; and we also discussed some of the research his lab is starting to do on serotonergic psychedelics, including how he thinks about whether the subjective effects of psychedelics are likely to be important for the therapeutic and neuroplastic effects.
*Not medical advice.

Support the show
Support my work:
Good Chemistry: Personalized, science-based health consulting. Work with Dr. Nick Jikomes directly.
Affiliate Partners: Visit this link to see my affiliate partners and get discounts codes for products & services to support health.
For all the ways you can support my efforts.
2 hr 25 min
November 21, 2022SARS-CoV-2's Cut-Site Map Looks the Most Engineered of 1,491, He Says | Alex Washburne | Episode 97
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Nick talks to mathematical biologist Dr. Alex Washburne about the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
*Not medical advice.

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Good Chemistry: Personalized, science-based health consulting. Work with Dr. Nick Jikomes directly.
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For all the ways you can support my efforts.
1 hr 46 min
November 15, 2022In Her LSD Microdosing Trial, the Placebo Group Improved Just as Much | Harriet de Wit | Episode 96
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Nick talks to experimental psychologist Dr. Harriet de Wit, a professor at the University of Chicago whose lab studies the behavioral effects of psychoactive drugs on humans. They discuss: the effects of MDMA on emotional perception and touch sensation; the effects of microdosing LSD; THC's impact on memory.

*Not medical advice.

Support the show
Support my work:
Good Chemistry: Personalized, science-based health consulting. Work with Dr. Nick Jikomes directly.
Affiliate Partners: Visit this link to see my affiliate partners and get discounts codes for products & services to support health.
For all the ways you can support my efforts.
57 min

About Mind & Matter

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Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers alive today about how your mind-body reacts to what you feed…