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About the guest: Joshua Siegel, MD, PhD is a psychiatrist & systems neuroscience at New York University. He uses functional imaging to study the effects of psychedelics and other drugs on the human brain.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Siegel discuss: fMRI and how it works; relationship between neural activity and blood flow; functional connectivity & the default mode network of the human brain; the functional effects of psilocybin on the brain; the role that subjective & expectancy effects in psychedelics medicine; and more.

Related episodes:

• M&M #173: Psychedelics, Consciousness, Psychiatry, Psychology, Mental Health & the Entropic Brain Hypothesis

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice

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About the guest: Richard Cytowic is a neurologist, poplar science writer and professor at the George Washington University. 

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Cytowic discuss: the effects of smart phones and social media on the developing and adult brain; artificial blue light vs. broad spectrum natural light; attention & addiction to technology; sensory overstimulation & “virtual autism”; synesthesia and multimodal sensory perception; and more.

Related episodes:

• M&M 78: Nature vs. Nurture, Neurogenetics, Personality, Autism, Schizophrenia, Synesthesia, Perception, Agency & Free Will | Kevin Mitchell

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice

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About the guest: Thomas Weimbs, PhD is a biologist at UC-Santa Barbara whose lab studies kidney function in health and disease.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Weimbs discuss: basic kidney biology; kidney stones and their causes, including dietary oxalates and fructose; the kidney damaging effects of common pharmaceuticals like Ibuprofen; the beneficial effects of BHB and ketosis for kidney health; the myth that high protein intake is bad for the kidney; kidney diseases and their causes; and more.

Full version available on Substack and YouTube.

Related episodes:

• M&M 158: Ketosis & Ketogenic Diet: Brain & Mental Health, Metabolism, Diet & Exercise, Cancer, Diabetes | Dominic D'Agostino
• M&M #139: Metabolic Switching, Fasting, Ketosis, Neuroplasticity, Diet & Neurodegenerative Disease | Mark Mattson

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice

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• Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Use code MIND for 10% off
• Readwise: Organize and share what you read. 60 days FREE through link
• Athletic Greens: Comprehensive & convenient daily nutrition. Free 1-year supply of vitamin D with purchase.
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Full version available on Substack and YouTube.

About the guest: Nick Norwitz, PhD received his PhD in Physiology at Oxford University and is finishing his MD degree at Harvard Medical School. He is also an independent content creator focused on making metabolic health mainstream.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Norwitz discuss: blood lipids & cholesterol; high cholesterol levels and what they can mean for different people; the “lean mass hyper-responder” phenotype to carb restriction; ketogenic & carnivore diets; public trust in medical & science institutions; n=1 (“n of one”) science experiments; and more.

Related episodes:

• M&M 158: Ketosis & Ketogenic Diet: Brain & Mental Health, Metabolism, Diet & Exercise, Cancer, Diabetes | Dominic D'Agostino

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice

Support the show

All episodes, show notes, transcripts, and more at the M&M Substack

Affiliates:

• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + potassium, calcium & magnesium, formulated with kidney health in mind. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
• Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Use code MIND for 10% off
• Readwise: Organize and share what you read. 60 days FREE through link
• Athletic Greens: Comprehensive & convenient daily nutrition. Free 1-year supply of vitamin D with purchase.
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Full version available on Substack and YouTube.

About the guest: Nicole Avena, PhD is a neuroscientist at Mount Sinai. She studies the effects of sugar and diet on animal behavior and the brain. She is also the author of, “Sugarless.”

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Avena discuss: drug addiction vs. food addiction; glucose, fructose & artificial sweeteners; the extent to which sugar consumption can drive dependency & withdrawal; fructose metabolism & live health; sweetness & palatability; ultra-processed foods; and more.

Related episodes:

• M&M 140: Obesogens, Oxidative Stress, Dietary Sugars & Fats, Statins, Diabetes & the True Causes of Metabolic Dysfunction & Chronic Disease | Robert Lustig

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice

Support the show

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Affiliates:

• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + potassium, calcium & magnesium, formulated with kidney health in mind. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
• Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Use code MIND for 10% off
• Readwise: Organize and share what you read. 60 days FREE through link
• Athletic Greens: Comprehensive & convenient daily nutrition. Free 1-year supply of vitamin D with purchase.
• MASA Chips—delicious tortilla chips made from organic corn and grass-fed beef tallow. No seed oils or artificial ingredients. Use code MIND for 20% off

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About the guest: Angel Nadal, PhD is a biologist in Spain whose lab studies endocrine disruptors (e.g. microplastics), hormones (estrogen, insulin), and the endocrine functions of the pancreas in health & disease.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Nadal discuss: endocrine biology of the pancreas; insulin and estrogen signaling in the pancreas; BPA, microplastics, and other xenoestrogens; pregnancy & fetal development; effects of hormone disruptors in males vs. females; and more.

Related episodes:

• M&M 145: Epigenetics, Hormones, Endocrine Disruptors, Microplastics, Xenoestrogens, Obesogens & Obesity, Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics | Bruce Blumberg

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

Support the show

All episodes, show notes, transcripts, and more at the M&M Substack

Affiliates:

• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + potassium, calcium & magnesium, formulated with kidney health in mind. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
• Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Use code MIND for 10% off
• Readwise: Organize and share what you read. 60 days FREE through link
• Athletic Greens: Comprehensive & convenient daily nutrition. Free 1-year supply of vitamin D with purchase.
• MASA Chips—delicious tortilla chips made from organic corn and grass-fed beef tallow. No seed oils or artificial ingredients. Use code MIND for 20% off

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About the guest: Gary Churchill, PhD is a statistician & geneticist at the Jackson Research laboratory in Maine. His lab uses a systems approach to investigate the genetics of complex biological traits in health & disease.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Churchill discuss: his recent papers looking at the effects of caloric restriction & intermittent fasting on nearly 1,000 genetically diverse mice; how dietary restrictions affect longevity, metabolic health, immunity, and hundreds of biomarkers; the role of genetics vs. diet in aging; and more.

Related episodes:

• M&M #139: Metabolic Switching, Fasting, Ketosis, Neuroplasticity, Diet & Neurodegenerative Disease

*This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.
*Full episode available free on Substack & YouTube.

Support the show

All episodes, show notes, transcripts, and more at the M&M Substack

Affiliates:

• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + potassium, calcium & magnesium, formulated with kidney health in mind. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
• Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Use code MIND for 10% off
• Readwise: Organize and share what you read. 60 days FREE through link
• Athletic Greens: Comprehensive & convenient daily nutrition. Free 1-year supply of vitamin D with purchase.
• MASA Chips—delicious tortilla chips made from organic corn and grass-fed beef tallow. No seed oils or artificial ingredients. Use code MIND for 20% off

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About the guest: Ev Fedorenko is a neuroscientist at MIT. Her lab studies the neural basis of language, speech, and thought in the human brain.

*Full episode available free on Substack & YouTube.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Fedorenko discuss: the relationship between language and thought; the extent to which language is for thinking vs. communication; Noam Chomsky’s Universal Grammar theory; Sapir-Whorf hypothesis; language acquisition & language learning; language networks in the brain; neuroanatomy & brain lateralization; large language models (LLMs) & machine intelligence; and more.

Related episodes:

• M&M #141: Evolution, Language, Domestication, Symbolic Cognition, AI & Large Language Models
• M&M #20: Language, Symbolic Cognition, Evolution, Origins of the Human Mind | Terrence Deacon

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

Support the show

All episodes, show notes, transcripts, and more at the M&M Substack

Affiliates:

• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + potassium, calcium & magnesium, formulated with kidney health in mind. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
• Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Use code MIND for 10% off
• Readwise: Organize and share what you read. 60 days FREE through link
• Athletic Greens: Comprehensive & convenient daily nutrition. Free 1-year supply of vitamin D with purchase.
• MASA Chips—delicious tortilla chips made from organic corn and grass-fed beef tallow. No seed oils or artificial ingredients. Use code MIND for 20% off

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About the guest: Nir Lipsman, MD, PhD is a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist at the University of Toronto.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Lipsman discuss: neurosurgery; the blood-brain barrier and how it works; using focused ultrasound technology to non-invasively treat patients; regulatory impediments to clinical research; costs, constraints, and future applications of ultrasound tech for treating psychiatric conditions; and more.

Related episodes:

• M&M #168: Sleep: Neural Circuits, Orexin/Hypocretin, Hypothalamus, Neuromodulators, Stress & Cortisol, Sleep Drugs & Ultrasound Technology | Luis de Lecea

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

Support the show

All episodes, show notes, transcripts, and more at the M&M Substack

Affiliates:

• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + potassium, calcium & magnesium, formulated with kidney health in mind. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
• Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Use code MIND for 10% off
• Readwise: Organize and share what you read. 60 days FREE through link
• Athletic Greens: Comprehensive & convenient daily nutrition. Free 1-year supply of vitamin D with purchase.
• MASA Chips—delicious tortilla chips made from organic corn and grass-fed beef tallow. No seed oils or artificial ingredients. Use code MIND for 20% off

For all the ways you can support my efforts

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About the guest: Marcelo Dietrich, MD, PhD is an associate professor in Comparative Medicine & Neuroscience at Yale University, where his lab studies the neural basis of behavior in mammals.

Episode summary: Nick and Dr. Dietrich discuss: maternal care behavior, mother-infant bonding, and feeding in infant mammals; neural circuits regulating hunger & satiety; brain development & early social learning; behavioral variability among individuals; and more.

Related episode:

• M&M #108: Monogamy, Sexual & Parental Behavior, Social Attachment, Oxytocin, Sex Hormones, Childhood Psychosis, Menopause & Brain Development | Devanand Manoli

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

Support the show

All episodes, show notes, transcripts, and more at the M&M Substack

Affiliates:

• KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + potassium, calcium & magnesium, formulated with kidney health in mind. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
• Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Use code MIND for 10% off
• Readwise: Organize and share what you read. 60 days FREE through link
• Athletic Greens: Comprehensive & convenient daily nutrition. Free 1-year supply of vitamin D with purchase.
• MASA Chips—delicious tortilla chips made from organic corn and grass-fed beef tallow. No seed oils or artificial ingredients. Use code MIND for 20% off

For all the ways you can support my efforts