Hosts Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon welcome AI researcher and Symbiokinetics co-founder/CTO Tanya Grinberg to discuss how artificial intelligence is shaping work, relationships, and mental health. Tanya argues thriving with AI depends on retaining human agency, self-awareness, and curiosity, warning that people are outsourcing real engagement (texts, homework) and risking “wireheading” through easy reward. She describes risks such as AI “psychofancy” (chatbots acting as yes-men), AI-induced psychosis, reduced student attention, and withdrawal from human relationships, with signs including isolation, unusual mood or speech, and heavy device use. For parents, she suggests educating kids that AI is a fallible tool, adding behavioral rules via system prompts, supervising chats, and prioritizing physical/offline activities; she supports a mid-teens minimum age for unsupervised use. For organizations, she advises treating AI as a “genie” best used with clear specifications and systems-architect thinking.

00:00 Welcome and AI Topic

00:55 Meet Tanya Greenberg

03:08 Thriving vs Surviving

05:34 Mental Health Risks

09:20 Wireheading and Superstimuli

12:33 Parenting in AI Age

19:21 Age Limits and Guardrails

22:32 Learning and Mastery

27:34 Values and Digital Habits

32:39 Tanya Personal Prompt

37:10 Overstimulation Warning Signs

40:05 AI Advice for Organizations

42:09 Wrap Up and Farewell

Hosts Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon discuss new neuroscience research on the gut–brain connection, describing it as a busy two-way “superhighway” via the vagus nerve, with most signals traveling from gut to brain. They explain that the gut contains about 500 million neurons and trillions of microbes that produce serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and anti-inflammatory compounds that influence mood, immunity, cognition, and aging. The episode highlights findings linking lower microbiome diversity to anxiety and depression, including research where microbiota transfers induced anxiety in mice, and notes that diet changes (more fiber, fewer processed foods, targeted probiotics) can improve mood. They cover aging-related microbiome decline, “super agers” with younger-like microbiomes, and a Stanford study showing fermented foods reduced inflammation in 10 weeks. Practical takeaways include improving diet diversity, sleep, stress management, social connection, slow breathing, exercise, and time in nature.

00:00 Doctor Office Hook

00:29 Two Brains Explained

01:06 Show Welcome

02:09 Why Gut Brain Matters

03:01 Vagus Nerve Highway

04:22 Microbiome And Mood

06:18 Diet Changes That Help

06:51 Aging And Super Agers

08:35 Fiber Ferments Probiotics

11:13 Stress Sleep Gut Loop

12:55 Practical Tips Recap

13:54 Closing And Next Time

Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon host My BrainWise Coach with guest Peter Johnson, a former general and plastic surgeon turned entrepreneur and board member, who recounts leaving a tenured academic surgery career to found and run biotech and consulting ventures, later joining a Fortune 500 company, co-founding a CMO-services firm, leading biotech organizations, and even farming barley for single-malt whiskey on a North Carolina farm. The conversation frames risk as a long-acting performance enhancer when taken in measured amounts, likening it to the heart’s Starling curve, and argues that cognitive dissonance helps people learn from failed risks. Peter contrasts “unitary perfectionism” with building a portfolio of skills and experiences, emphasizes curiosity as a tool for solving seemingly dire problems, describes persistence through energy management and naps, and highlights humor and creativity as ways to navigate change and leave a personal mark.

00:00 Welcome and Episode Theme

01:21 Meet Peter Johnson

03:18 How Phil and Peter Met

05:06 Peter’s Life Flyover

08:54 Risk as Fuel

10:49 Finding the Risk Sweet Spot

11:24 Portfolio of Skills

14:12 The 40 Patterns Idea

16:56 Curiosity as a Superpower

21:29 Facing Fear at the Leap

24:24 Leaving Plastic Surgery

25:33 Starting Selix Overnight

27:56 Persistence and Napping

31:17 Humor as Survival Tool

36:29 Creativity and Marking Territory

39:51 Just Do It Advice

40:37 Wine Courage Stories

43:54 Reframing Risk and Reinvention

46:08 Final Thanks and Takeaways

In this episode of Neuroscience Digest, hosts Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon discuss research suggesting empathy is a human capacity shaped more by culture and expectations than by sex or gender. They open with a lab experiment where men and women show nearly identical empathic brain activation while watching videos of people in pain, but gender differences appear in self-report questionnaires—except when men are primed with the belief that men are naturally caring, which raises their self-reported empathy to match women’s. The conversation breaks empathy into three components—cognitive, affective, and compassionate—and links them to different brain networks, emphasizing these systems are plastic and can change with experience and training. They cite findings that questionnaire-based gender gaps shrink or disappear when empathy is measured through brain imaging, behavioral tasks, or infant studies, and note large-scale genetic studies attributing only about 10% of empathy differences to genetics with no genes linked to sex or gender; newborn studies also show no early gender differences in social awareness or emotional responsiveness. They discuss mixed evidence for fetal testosterone explanations, highlight how power dynamics and socialization influence empathic skills, and describe studies where performance equalizes when people are motivated (e.g., rewarded for accurate emotion reading) or when priming is removed. The episode concludes that empathy is a trainable skill related to emotional intelligence, important for leadership effectiveness, and encourages listeners to challenge their own mental models and practice developing empathy; they also recommend the book Emotional Intelligence 2.0 for assessment and exercises.

00:00 The Empathy Experiment: Same Brainwaves, Different Self-Reports

01:16 Meet the Hosts + Why Empathy Isn’t “Gendered”

02:13 The 3 Types of Empathy (and the Brain Networks Behind Them)

04:00 Questionnaires vs. Reality: How Socialization Creates the “Gender Gap”

05:42 Biology Claims Under Review: Hormones, Genetics, and Newborn Evidence

07:16 Power, Priming, and Incentives: When the Gap Appears (and Disappears)

08:46 Empathy Is Trainable: Neuroplasticity, Mindfulness, and EI Training

10:08 Empathy as a Leadership Skill + A Challenge to Your Mental Model

12:18 Wrap-Up: Leveling the Playing Field + Resources and Farewell

Hosts Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon discuss how buying decisions are shaped non-consciously by neuroscience and behavioral science, using examples of a grocery shopper drawn in by lighting, smells, music, and end caps, and a Netflix viewer influenced by personalized thumbnails and rapid algorithmic predictions. They explain that the brain shops emotionally first (limbic system, dopamine, anticipation, novelty/hippocampus) and then the prefrontal cortex rationalizes the purchase, and they cover tactics like scarcity messaging and loss aversion that drive urgency. The episode explores why familiar brands feel safer than generics, how store layouts are engineered (eye-level placement, checkout trinkets, milk/bread/eggs at the back), and how retailers use sensory cues and packaging texture to increase perceived quality and spending. They describe engineered retail interactions such as offering a “complimentary beverage” to increase acceptance and reduce salesperson-customer friction, and note planned pathways like IKEA’s loop and “cognitive momentum,” plus luxury retail designs that calm shoppers into a parasympathetic state. Online shopping is framed as removing friction (one-click buying, bundles, recommendations, social proof) and reducing the felt pain of paying, while algorithms track behavior (hover time, scroll velocity) and purchase data (including credit-card-linked receipts) to activate reward pathways and predict preferences. From the seller’s perspective, they emphasize likability, empathy, authenticity, emotional contagion, and cues like eye contact, tone, pace, and genuine smiles (Duchenne lines), along with techniques such as starting with higher-priced items and using “which would you prefer” phrasing. They close with practical tips to reduce overspending: increase awareness of manipulation and intent, make lists, avoid shopping hungry, set budgets and constraints, use online pickup/delivery, reset social media algorithms, define desired attributes before big purchases, and use cash-only limits.

00:00 Welcome to My BrainWise Coach + What We’ll Decode Today

01:26 Storytime: Grocery Store Tricks That Make You Buy More

02:30 Netflix, Algorithms & the Illusion of Choice

03:45 Today’s Topic: The Neuroscience of Buying & Selling

06:08 Why We Shop Emotionally (Limbic System, Dopamine, PFC Stories)

07:58 Scarcity & ‘Limited Time Only’: Loss Aversion in Action

09:13 Brand Safety, Familiarity & Emotional Associations

14:29 Retail Stores Are Engineered: Layout, End Caps, Checkout Traps

15:00 In-Store Experiments: The ‘Complimentary’ Coffee Bar Effect

20:32 IKEA’s One-Way Loop, Luxury Retail Calm, and Influencer Buyer’s Remorse

24:23 Influencer Buys & Buyer’s Remorse: Do You Really Need It?

25:11 Online Shopping Tricks: Removing Friction with One-Click Buying

27:40 Choice Architecture: Bundles, Recommendations & Social Proof

29:22 Algorithmic Persuasion: Netflix, Hover Time & Predicting Behavior

32:56 Selling Psychology: Likability, Empathy & Commission Tactics

35:47 Micro-Signals That Sell: Suggestive Buying, Authenticity & “Duchenne” Smiles

37:38 Where Personalization Becomes Manipulation (and Why Awareness Matters)

40:14 Practical Defenses: Lists, Budgets, Curbside Pickup & Resetting Algorithms

43:37 Cash-Only Hacks, Final Takeaways & BrainWise Sign-Off

Hosts Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon on Neuroscience Digest (powered by My BrainWise Coach) discuss the neuroscience and behavioral science behind “keeping up with the Joneses,” defined as a drive to match or exceed others based on relative position (money, status, appearance, career, and more). They explain that social comparison often operates non-consciously and is tied to brain processes such as the default mode network, where the mind drifts to past/future reflections and evaluates experiences as positive or negative. Comparing social rank can trigger threat-and-reward responses, including stress reactions, and they highlight “last-place aversion,” illustrated by feeling better in a line when others are behind you and by resistance to raising minimum wage from those just above it. The episode also covers the tension between empathy for those worse off and wanting to help only if one remains slightly ahead, and how identity can feel threatened by being “last.” They discuss how culture may influence comparison (a Western individual focus versus a more community-oriented Eastern focus, using an aquarium description study), workplace findings showing that relative standing among peers can matter more than mastery, and the Easterlin Paradox that richer nations are not necessarily happier because wealth-related happiness is often relative. As practical takeaways, they suggest building conscious habits of giving back to others, using aphorisms and mental models like “happiness is making a bouquet of the flowers that are within reach,” redefining success, avoiding over-attachment of identity to outcomes, and “ignoring that the Joneses even exist,” while acknowledging social comparison can be inevitable and sometimes motivating.

00:00 Welcome to Neuroscience Digest + Today’s Topic: Keeping Up with the Joneses

01:12 Why This Connects to Poverty & Social Comparison

02:17 Defining “Keeping Up with the Joneses” (Relative Status Drive)

04:17 The Brain Science: Default Mode Network, Threat/Reward & Comparison

05:56 Last-Place Aversion in Real Life (Lines, Jobs, Competition)

11:50 Culture & Identity: Individualism vs Community (Big Fish Study)

14:36 Relative Praise vs Mastery: Why Rank Beats Skill

16:20 Easterlin Paradox: More Money, Not More Happiness

17:51 Practical Takeaways: Gratitude, Giving Back & Detaching from Outcomes

22:07 Final Wrap-Up: Ignore the Joneses + Closing Thoughts

In this episode of My BrainWise Coach, hosts Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon explore the intricate topic of how growing up in poverty affects brain development. With statistics showing that 40% of children in the U.S. grow up in poverty, the hosts dive deep into the impact of chronic stress on key brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and areas related to language. The discussion expands on how these neurodevelopmental changes influence cognitive function, emotional regulation, and learning capabilities. Phil and Cole also offer practical strategies for educators, parents, and community leaders to better support children and adults who have experienced poverty. The episode underscores the importance of empathy, awareness, and tailored educational approaches to help bridge the gaps caused by socio-economic disparities.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

01:25 Episode Overview: The Neuroscience of Poverty

03:21 Understanding Poverty's Impact on the Brain

04:17 Major Brain Regions Affected by Poverty

13:41 Early Development and Epigenetics

19:00 Strategies for Empathy and Support

28:51 Final Thoughts and BrainWise Moments

In this episode of Neuroscience Digest, hosts Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon dive into recent research on the cognitive benefits of cursive writing. They discuss a recent article from Nature Magazine, exploring studies that show how handwriting, particularly cursive, activates broader brain regions compared to typing. The conversation highlights the potential benefits of reintroducing cursive writing in educational curricula and its importance for memory retention and cognitive processing. They also offer practical advice for parents to encourage cursive writing at home. Overall, the episode underscores the deeper cognitive engagement offered by handwriting over typing, backed by recent neuroscience research.

00:00 Introduction to Neuroscience Digest

00:37 The Science Behind Handwriting

02:04 Cursive Writing in Education

03:50 Handwriting vs. Typing: Cognitive Benefits

08:02 Practical Applications and Recommendations

13:57 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

In this episode of My BrainWise Coach, hosts Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon delve into the intricate world of political neuroscience. They discuss how the brain processes political information and the emotional triggers involved, emphasizing a non-partisan, scientific approach. The conversation explores the amygdala's role in threat detection, biases like confirmation bias, and the impact of framing and metaphors on our political views. Key takeaways include practical tips for managing discussions, staying curious, and reducing stress related to political conversations. Listeners are encouraged to comment, share, subscribe, and review the podcast.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:30 Phil's Health Update

01:10 This Week's Topic: The Neuroscience of Politics

03:43 Understanding Political Neuroscience

04:33 Key Contributors in Political Neuroscience

07:18 The Threat System in Political Cognition

10:06 The Role of the Executive System

15:36 Metaphors and Mental Models in Politics

23:22 The Five P Model and Political Discussions

24:38 Understanding Protection and Uncertainty

25:40 The Role of Participation and Agreement

26:35 The Five P Model and Group Identity

27:09 The Rise of Absolutes in Modern Discourse

28:47 The Ladder of Inference and Certainty

31:34 Biases in Political Thinking

32:15 Common Cognitive Biases Explained

33:48 Ingroup and Outgroup Dynamics

35:02 Attribution Error and Loss Aversion

40:14 Managing Political Discussions

44:56 The Importance of Curiosity and Respect

47:50 Final Thoughts and Encouragement