Neuroscience and Beyond

What is a memory, and how does the brain transform our past experiences into actions?

In this episode of Neuroscience and Beyond, I speak with Dr. Oliver Barnstedt, neuroscientist and group leader at the European Neuroscience Institute Göttingen, whose research explores the neural circuits underlying memory and behavior.

We discuss what memories actually are, how they are represented across neural circuits, and why remembering is not simply a matter of retrieving a fixed record of the past. Dr. Barnstedt explains how his lab uses techniques such as calcium imaging and two-photon microscopy to observe the activity of hundreds of neurons and investigate how memory-related brain regions communicate with the systems involved in action and behavior.

We also explore the relationship between the hippocampus and other brain regions, including the nucleus accumbens, and discuss an often-overlooked structure called the mammillary body and its potential role in memory.

Along the way, our conversation takes us from the neuroscience of memory and decision-making to consciousness, Alzheimer's disease, scientific discovery, and the challenges of understanding the brain as an interconnected system.

#Neuroscience #Memory #Brain #Podcast #Science

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286 

Neuroscience and Beyond team: 

Svilen Georgiev 

Kristina Jevdokimenko 

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı 

Laura van Agen

After three years, around 40 long-form conversations, and listeners and viewers from more than 130 countries, Neuroscience and Beyond is entering a new chapter.

In this video, we wanted to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who has supported the podcast, share a personal update after recently defending my PhD, and explain where we want to take Neuroscience and Beyond next.

Over the coming months, we will be simplifying what we do and putting more of our time and energy into what we believe matters most: thoughtful, long-form conversations with leading scientists from around the world.

We want to explore major topics in neuroscience more deeply - from the gut–brain axis, sleep and brain–machine interfaces to mental health, neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions, sport and the brain, cognitive fatigue, cognitive enhancement, and much more.

And we want you to help shape what comes next.

Which scientists would you like to see on the podcast? Which topics should we explore? And if you could ask a particular scientist one question, what would it be?

Leave your suggestions in the comments below or send them to us by email. Your question might even become part of a future conversation.

In the meantime, nothing is stopping. Until we officially kick-start this new chapter, we will continue releasing content as we have been doing so far, while working behind the scenes on what comes next.

Throughout the rest of 2026, we will be developing this next phase, reaching out to potential guests, planning new topics, and refining the format, with the aim of properly beginning this new chapter of Neuroscience and Beyond in 2027.

To everyone who has watched, listened, subscribed, shared an episode, left a comment, joined us as a guest, or supported this project over the past three years: thank you.

We are excited about what comes next.

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:
Svilen Georgiev
Kristina Jevdokimenko
Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı
Laura van Agen

Walk into a room and you instantly know, roughly, how many people are there, without counting. So does a monkey. So does a crow. So, strangely enough, does a bee! 

In this episode, Andreas Nieder - Professor of Animal Physiology at the University of Tübingen and one of the world's leading voices in cognitive #neuroscience - takes us inside the brain circuits that let humans and animals alike sense "how many."

Nieder has spent his career recording single neurons in crows, macaques, and human patients through rare clinical collaborations to understand the brain's #NumberSense. He discovered neurons in the prefrontal and parietal cortex that respond most strongly to a preferred number, regardless of how it is presented. Studying these "number neurons" reveals how the brain supports memory, abstraction, and complex thought. 

In the episode we talked about:

• Why mathematical #prodigies rely on memory rather than a different "math brain"
• How the concept of zero became one of humanity's greatest intellectual discoveries
• Why birds and mammals independently evolved similar number-processing #brain networks
• What #dyscalculia is and why it affects approximately 5% of the population
• How brain injuries can impair numerical cognition and mathematical abilities

This is a conversation for anyone curious about #cognition, #mathematics, animal intelligence, or what it really means for a network of neurons to "understand" an abstract idea.

00:00 - Meet the Scientist Decoding the Brain's Number Sense

00:21 - Do Animals Really Understand Numbers?

01:16 - Why Numbers Are Among the Brain's Most Abstract Ideas

02:08 - Symbolic vs. Non-Symbolic Number Representation

05:32 - How Scientists Test Animal Numerical Abilities

08:40 - What Happens in the Brain When We Process Numbers

13:05 - Recording Single Neurons in the Human Brain

20:19 - The Brain Regions Behind Number Sense: Prefrontal and Parietal Cortex

23:50 - When the Brain Loses Its Ability to Understand Numbers

26:38 - Math Prodigies: Genius or Exceptional Memory?

33:30 - How Animals Understand the Concept of Zero

42:36 - 300 Million Years of Evolution: The Origins of Number Sense

50:22 - Can We Read Numbers Directly From the Brain?

01:00:45 - Final Thoughts: The Brain's Ability to Understand Numbers 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us for exciting neuroscience content.

🔗Link to our social media accounts: https://linktr.ee/neurosciencebeyond

#Neuroscience #AnimalCognition #BrainScience #CognitiveScience #Mathematics

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:

Svilen Georgiev

Kristina Jevdokimenko

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı

Laura van Agen

Could the nervous system be helping cancer grow? Research in #cancer #neuroscience is revealing a surprising two-way communication between neurons and cancer cells that is changing how we understand tumor growth and opening new possibilities for treatment.

In this episode of Neuroscience and Beyond, we speak with Prof. Frank Winkler about how cancer cells hijack the brain's communication networks, why #glioblastoma is one of the most challenging brain tumors to treat, and how discoveries at the intersection of neuroscience and #oncology could inspire a new generation of cancer therapies.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What cancer neuroscience is and why it matters
• How neurons communicate directly with cancer cells
• Why glioblastoma is so aggressive and therapy-resistant
• How tumors hijack neural circuits to support their growth
• The role of stress, sleep, and lifestyle in cancer research
• What the future of neuroscience-inspired cancer therapies could look like

About our guest:

Prof. Frank Winkler is Professor of Neuro-Oncology at Heidelberg University Faculty of Medicine and Managing Senior Physician in the Department of Neurology. His pioneering discoveries of direct communication between neurons and cancer cells helped establish the field of cancer neuroscience. In 2025, he was awarded the #BrainPrize for his groundbreaking contributions to the field.

If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to Neuroscience and Beyond, leave a like, and share your thoughts in the comments.

🔗Link to our social media accounts: https://linktr.ee/neurosciencebeyond

#CancerNeuroscience #Glioblastoma #BrainCancer #Neuroscience #CancerResearch #NeuroOncology #BrainScience

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:

Svilen Georgiev

Kristina Jevdokimenko

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı

Laura van Agen

What is sleep really? Why do we overthink? And why do so many people struggle to find peace in modern life?

In this episode of Neuroscience and Beyond, I speak with Dr. Tony Fernando - psychiatrist, sleep physician, and author of Life Hacks from the Buddha.

We explore the neuroscience of sleep, including REM and non-REM sleep, circadian rhythms, insomnia, sleep anxiety, shift work, jet lag, and how stress affects sleep quality.

But this conversation goes far beyond sleep science.

Drawing from psychiatry, neuroscience, and Buddhist philosophy, Dr. Fernando shares practical insights on overthinking, mindfulness, suffering, compassion, technology, human connection, and the modern search for meaning.

We also discuss:

• Why thoughts are often unreliable
• How Technology Hijacks Attention
• Mindfulness and meditation
• The difference between needs and wants
• What dying patients taught him about life

This is a conversation about sleep, psychology, the mind, and what it means to live well in a chaotic world.

Guest: Dr. Tony Fernando

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us for exciting neuroscience content.

🔗Link to our social media accounts: https://linktr.ee/neurosciencebeyond  

🔗Link to the video: https://youtu.be/kKBGTew8JGs

#Sleep #Neuroscience #Psychology #Mindfulness #Buddhism #MentalHealth #Insomnia #Meditation #Podcast

Are we evaluating scientists in the wrong way?

In this episode of Neuroscience and Beyond, Prof. Dr. Tiago Outeiro discusses some of the biggest challenges facing science:

🔬 Too many researchers competing for too few positions

📉 Pressure to publish and overreliance on impact factors

🤝 The urgent need for more staff scientists and stable research careers

⚖️ Burnout, work-life balance, and changing academic culture

🚀 How AI and new technologies may reshape scientific research

“We need to work together from the top to the bottom, from the bottom to the top to try to change things.”

Prof. Dr. Tiago Fleming Outeiro is Professor of Aggregopathies and Director of the Department of Experimental Neurodegeneration at the University Medical Center Göttingen. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms behind neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Alzheimer’s disease, with the goal of developing new therapeutic approaches.

To learn more about his research, watch our episode on Parkinson’s Disease: Early Diagnostics and the Future of Treatment: https://youtu.be/dFmhmOv75q0?si=GcQ1UsTGYSpcDnMV 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive content and honest conversations about academic life.

#Academia #Science #Research #PhD #Postdoc #Neuroscience #Parkinsons #Alzheimers #AcademicLife #Scientists #STEM #ResearchCulture #AI #Podcast #NeuroscienceAndBeyond

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:

Svilen Georgiev

Kristina Jevdokimenko

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı

Laura van Agen

Your eyes don't see the world; your brain constructs it. But how, and what does it miss along the way?

In this episode of Neuroscience and Beyond, we speak with Prof. Nicole Rust, Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, whose research combines behavioral experiments, #neural recordings, and #computational models to understand how we see, remember, and experience the world.  Recently, she decided to embark on a new journey and apply her expertise to study the neuroscience of mood. 

We explore how the brain transforms raw light into meaningful #perception, from the #retina through a hierarchy of visual areas all the way to object recognition in the inferotemporal cortex. We discuss how #attention shapes what enters #memory, why humans can recognize thousands of images seen only once, and why mood remains one of the hardest problems in neuroscience. 

The conversation also unpacks the central argument of her book, Elusive Cures: that treating conditions like depression will require abandoning the "broken domino" model of disease and embracing the brain as a complex dynamical system.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How the #brain transforms light into perception
• Why attention acts as a filter and why we miss more than we think
• How the brain stores thousands of images with striking detail after just a single viewing
• Why we still cannot look at a brain and determine what mood is 
• What hinders us from developing more treatments for brain disorders 
• Why we should see the brain as a complex dynamical system 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us for exciting neuroscience content.

🔗Link to our social media accounts: https://linktr.ee/neurosciencebeyond

Timestamps:

00:00 How the Brain Processes Visual Information

04:03 Object & Face Recognition

07:07 How Attention Filters What We See

09:57 Visual Memory: How the Brain Stores Thousands of Images

14:38 Memory, Imagination, and Emotion

19:00 The Jennifer Aniston Neuron

25:45 How the Visual System Inspired AI

30:00 How Prof. Rust Moved from Vision to Mood Research

39:00 Measuring Mood in the Brain

43:33 How Mood Shapes Behavior and Decision-Making

49:30 Elusive Cures: Why Neuroscience Hasn't Cured the Brain

52:50 The "Broken Domino" Model and Why It Has Failed Us

56:14 The Brain as a Complex Dynamical System

01:01:20 Who Should Set the Research Agenda?

01:06:04 Depression, Society, and the Limits of Biology

01:09:59 How to Study the Brain as a Complex System

01:12:20 Aging, Sleep, and Brain Balance

01:18:10 The Take-Home Message from Elusive Cures

01:19:30 Consciousness: The Hard Problem and What Neuroscience Can Offer

#Neuroscience #VisualNeuroscience #Memory #Perception #MoodNeuroscience #Depression #BrainHealth #ElusiveCures #ComplexSystems  #BrainResearch  #ScienceCommunication #BrainHealthMatters #NeuroscienceAndBeyond

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:

Svilen Georgiev

Kristina Jevdokimenko

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı

Laura van Agen

Does international representation automatically mean #diversity in academia?

In this episode, Dr. Sven Truckenbrodt reflects on what diversity in science truly means, going beyond background to include different ways of thinking, working, and collaborating.

We talked about:

• Why diversity is more than international representation
• The importance of different thinking styles in science
• Why interdisciplinary research is still difficult to achieve
• The role of trust and open collaboration in successful labs

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive content and honest conversations about academic life.

🔗 Link to the full video: https://youtu.be/cL85_Zp_0C0
 #academic #challenges #academia #science #ResearchFunding #AcademicCareers #PhDLife 

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:

Svilen Georgiev

Kristina Jevdokimenko

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı

Laura van Agen

Can Parkinson’s be detected years before symptoms appear, and can we slow it down early?

In this episode of Neuroscience and Beyond, we speak with Prof. Tiago Outeiro about the future of Parkinson’s research, from early diagnosis to prevention and emerging treatments.

We explore how misfolded proteins like alpha-synuclein spread silently through the nervous system, and how early signals - such as REM sleep disturbances - may reveal the disease long before clinical symptoms. The conversation also covers advances in biomarker technologies and new therapeutic strategies targeting protein aggregation, metabolism, and cellular clearance, highlighting where the field is making real progress today.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How alpha-synuclein aggregation drives neurodegeneration
• Early warning signs like REM sleep behavior disorder
• How biomarkers may detect Parkinson’s before symptoms
• Why exercise is currently the most effective intervention
• The role of metabolism, lipids, and protein clearance
• New therapies: antibodies, GLP-1 drugs, and beyond
• Why early diagnosis is key to successful treatment

Watch the episode to learn how Parkinson’s could be detected earlier and treated more effectively, and if you want to go deeper into the basics, check out our Episode 5 with Prof. Tiago Outeiro.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us for exciting neuroscience content.

🔗Link to our social media accounts: https://linktr.ee/neurosciencebeyond  

🔗Link to Episode5 withTiago Outeiro: https://youtu.be/UF4h07lml0M?si=78j0MwHFKiWuCcUI 

Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction & Why Parkinson’s Detection Must Happen Earlier
00:01:10 What Is Alpha-Synuclein and Why It Matters

00:09:00 Where Does Alpha-Synuclein Accumulate in the Brain and Body?
00:16:30 Who Is at Risk? Genetics, Sleep Disorders & Early Warning Signs
00:20:10 Preclinical Symptoms: Loss of Smell, Constipation & Depression
00:27:00 Environmental Risk Factors: Pesticides & Neurotoxins Explained
00:33:10 Can Parkinson’s Be Prevented? Current Strategies & Limitations
00:34:00 Why Exercise Is the Most Effective Disease-Modifying Treatment
00:36:00 Monoclonal Antibodies: Do They Work for Parkinson’s?
00:38:00 GLP-1 Drugs & Metabolic Therapies

00:41:00 What Type of Exercise Actually Helps the Brain?
00:45:20 Why Combination Therapies Are So Difficult to Develop
00:49:00 Why Early Detection Is Critical for Successful Treatment
00:50:10 What Are Biomarkers? Understanding Early Diagnosis Tools
00:56:00 Future of Diagnostics

01:05:40 Lipids, Metabolism & the Hidden Drivers of Neurodegeneration
01:08:40 Where Should Research Focus Next?
01:14:30 Advice for Young Scientists & Clinicians

#Neuroscience #Neurodegeneration #Parkinsons #Alzheimers #Synuclein #BrainHealth #ProteinAggregation #Biomarkers #Neurobiology #Exercise #BrainHealthMatters #HealthyAging #NeuroProtection

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:

Svilen Georgiev

Kristina Jevdokimenko

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı

Laura van Agen

Why do journal names still shape scientific careers, and who pays the price?

Prof. Randy Schekman, a nobel prize laureate, discusses structural problems in #AcademicPublishing, including the pressure to publish in high-impact journals, rising #OpenAccess fees charged by commercial publishers, and long peer-review processes that can slow down scientific progress. He argues that the system can reward journal prestige over scientific contribution and may create inequalities when some researchers have access to additional funds to cover publication costs.

Prof. Schekman suggests that funding agencies and governments may need to negotiate firm caps on publication fees and reconsider how research quality is evaluated. He also emphasizes the role of society-run journals and the continued importance of peer review, alongside #Preprints.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for exclusive content and honest conversations about academic life.

 #academic #challenges #academia #science #ResearchFunding #AcademicCareers #PhDLife 

Supported by the International Max Planck Research School for Neurosciences in #Göttingen, the European Neuroscience Institute, Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging, as well as SFB1286

Neuroscience and Beyond team:

Svilen Georgiev

Kristina Jevdokimenko

Ahsen Konaç Sayıcı

Laura van Agen