The Brain Blown Podcast

Introducing our capstone episode of the season, and arguably one of the most important topics we've discussed to date.

As it turns out, trauma is proven to play a much more direct role in our lives than we may have realized (as you'll hear around the 22-minute mark).

In this episode, as Laine walks us through some of the science most noted from neuroscientist Bruce Perry, we discover just how impactful trauma -- both "capital T" and "little T" -- can be.

In my experience while recording this episode, it took almost the entire hour+ to grasp the difference between these two traumas, and that shockingly enough, it's not the event that causes trauma.

There's a lot to cover on this topic, and to do it justice, we've decided to break it up into two episodes. You'll receive one more episode + a bonus meditation in November!

REFERENCES

As humans, we prioritize sight more than all other senses. But how does it work?

How does our brain take light (and the absence of it) and turn it into the most vivid, detailed, and extravagant images and experiences of life?

No surprise -- there's a lot more to it, and Laine tells us all about it in our final mini episode of the season. Listen in for a preview of what next season's mini-episodes could cover!

REFERENCES

The Science of Sight -- Scrippts Research

Jean-Paul Noel, Mark Wallace, and Randolph Blake -- Cognitive Neuroscience: Integration of Sight and Sound outside of Awareness?

Charlene Kasdorf -- Neuroscience of Sight Informs Visual Language

Dr. Gregory Schimeca -- Your Eyes See Upside Down and Reversed

Making Sense of Our Evolution by Darren Curnoe

If you've never had, or never known someone with an eating disorder, you might not feel like this episode applies to you. We promise you, it does, it applies to all of us.

Because when it comes to eating disorders, it just feels so simple. Why can't this person just start (or stop) eating? But what if we told you it has very little to do with eating, and everything to do with how the brain sees the body?

In this month's deep-dive episode, Laine walks us through the science behind the deadliest diagnosis in mental health. Using findings from scientists Riva, Southgate, Tchanturia, Treasure, Stanghellini, Ballerini, and Mancini we discuss things like:

A small disclaimer: We will be connecting the research to understanding eating disorders to what we learned in both the Neuroscience of Depression and the Neuroscience of Addiction if you want to check those out ahead of time.

If you want to know more ways to be part of our Brain Blown Community, head to ⁠⁠www.patreon.com/brainblownpodcast⁠⁠ to learn about our offers! If you have any topics you'd be interested in learning more about, please feel free to send us an email at [email protected]!

We'd love to hear from you.

REFERENCES

Giuseppe Riva, Ph.D. -- Out of my real body: Cognitive neuroscience meets eating disorders

Laura Southgate, Kate Tchanturia, and Janet Treasure --Building a model of the aetiology of eating disorders by translating experimental neuroscience into clinical practice

Giuseppe Riva, Ph.D. -- The Key to Unlocking the Virtual Body: Virtual Reality in the Treatment of Obesity and Eating Disorders

Giovanni Stanghellini, Massimo Ballerini, and Milena Mancini -- The Optical-Coenaesthetic Disproportion Hypothesis of Feeding and Eating Disorders in the Light of Neuroscience  

A little longer than usual, this mini-episode is a great follow-up to last month's topic on smell!

(If you haven't given that one a listen, we recommend it but it's not required listening.)

Prompted by a listener question: What's happening in our brains when we smell or taste, and what can we learn from it regarding losing those senses from COVID-19?

Laine walks us through another surprising & brain-blowing topic!

REFERENCES

Hardwired for Taste by Bijal Trivedi

Dana M. Small, Maria G. Veldhuizen, Barry Green -- Sensory Neuroscience: Taste Responses in Primary Olfactory Cortex

Robert A. Wheeler and Regina M. Carelli -- The Neuroscience of Pleasure - Focus on "Ventral Pallidum Firing Codes; Hedonic Reward: When a Bad Taste Turns Good"

It's easy to assume that the brain functions differently for someone with schizophrenia... but you'll never guess why...

And in this month's episode, Laine reports it to us short and sweet.

(If you want to learn more about the extent of the science on your own time, be sure to check out the reference list below for more details.)

But in addition to our usual content rundown for season two, Laine and I share space to discuss

Enjoy this shorter episode, and be on the lookout for our last two episodes (and mini-episodes) coming out in September & October!

If you want to know more ways to be part of our Brain Blown Community, head to ⁠www.patreon.com/brainblownpodcast⁠ to learn about our offers!

REFERENCES

Covid-19 has had wild effects on our sense of smell and taste... and for some, it completely blocked those senses altogether.

So... how do we smell?

Or equally important, why do we smell?

What's going on in the brain that allows us to turn molecules from the air into a recognizable scent, that can even trigger memories?

Learn the answers (and more next month) on this month's mini-episode!

Visit our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BrainBlownPodcast

REFERENCES

Understanding Smell—The olfactory stimulus problem -- Benjamin Auffartha

When the Sense of Smell Meets Emotion: Anxiety-StateDependent Olfactory Processing and Neural Circuitry Adaptation

What a Smell Looks Like -- Nsikan Akpan

The Sweet Smell of Success -- Dennis, C

Sometimes when we can't stop scrolling, we will joke that it's like we are addicted to our phones. Are we?

Addiction is so prevalent both in numbers and in casual conversation, to the point where 'Wine Mom' and 'Beer Dad' are big box store t-shirts.

But what is addiction?

Is it a feeling that we crave, or is it more of an escape from something else? What keeps someone addicted, and why are addictions so hard to break?

In this month's deep-dive episode, Laine walks us through some of the science behind the most prevalent and most impactful diagnosis we have had yet. Using findings from scientists Uhl, Koob, Cable, Volkow and Boyle, we discuss things like:

For more resources on addiction, head to the episode on our website www.brainblownpodcast.com. If you have any topics you'd be interested in learning more about, please feel free to send us an email at [email protected]!

We'd love to hear from you.

REFERENCES

Donald L. Hilton,Jr and Clark Watts -- Pornography addiction: A neuroscience perspective

George F. Koob, Pietro Paolo Sanna and Floyd E. Bloom -- Neuroscience of Addiction

Nora D. Volkow, M.D., Maureen Boyle, Ph.D. -- Neuroscience of Addiction: Relevance to Prevention and Treatment

George R. Ulh, George F. Koob, and Jennifer Cable -- The Neurobiology of Addiction

Endorphins -- a naturally-produced drug your body (and brain) can't get enough of.

Legally Blonde fans know what we're talking about. ;)

Enjoy this month's mini-episode where Laine continues to wow me with what our brains are capable of and how we can use its functions to better our lives.

Our last two episodes in June were leading up to this, so if you haven't given those a listen we highly suggest it!

RESOURCES:

The Cleveland Clinic -- Endorphins

Throughout history, sexuality has been important to the continuation of our species. During this month of pride, we explore when we've turned sexuality into a diagnosis and where expressions of sexuality can be harmful or feel shameful.

Cultural influences such as Rihanna's song "S&M," TikTok's 'book-tok' community's love of books with dominant characters, and "50 Shades of Gray" have all continued to bring more diverse sexual practices into the mainstream. Research has shown about 20% of people have some interest in kink.

So why is this a diagnosis? Should it be?

In this month's episode, Laine walks us through findings from

**Though this episode covers an adult topic, it does not have explicit content.

As mentioned at the beginning of this episode, we've also started a Patreon! We value all of our listeners and want to get continue to grow this incredible work. Thank you so much to all our supporters and if you want to know more ways to be part of our Brain Blown Community, head to ⁠www.patreon.com/brainblownpodcast⁠ to learn about our offers!

RESOURCES

https://www.esmeljames.com/

Elise Wuyts Manuel Morrens -- The biology of BDSM: a systematic review

Kristina Gupta -- Protecting Sexual Diversity: Rethinking the Use of Neurotechnological Interventions to Alter Sexuality

Siyang Luo, Xiao Zhang -- Embodiment and Humiliation Moderation of Neural Responses to Others' Suffering in Female Submissive BDSM Practitioners

Umit Sayin -- DSM Controversies, Defining the Normal and the Paraphilia: Sexual Pleasure Objects, Fantasy, Variations, Soft-BDSM, ESR, Hypersexuality, Sex Addiction and Nymphomania

Cara R. Dunkley, Anne Barringer, Silvain Dang, Lori A. Brotto -- Dispositional Mindfulness among BDSM Practitioners: A Preliminary Investigation

Gautami Polepally Ashok -- Childhood Trauma, BDSM, and Self-Esteem: An Exploration of the Impact of Childhood Trauma on Sexual Behavior and the Effects to Self-esteem

Ashley Brown -- A Systematic Scoping Review of the Prevalence, Etiological, Psychological, and Interpersonal Factors Associated with BDSM

We all know how it feels to be in pain. But WHERE you experience it may surprise you!

In the Neuroscience of Pain, we'll explore how our brains process pain signals, how that process varies with different types of pain, and what you can do with this new knowledge to prepare and work through pain in the future.

As mentioned at the beginning of this episode, we've also started a Patreon! We genuinely love sharing these brain-blowing facts and stories with you every month, and if you're enjoying it and would like to contribute (while getting some awesome Patreon perks in the process), head to www.patreon.com/brainblownpodcast to learn about our offers!

REFERENCES

James Giordano -- The Neuroscience of Pain, and a Neuroethics of Pain Care

The Mindful Brain by Dr. Dan Siegal