Welcome to the 32th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Philipp J Koch of the Brain article entitled: Neurotransmitter-informed connectivity maps and their application for outcome inference after stroke

We discuss a fascinating method to map neurotransmitter-informed brain network maps. From here, the authors examine two separate stroke cohorts and examine the degree of lesion-related disruption of these neurotransmitter connectomes. Of note, disproportionately high damage to dopamine-transporter–weighted networks consistently predicted worse functional recovery. This may lead to exciting therapeutic avenues.

Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the November 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf185

This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Michael and Adam Handel, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 31th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Ifrah Zawar of the Brain article entitled: The association of seizure control with neuropathology in dementia

We discuss an impressive post-mortem investigation of the link between seizures and the associated neuropathology of dementia. Higher tau and beta-amyloid burden is associated with Alzheimer's disease and also other forms of dementia. Listen as Dr Zawah discusses how seizures may drive neurodegeneration and that this, in turn, may lead to worse seizures and cognitive difficulties. This is an under-recognised and important problem in the clinical management of dementia.

Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the July 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf017

This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Xin You Tai and Roberto Bellanti, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 30th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with senior author Professor Gabor G Kovacs of the Brain article entitled: Midbrain cytotoxic T cells as a distinct neuropathological feature of progressive supranuclear palsy

Listen to the fascinating insights exploring the autoimmune side of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) following identification of cytotoxic T cells within the mid-brain of PSP post-mortem tissue. The pattern of T cells appears to follow both temporal progression of underlying PSP and may also relate to rate of disease progression. Professor Kovacs discusses potential autoimmune treatment in a neurodegenerative disorder, such as PSP, and others.

Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the August 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf135

This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by David Michael and Adam Handel, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 29th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with first author of the Brain article entitled: Distinct transcriptional changes distinguish efficient and poor remyelination in multiple sclerosis

We are joined by Alida Chen for an interesting discussion into detecting transcriptional changes that may identify efficient remyelination in multiple sclerosis. Using brain bank donor tissue, the authors examine donors who show efficient remyelination compared with those who had poorly remyelinating lesions. They discuss interesting findings around the epithelial–mesenchymal transition pathway as well as the MTORC1 signalling pathway. Further, the team discusses how these findings may translate to in vivo understanding of efficient remyelination in patients with MS as well as other experimental models that may help elucidate this.

Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the June 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae414

This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Chaitra Sathyaprakash and Andreas Thermistocleous, edited and produced by Chaitra and Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 28th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with three authors of the Brain article entitled: The relationship between kidney health and neurodegenerative diseases

Ms Melody Zuo, Dr Le Chang and Professor Sarah A Gagliano Taliun grace the Brain podcast with an insightful discussion into their recent review examining the connection between kidney disease and neurogeneration. They describe the critical microvascular connection as well as the role of uraemia and small molecules like erythropoetin. Additonally, methodological issues around survival bias, the use of mendelian randomisation and the importance of metadata in the growing age of large available datasets.

Check out the full article on the Brain website and will be part of the August 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf113

This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Chaitra Sathyaprakash and Andreas Thermistocleous, edited and produced by Chaitra and Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 27th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Lucia M Li of the Brain article entitled: High-dimensional proteomic analysis for pathophysiological classification of traumatic brain injury

Listen to the fascinating insights into classifying traumatic brain injury (TBI) using high dimensional proteomic analysis. TBI may start with a head injury but evidence suggests that multiple different underlying pathophysiological pathways can emerge thereafter. Dr Li also describes how she envisages the future of TBI assessment and potential management.

Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the March 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae305

This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by David Michael and Adam Handel, co-produced by Xin You Tai and Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 26th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Marios Kritsilis and senior author Associate Professor Iben Lundgaard of the Brain article entitled: Loss of glymphatic homeostasis in heart failure

This academic duo from Lund University discuss their fascinating findings exploring glymphatic homeostasis in a mouse model of heart failure. Counter-intuitively, there may be more influx but not efflux associated with reduced ejection fraction. This has interesting implications on heart failure associated cognitive changes and risk of developing dementia.

Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the March 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae411

This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Xin You Tai and Roberto Bellanti, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 25th episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with senior author Dr Tanya Stojkovic of the Brain article entitled: Congenital myasthenic syndromes in adults: clinical features, diagnosis and long-term prognosis

Dr Stojkovic discusses findings from an impressive longitudinal adult cohort of congenital myasthenia syndrome and important issues around accurate diagnosis of congenital myasthenic syndromes and use of electromyography and muscle biopsy.

Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the November 2024 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae124

This episode was co-hosted by David Michael and Roberto Bellanti, edited and produced by Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the first episode of 2025 for The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with senior author Dr Frank Porreca of the Brain article entitled: Nociceptors are functionally male or female: from mouse to monkey to man?

Dr Porreca discusses important findings into the sexual dimorphic nature of nociception and how it could and indeed should affect clinical trial participant design, precision medicine and need for more sex specific studies to unravel the regulation of pain nociception in male and female individuals.

Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the December 2024 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae179

This episode was co-hosted by Chaitra Sathyaprakash and Andreas Thermistocleous, edited and produced by Chaitra and Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.

Welcome to the 23nd episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

In this episode, we bring on authors Dr Helen Devine and Professor Simon Mead to discuss their opinion article entitled: Academic neurology in the UK: a plea to turn away from the precipice.

The discussions covers the growing concerns regarding the future of academic neurology in the UK and potential solutions. They discuss the parallels seen around the world as this is a growing global problem. They end with their thoughts on why academic neurology is still extremely rewarding and exactly what they would do if they started again.

Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the July 2024 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awae151

This episode was co-hosted by Andreas Thermistocleous and Adam Handel, edited and produced by Andreas Thermistocleous and Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.