Naked Neuroscience, from the Naked Scientists
Naked Neuroscience is a monthly podcast from the Naked Scientists that explores the workings of the nervous system. It offers interactive, accessible discussions on brain science and neuroscience topics, aiming to open listeners' minds. The show is part of the Naked Scientists family of science podcasts.
Episodes
Managing multiple sclerosis
This episode of Naked Neuroscience is co-published on the Naked Scientists Podcast. James Tytko examines one of the largest causes of disability amongst the young: multiple sclerosis. We hear from Lara Kingsman who is living with MS, doctors at the University of Cambridge take us inside the brain to help guide interventions, and the MS Society tell us about their innovative drug trial in collabora
New ideas about OCD pave the way for alternative treatments
Pervasive misconceptions about what OCD is may have stood in the way of making progress towards better treating the condition. Keeping your room tidy is not necessarily a sign that you have a psychiatric condition, despite what someone might claim in passing. Now, new theories about the way this anxiety disorder affects the brain are leading to new possibilities with regards to helping people who
Are smartphones bad for children?
In this episode of Naked Neuroscience, James Tytko is investigating what harms smartphones might be inflicting on adolescents. He hears from a collective action group seeking to delay giving phones to their children, neuropsychologist Richard Cytowic describes the autism-like symptoms which arise from too much screen time, and we hear why a ban on smartphones in schools might be a step too far in
Head injuries: Reducing risk and improving treatment
In this episode of Naked Neuroscience, James Tytko takes us in depth on traumatic brain injuries: assessing the risks of repeat head knocks, and shining a light on key developments in treating them. We hear from Dawn Astle, daughter of former England footballer Jeff Astle, on his dementia following a career of heading footballs. Then, we hear from the doctors and researchers present at the NeuroTr
Extremist brains, and expelling traumatic memories
On Naked Neuroscience, James Tytko learns about the traits shared by extremist individuals with the help of political neuroscientist Leor Zmigrod. Also, how the genetic predispositions of your peers could change your risk of developing certain psychiatric conditions. Plus, how a new sleep therapy could be about to revolutionise how we help people recover from PTSD... Like this podcast? Please help
Fruit fly vision, sensing sarcasm, and social connection
In the latest Naked Neuroscience, James Tytko brings you two new pieces of research involving the use of AI. First, how machine learning has been deployed to map out the visual system of a fruit fly in all its complexity, and how feeding a neural network a diet of quips from popular TV shows has produced the most effective sarcasm detector yet. Plus, David Robson outlines the strategies that will
Neuro highlights: SNAP, tickles, and unpopular beliefs
For April's episode, James Tytko brings you the latest and greatest in neuroscience news and views. First, we're probing a touchy subject, finding out whether our tactile sense might be the most underappreciated of all. Then, the sequence of genes responsible for cognitive impairment in those with schizophrenia and ageing reveals new avenues for research. And a bit later on, how the cultural conve
'Nostalgia ain't what it used to be,' with Charan Ranganath
This episode is an extended interview with Dr Charan Ranganath, director of the Memory and Plasticity Program and a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of California at Davis. He's also the author of the book, 'Why we remember.' James Tytko started by asking him about his love of popular music...Charan - Yes, music is a very big part of my life and, when I wrote this book, i
Brain chips: 'Moral imperative' or a danger to liberty?
This month, James Tytko explores the dangers of debunking fake news online with Francis Madden, and discusses ongoing developments in the neuroscience of Long COVID with Stephanie Brown. Then, following on from Elon Musk's news that his brain chip company Neuralink have successfully implanted their device into a human, we explore what this means for the field of computer brain interfaces... Like t
Traumatic brain injuries: Invisible wounds of war
Today, we're taking a closer look at traumatic brain injuries, TBIs. We'll be hearing from the doctors who are treating them, and a former soldier who is suffering from a host of mental health conditions as a consequence of his military service.And a bit later on, we'll find out how scientists are harnessing the incredible efficiency of our brains to break new ground in computing performance... Li
Diverse roots: Investigating youth mental health
This time on Naked Neuroscience, James Tytko explores the miracle of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with Stephanie Brown from the University of Cambridge, including a new innovation to decrease 'scan-xiety' amongst children. Then, we'll be investigating the complexities of the current youth mental health crisis, with the help of Susanne Schweizer and Camilla Nord... Like this podcast? Please hel
In the brain of the beholder: Music across cultures
Kicking off a new series of Naked Neuroscience, James Tytko serves up the latest research making waves in brain science with the help of Stephanie Brown and Francis Madden. This month, the brain networks linked with addiction, and why suppressing negative thoughts might be the best way to look after your mental health. Then, with Malinda McPherson and Alexander Jensenius, we dive deep into the rhy
Inside the Mind
This month we're pondering the mysterious mind - what is it? Are us humans unique in having one? And where does the brain fit in? Plus we chat over some of the latest neuroscience news with local experts... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Eating for Your Nervous System
We all know that vegetables and fruits are good for us - high in fibre, lots of vitamins. But what good do they actually do the brain? Do certain foods really benefit our nervous systems? How does this work? Can food actually prevent neurological issues? Well that's what Katie Haylor wants to find out in this month's Naked Neuroscience... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked S
I'm soooo bored!
This month - we're boring into boredom! What does it mean to be bored? Should we embrace it? Should we avoid it? How do you get through it? Stick with us to find out... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Hallucination Science
From internal vision to things that appear to go bump in the night, we're talking about hallucinations. Plus, as usual, we're joined by our local experts to digest some of the latest neuroscience news...https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hallucinations Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Dogs vs Cats: the Human-Pet Relationship
It's nearly Christmas! Grab a mince pie and get comfy as this month Naked Neuroscience navigates the relationships we have with our pets. What makes some cat noises so annoying? Why are we such suckers for a cute dog? Plus, of course, some of the latest neuroscience news from our Cambridge-based experts... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
A Walk in the Park
This month, take a stroll outside as Naked Neuroscience hears about the brain benefits of exercise, and the ways in which the great outdoors can do us good. Plus, as usual, we're joined by our local experts to digest some of the latest neuroscience news... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Food on the Brain
Snacking, craving and the microbiome! This month Naked Neuroscience looks at what's going on in the brain when we're hungry and thirsty... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Having a Laugh, Throughout Life
Last month, we considered animals at play. And this month, Katie Haylor is joined by a couple of guests to consider the importance of play in human animals - from little kids, right into adulthood... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Larking About: Play Science
This month and the next, we're having a laugh! We'll be getting stuck in to the science of play. What exactly is play? Why bother? And are we playing enough? Plus some of the latest from the world of neuroscience news with our local experts... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Migraine on the Brain
This month, we're digging deeper into the world of headaches, asking what's going on in the brain when a migraine occurs? And meet the stripes that can do your head in... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Honing in on Headaches
Nearly everyone has had one, with some merely a nuisance and others severely debilitating.... we're honing in on headaches in this and the next episode of Naked Neuroscience. Plus, we're talking about the latest neuroscience news with our local experts! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
The mind under lockdown
This month, we're lifting the lid on the mind under lockdown. What's going on in the brain when you're having a virtual conversation, compared to one face to face? Could teenagers' mental wellbeing relate to whether they adhere to social distancing? And how to look after your mental health, whatever your situation... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Brain development - decisions, decisions...
This month, we're talking development and decisions. From some of the cellular decisions involved in actually making a brain, to delving into teenage decision making... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Colour on the Brain - part 2
This month - Naked Neuroscience continues its colourful journey! We're exploring amazing animal colour vision, colour perception and development, and how colour relates to emotion. Plus, some of the latest neuroscience news from our local experts... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Colour on the Brain - part 1
Be it burnt orange, millenial pink, inky black, dusky, deep purple, colour is everywhere! Over the February and March 2020 episodes of Naked Neuroscience, we're opening up the paint box of colour. In this episode Katie Haylor will be putting her retinas to the test at the optometrists, and finding out about how we actually see colour in the first place. Plus, some neuroscience news from our local
Coming off Antidepressants
This month - with about 1 in 10 people in the UK on antidepressant drugs, we're asking what's it like to come off of these medications? How well is this change managed? And how can this be improved? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
When Gaming Gets Out of Control
This month, we're getting to grips with gaming disorder. With the NHS's first specialist clinic to help people with gaming disorder now open, we're asking what's it like to be addicted to gaming, and what can be done to help? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Anxiety and Sex: Naked Neuroscience top up!
Welcome to a bonus episode of Naked Neuroscience, the podcast exploring the workings of the brain and the nervous system, in our bodies and beyond. In this short show Katie Haylor chats to Anglia Ruskin University perceptual psychologist Helen Keyes and Cambridge University cognitive neuroscientist Duncan Astle about a few neuroscience news stories they looked at back in November 2019. Like this
Go with your gut
This month - we're riffing around the concept of "gut feelings". In a digestive sense, an emotional sense, and asking whether these concepts overlap at all... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Understanding addiction
This month, we're dipping our toes into addiction. What exactly is addiction? Who is likely to become addicted? And what's going on in the brain? Plus, stimulating better short term memory, and linguistic tricks that might make us more susceptible to fake news... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Making moves
This month - what's going on in the brain that allows us to move? How might control over our movements change as we age? And why do armies march in time with each other? We're mulling over the neuroscience of movement. Plus, we'll be taking a stroll through the latest neuroscience news, with the help of local experts. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
The Lonely Mind
This month, we're unpicking the neuroscience of loneliness, asking: Why do so many of us get lonely, what's happening in the brain when we are lonely, and what can be done to help? Plus, we'll be peeling back the science on some of the latest neuroscience research, with the help of local experts Helen Keyes and Duncan Astle. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
How Do I Smell?
This month, we're talking smelly neuroscience! Can how we smell, and what we smell like, say anything about our health? Plus, we pick apart some of the latest neuroscience papers with the help of local experts... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Getting serious on sleep
This month - are we taking sleep seriously enough? Should we be changing the way we view it? We're talking sleep and mental health, body clocks and genes, and sleep's impact on learning and memory. Plus, we'll be diving into some neuroscience news with the help of some local experts... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Naked Neuroscience news roundup!
This month - from digging into dementia, to asking "are bigger brains always better?", we've had a glut of neuroscience news harvested in the naked scientists office, so prepare for a neuroscience news round up. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Can Music be Medicine?
This month, Naked Neuroscience is putting music therapy under the microscope. We're tuning into the therapeutic properties of tunes, asking - what actually is music therapy? What health conditions can music therapy treat? And what's it actually doing to the brain? Plus, we'll be picking apart some of the latest neuroscience research, with the help of our local experts. Like this podcast? Please h
Uncovering Consciousness
This month, Naked Neuroscience is delving into the curious concept of consciousness - asking what exactly is it? Why should scientists study it? And what has the unconscious mind got to do with generating ideas? We speak to Cambridge University's Tristan Bekinschtein and scientist, screenwriter and author Leonard Mlodinow. Plus, we take a slice of the latest neuroscience news and digest it, with t
Best Behaviour: Rolling out Change
This month, Naked Neuroscience is back at the Rosenthal Symposuim conference on changing behaviour for the healthier, organised by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the US National Academy of Medicine. How can healthy behaviour changes be implemented in individuals and across a whole population? Plus, we're plucking out a couple of papers from the latest neuroscience research, with the help o
Best Behaviour: Neuroscience and Health
This month we're lifting the lid on health-related behaviour at the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and USA National Academy of Medicine's Rosenthal Symposium. We're asking what neuroscience can tell us about why we tend to overdo it on the cake, despite knowing we shouldn't, and looking at how understanding behaviour can help us change it for the healthier. Plus, we'll discover what's hot off the
Nerves on the Edge
This month, we're peeling back the science of the peripheral nervous system, looking at some of the injuries it can sustain, and taking a closer look at exciting new developments on the horizon for treatment. Plus, we'll be digging into the latest neuroscience news with the help of some local experts. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
How Do We Remember?
This month - what exactly is a memory? How does the brain suppress unwanted memories, and what can we do to improve our own memory? Plus, news hot off the press, and do our brains have their wires crossed? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Scary Science: Fear in the Brain
This month, we're peaking out from behind the sofa at the science of fear. Why are some of us so scared of seemingly harmless things? What's going on in the brain when we're frightened? And does cheese really give you nightmares? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Criminal Minds?
What power does science have? We explore the influence of neuroscience in the courtrooms. Could brain scans shape prison sentences? Can it predict who will re-offend? We put the brain on trial with Cambridge University's Neuroscience and Public Policy Research Initiatives. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Botox, Anybody?
Botox injections in the nervous system, keeping brain tissue alive, and the shifting axis of scientific influence... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
A Brainy Man on a Mission
From rags to riches: how a fruit stall selling boy became a brain surgeon and, inspired by the NHS, built a community hospital and neuroscience institute back in his homeland of Kolkata. We meet the President of India who opened the institute, and speak with the patients being treated there... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
The Wanderings of a Naked Brain
This month we'll be trotting the globe to open our minds! We soak up some naked brain wanderings, including visiting the banja, a Russian sauna, to be whipped by birch leaves. Plus, from the States, we'll meet the caring Robot trio, designed to help look after our increasingly elderly population, we'll visit a Brain Bank in New Zealand, keep fruit flies awake in Milan AND back in the UK meet a ro
Blame the Brain?
Putting the brain on trial: did your brain make you do it? Neuroscience in the courtroom exposed. Plus the dark side of new neurotechnologies and do we have free will or are our actions pre-determined? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Robots in Society
Meet Brian, the robot programmed to help look after the elderly. Plus we explore the role of robots in combat and in the classroom and we explore the ethics of how science shapes society. This special Naked Neuroscience podcast series, supported by the Wellcome Trust, reports from the International Neuroethics Society annual meeting at the AAAS headquarters in Washington DC and features guest robo
Peering into the Human Brain
Millions invested in brain research across the globe. It's the decade of the brain. But how will the results shape our future societies? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
The Importance of Play
We examine the child brain: looking how the Victorians viewed babies, ask could early childhood stress, like changing schools, parents divorcing or having an anxious, overbearing mother, EVER be a good thing? Plus we examine the brains of young criminals and ask could brain anatomy and activity findings better inform youth rehabilitation services..... Like this podcast? Please help us by supportin
Teenage Kicks on the Brain
Does smoking dope decrease your potential for pleasure? How the simple act of dieting can rewire brain and a blood test for depression. Reporting from the British Association for Psychopharmacology 2014 Forum. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
A Wired Society
Memory boosting drugs, the military, the legal system and enhancing athletes mental focus and muscle tone. Where should neuroscience stop? How a revolution in technology is bringing an unprecedented flood of information about the brain and with this, concerns over use. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Remembering to live to a ripe old age
Hello I'm Naked Scientist Hannah Critchlow and I'm concerned about aging. Alzheimer's disease affects around half a million of us in the UK alone, and this number is predicted to increase as the population gets older. However, this week a study suggested that up to a third of cases could be preventable just by changing the way that we live. I spoke to Carol Brayne, Professor of Public Health at Ca
Is your sleep account in credit?
Fruit flies to understand getting our sleep bank account in credit, how we perceive passing of time to help make up our minds in tricky situations. Plus in the news, people prefer shocks to thought. How long could you be left alone with your thoughts? 10 seconds? A minute? Reporting from the Federation of Neurosciences Society Forum in Milan on the hot breaking neuroscience research. Like this pod
Morality and Motivation
Would you kill a person to save five others? Does religion evade morality by omission? And can you tweak people's motivations? Reporting on Morality and Motivation in Milan, with breaking hot neuroscience research presented at the FENS 2014 conference. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Can chocolate make you happy?
Beat anxiety, form healthy habits and induce a happy state of mind. We open our minds by tackling your questions about the brain. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Addressing Autism
Could environmental pollutants play a role? Why is autism sometimes thought of as simply extreme male behaviours? And since genetics are involved, could you diagnose newly born babies and start treating? We get to grips with this often misunderstood condition. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Inside Alzheimers
How are memories formed and lost? Is Alzheimer's just an extreme version of normal ageing? And to what extent does genetics play a role? Can we protect ourselves from developing the disease? We get our head around the disease with Alzheimer's Research UK. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Genetic tests for psychiatry?
Why are some psychiatric illnesses, like anxiety and depression, on the increase? Could conditions, like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, confer an evolutionary advantage? And is it ethical to screen babies for future brain disorders? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Brainy Babies!
Should you raise your baby to be bilingual? Are video games rotting or rejuvenating children's brains? We find out! Plus in the news, personalised breast milk, modelling the brain with computers, how crude oil spills affect tuna and the next step towards nuclear fusion. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Naked in a Brain Bank
Reporting from New Zealand on how a bank of frozen human brains is acting as a reference library, how a Hindu resolves religious and scientific beliefs and scientists creating human brain circuits in a dish in order to piece together the jigsaw of Huntington's Disease. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Naked Neuroscience, Down Under
New Zealand adventures with sheep, finding the Huntington's gene, developing new therapies for the brain and unravelling its complexities. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Neuroscience Nuggets 2013!
Touring the brain by visiting a laughter clinic, the sauna and psychadelic goats, plus neuroscience nuggets from Prof Nutt! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Bombing the Brain
Chemical warfare, how serving in Afghanistan left it's mental scars plus brainwashing to tweak belief systems. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Can we make a fake brain?
A special edition Question and Answer show: how do prosthetic limbs work? Can you train your brain? And is a brain transplant possible? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Is technology tweaking our brains?
Toddlers addicted to smart phones, speaking to a cyborg, computers that predict emotion, electrically inducing human creativity and is technology widening the inequality gap? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Tickling your brain: why do we laugh?
Rats being tickled, a visit to the laughter clinic, and a toddler's favourite joke. We uncover the brain basis of funny! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Are you Addicted?
Recovering from alcoholism via community creativity, goats high on psychedelics, cheeky monkeys on mojitos and can expectant mothers drink? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love! Reporting from Lake Baikal in Siberia. In this special episode, I visit Russia for a conference and from there, we'll be finding out how Russian neuroscience is getting a collosal injection of cash from the government, how nicotene switches off attention in the teenage brain, plus, I visited the Banya, a Russian sauna, to be whipped with birch leaves..... Like this podcast?
Music and the Mind!
Infected by earworms, what Mozart does for the mind, plus are creativity and delusions linked? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Paying attention to ADHD
Is ADHD overdiagnosed? How can parents and teachers help those affected? What happens when ADHD children enter adulthood? And do diet and genes pave the way to developing the disorder? Plus in the news, we turn on pleasure pathways through music and find out what gets a Prof up with the larks... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Get Lost! Navigating the Brain
Combining virtual reality and treadmills to map navigation in the brain. We ask how starlings flock in such a synchronised murmuration. And in the news, inducing creativity by electrically tweaking human brains, how video games could help national security, plus we find out what's been keeping Professor Gage up all night! Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
Addicted to Love?
What happens when you fall into, and out of, love? We get to the bottom of the cuddle hormone oxytocin and find out if the contraceptive pill is good for relationships. And we navigate our way around a fruit flies brain to find out how pheromones make them in the mating mood. Plus, we'll explore if it's scientifically possible, and even ethical, to bring on love in humans. Like this podcast? Pleas
Probing Parkinson's
Why are researchers punching into people's skin if they are on a quest for knowledge about the brain? What does the birth of new brain cells do for memory? Plus can a 'tumour paint' be developed to help beat brain cancer? And can we shed those post Christmas extra inches by doing difficult maths problems, instead of hitting the treadmill? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked S
The Genetics of Brain and Behaviour
Could genetics pave the way for developing schizophrenia or Alzheimer 's disease? Is there a genetic link between optimism and obesity? Is it ethical to screen people's DNA? Plus we find out what a nap might do for your memory, how a new study is turning addiction treatment on its head and we unravel what it means to be human. Plus we unzip whether DNA might make for an extremely high IQ! Like thi
Smart Drugs, Anyone?
We find out exactly what is going on in the brain during the teenage years. Plus we ask should we all be taking drugs to make us 'smarter'? And we find out about wiring up bats for neuroscience research and beating addiction with positive messages. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
New Brain Cells, Anyone?
What does exercise and experience do for the brain? Improving maternal care, the brain networks of impulsive behaviour and the rewards of sharing experiences with friends! Plus turning hair into nerve cells to help beat Alzheimer's and we find out what keeps a Nobel Laureate up all night. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists
The Brain Uncovered: Naked Neuroscience
How nerve cells make decisions, how genes control behaviour, using light to interrogate neuronal circuits, anxiety attacks, deep brain stimulation to bust addiction, how the immune system can cause psychosis, the genetics of behavioural problems and hallucinogenic flashbacks: fact, or a mind playing tricks on you? This week we launch Naked Neuroscience, a new monthly podcast to open your mind
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