Podcasts

Brain Inspired
A podcast where neuroscience and AI converge. Hosted by Paul Middlebrooks.
Recent Episodes:
Nicole Rust on her new book, ‘Elusive Cures’
Rust discusses how understanding the brain as a complex dynamical system will help us accelerate treatments for brain disorders.
What do neuroscientists mean when they use the term ‘representation’?
A group of neuroscientists and philosophers discuss the use and misuse of the term "representation" across the cognitive sciences and how it influences the way we interpret the connection between neural, behavioral and mental activity.
John Beggs unpacks the critical brain hypothesis
Beggs outlines why and how brains operate at criticality, a sweet spot between order and chaos.

Audio research news
Your latest update from The Transmitter.
Recent Episodes:

Astrocytes sense neuromodulators to orchestrate neuronal activity and shape behavior
Astrocytes serve as crucial mediators of neuromodulatory processes previously attributed to direct communication between neurons, four new studies show.

Spatial learning circuitry fluctuates in step with estrous cycle in mice
Cyclic shifts in estradiol levels coincide with changes in dendritic spine density and the activity of place cells in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, a new study shows.
Expanded view of hippocampal function comes into focus
After decades of debate, the region’s role is being rewritten. Rather than using sensory input to simply log key points in time and space, the hippocampus may serve to contextualize our experiences and memories—and ultimately make predictions about the future.

Synaptic
Exploring the people, the science and the challenges in neuroscience.
Recent Episodes:

Stimulating the brain with Damien Fair
The MacArthur Foundation “genius” discusses his return to his home state of Minnesota and why it’s important to protect the developing brain.

Season 2 of ‘Synaptic’ draws to a close
Season 3 will begin next year.

Timothy Ryan on his pivotal switch from studying particle physics to decoding synaptic transmission
Dissuaded from pursuing theoretical physics and deterred by the “long feedback loop” in experimental physics, the National Academy of Sciences member took inspiration from “polymath” Watt Webb and “visionary” Stephen Smith—and learned to work “completely outside his comfort zone.”

The Transmitter stories
Stories about developments in neuroscience.
Recent Episodes:

‘Emergent and transactional’: How Jonathan Green is rethinking autism and interventions
The experienced clinician discusses writing his recent paper, and its reception in the field.

The story of autism research in Australia: A conversation with Cheryl Dissanayake
With the help of a generous benefactor, autism research in Australia is gathering critical mass.

New journals seek to fill neurodiversity gap
The two journals, although differing in initial support, both realized the need for a publication focused exclusively on the neurodiverse experience.