Podcasts

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.”

Oscar Ferrante, Rony Hirschhorn and Alex Lepauvre discuss putting integrated information and global neuronal workspace theories of consciousness to the test

The trio is part of the adversarial collaboration launched to test various theories of consciousness, a project known as COGITATE.

Dean Buonomano explores the concept of time in neuroscience and physics

He outlines why he thinks integrated information theory is unscientific and discusses how timing is a fundamental computation in brains.

Aran Nayebi discusses a NeuroAI update to the Turing test

And he highlights the need to match neural representations across machines and organisms to build better autonomous agents.

Mitochondrial ‘landscape’ shifts across human brain

Evolutionarily newer regions sport mitochondria with a higher capacity for energy production than older regions, according to the first detailed map of the organelles in a tissue slice, adding to mounting evidence that the brain features a metabolic gradient.

This paper changed my life: Shane Liddelow on two papers that upended astrocyte research

A game-changing cell culture method developed in Ben Barres’ lab completely transformed the way we study astrocytes and helped me build a career studying their reactive substates.

What birds can teach us about the ‘biological truth’ of sex

Part of our job as educators is to give students a deeper understanding of the true diversity of sex and gender in the natural world.

‘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.