79. Nanthia Suthana: Invasive brain recordings in humans, learning as a PI, and the joys of mentorship

Nanthia Suthana is an Associate Professor at UCLA. In this conversation, we talk about her research using invasive brain recordings from humans, how the technologies have changed and what might happen in the future. We also talk about how she runs her lab, how to learn as a PI, and what Nanthia enjoys about mentoring students and postdocs.

We had some minor audio issues, so Nanthia switched her recording setup twice during the conversation. Sound should still be good though.

Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreon

Timestamps
00:00: Was it good that Nanthia finished school so young?
01:27: How invasive recordings in humans have changed over the past 15 years
10:45: The future of invasive recordings in humans
19:29: Mentorship in academia
30:01: Learning as a PI
36:02: Book or paper more people should read
40:53: Something Nanthia wishes she'd learnt sooner
45:42: Advice for PhD students and postdocs

Podcast links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-pod
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twt

Nanthia's links

• Website: https://geni.us/suthana-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/suthana-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/suthana-twt

Ben's links

• Website: https://geni.us/bjks-web
• Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholar
• Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twt

References and links

Nanthia's episode in Stories of Women in Neuroscience:
https://www.storiesofwin.org/profiles/2021/3/24/dr-nanthia-suthana

Episodes w/ Matthias Stangl and Gareth Barnes:
https://geni.us/bjks-barnes
https://geni.us/bjks-stangl
https://geni.us/bjks-postdoc-stangl

Boto et al (2018). Moving magnetoencephalography towards real-world applications with a wearable system. Nature.
Feinsinger et al (2022). Ethical commitments, principles, and practices guiding intracranial neuroscientific research in humans. Neuron.
Gill et al (2023). A pilot study of closed-loop neuromodulation for treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder. Nature Communications.
Hafting, Fyhn, Molden, Moser & Moser (2005). Microstructure of a spatial map in the entorhinal cortex. Nature.
O'Keefe & Dostrovsky (1971). The hippocampus as a spatial map: preliminary evidence from unit activity in the freely-moving rat. Brain research.
Preston, Kuper-Smith & Ehrsson (2015). Owning the body in the mirror: The effect of visual perspective and mirror view on the full-body illusion. Scientific Reports.
Sacks (1985). The man who mistook his wife for a hat.
Scoville & Milner (1957). Loss of recent memory after bilateral hippocampal lesions. Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.
Stangl, Topalovic,  ... & Suthana (2021). Boundary-anchored neural mechanisms of location-encoding for self and others. Nature.
Stangl, Maoz & Suthana (2023). Mobile cognition: imaging the human brain in the ‘real world’. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
Topalovic et al (2023). A wearable platform for closed-loop stimulation and recording of single-neuron and local field potential activity in freely moving humans. Nature Neuroscience.