This Is Your Brain With Dr. Phil Stieg

In this classic episode recorded live at the Juilliard School in the fall of 2019 Dr. Stieg visits with world-renowned soprano Renée Fleming - a leading advocate for research and public education on the therapeutic power of music to heal the mind. Music’s psychological and neurological impact can help people suffering with dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and other brain disorders, and even restore speech after a stroke. Fleming also explores the brain’s incredible musical memory mechanism and why learning and healing through song can be so transformative.  https://reneefleming.com/ For more information, transcripts, and all episodes, please visit https://thisisyourbrain.com For more about Weill Cornell Medicine Neurological Surgery, please visit https://neurosurgery.weillcornell.org 

What world do you live in? You may think your experience of life comes from the outside, with your brain processing sensory information as it's received. Anil Seth, professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Sussex in England, takes a different view. Tune in as Dr. Seth explains how your brain is actually creating your reality, not just interpreting it. Plus... why the brain is a "prediction machine," and how anesthesia is more like death than sleep. For more information, transcripts, and all episodes, please visit https://thisisyourbrain.com For more about Weill Cornell Medicine Neurological Surgery, please visit https://neurosurgery.weillcornell.org 

The brain and the heart are in constant communication, sending signals that control and respond to each other, so it’s no surprise that what’s good for one is what’s good for the other. Dr.  Robert Harrington, an esteemed cardiologist and the new Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine, joins us today to explore the fascinating conversations that go on between these two most important organs. From the electrical signals sent from the brain to the oxygenated blood flow the heart sends back, find out what keeps both organs going—and what happens when something disrupts that balance. Turns out you really can die of a broken heart, as a sudden intense emotional event can cause the brain to send a “stop” message to the heart; a disruption in the heart’s blood flow can send a similar message to the brain.  For more information, transcripts, and all episodes, please visit https://thisisyourbrain.com For more about Weill Cornell Medicine Neurological Surgery, please visit https://neurosurgery.weillcornell.org

Psychologist Howard Gardner discusses his research into multiple intelligences, challenging the narrow definition of intelligence. He explores the concept of the five minds and their significance in education. The podcast also explores the dark history of IQ testing and the importance of synthesis and purpose in work and personal life.

Pain can be felt anywhere in the body, but it all originates in the same place: the brain. Lorimer Moseley, a professor of clinical neurosciences at the University of South Australia and a specialist in how the brain produces pain signals, joins us today to talk about how pain is created as a protective strategy. Your brain, which is constantly monitoring your environment for signs of danger vs safety, sends pain signals when it detects a painful stimulus (a process called nociception).  Moseley studies how to retrain the brain when it continues to send pain signals long after the damaged tissue has healed (or, in the case of phantom pain, even after the damaged tissue is gone).  Plus - the dangers of a pain-free life.

Babies and toddlers have truly outstanding brains - they absorb information broadly, quickly, and indiscriminately as they learn about the world, with processing speeds that leave AI-powered robots in the dust. Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology and affiliate professor of Philosophy at U.C. Berkeley, has been studying baby brains for decades, and she joins us today to talk about how we could look to them to make computers smarter. https://thisisyourbrain.com/ 

Your early experiences literally change the way you think and feel about the world -- they even shape what you see and hear. Dr. Chantel Prat,  a cognitive neuroscientist and professor at the University of Washington, studies how variations in brain wiring make each of us unique individuals and drive our understanding of each other, and of the world. In this episode, learn which parts of the brain are "experience-expectant" (waiting for input on how to develop), and why trade-offs in the brain are responsible for our personalities, our learning styles, and our values. The answers begin to explain how three pounds of brain develop into what we know as the mind. Click here to learn if you are a "Carrot" learner or a "Stick"  learner in a special bonus segment. https://tinyurl.com/j7prsh7n  

Our brains evolved for a simpler life, and today they struggle to cope with a deluge of distraction from technology. Dr. Adam Gazzaley, professor of neurology at the University of California San Francisco, reveals why the brain loves multi-tasking even though it's so bad for productivity; why "single-tasking" is so hard to relearn; and why 60-year-olds can't filter out irrelevant information. Plus... a prescription video game that can help kids with ADHD and others change their brains to find better focus. Click here for a bonus segment on distraction and the "Coffee Shop Effect."  For more information, visit https://thisisyourbrain.com 

Speech therapists have long used music to help patients regain their voices after stroke or brain injury. Today's music therapists are going even further, developing strategies that use music on patients with Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries, cognitive issues, and more. Hear from Neurologic Music Therapist Caitlin Hebb about how the rhythm and rhyme of music work on memory, gait, and language. https://www.medrhythmstherapy.com/teamcaitlin  Plus... what's that earworm?

Unlike a broken bone or clogged artery, a brain that goes awry due to disease or injury—or even an errant molecule—causes weird and unpredictable changes in personality. Hear some of the bizarre tales of tiny particles that alter behavior from neurologist Sara Manning Peskin, author of A Molecule Away From Madness. https://saramanningpeskin.com/  Plus... how parasites hijack animal brains, sometimes turning a host into a zombie in their quest to reproduce.