Minds Matter

Resilience is a word we hear all the time, but what does it actually mean to be resilient? In this episode, Dr. Lucy Hone discusses her work on resilience and well-being. Sharing her own lived experience with grief, Dr. Hone explains resilience doesn’t mean being fine all the time. We discuss how we can improve our resilience along with the science behind the ideas of gratitude and learned helplessness.

Do we see things the way they really are or do our biases and motivations influence our perception? Dr Yuan Chang Leong discusses his research on how our motivations influence how we see the world. If we are biased to see the world differently to others, can we ever really understand someone with different political beliefs? We discuss why we have these biases at all and how they may help us live better lives.

One of the first and strictest gun laws passed in the United States was the Mulford act of 1967, sparked by lawmakers perceived threat of the Black Panthers. Thus, the launch of the gun restriction movement was a targeted effort to limit Black Americans' gun access. How does this history influence attitudes about guns in the U.S. today? Dr. Gerald Higginbotham discusses the importance of history as a context in which to consider present-day attitudes, and how our own perceptions of history, like how long ago we feel the Tulsa Race Massacre happened, may in turn influence our current attitudes and support for policy.

Why do some people amass have friends effortlessly while others remain isolated? Dr. Elisa Baek tells us about her work using social network analysis to examine the differences between the brains of well-connected and lonely people. Dr. Baek also shares why those with the most friends might not be the most magnetic or charismatic, but might rather be those with the strongest need to belong.

What comes first, language, or emotion? In this episode, Dr. Ajay Satpute shares his work examining how the brain and mind interact with language to create and process emotion. Is jumping when seeing a spider the same as worrying about a loved one passing away? Why do we call so many different experiences 'fear'? We discuss how we can apply this knowledge to our everyday lives, including mental health.

To kick off season 2, we are joined by Dr. Kelsey Perrykkad, a post-doc at Monash University. Dr. Perrykkad tells us about her work on understanding the self, in the framework of predictive processing. We discuss what predictive processing actually is, whether people can change, and why the self feels the way it does... and more!

Beth Fisher and Ava Ma de Sousa bring you a Minds Matter episode on a very exciting topic: boredom. We promise it's more interesting than it seems! Boredom has been linked to creativity and imagination, but also to depression and self-destructive behaviors. In this episode, we examine what boredom is, and whether we should lean into it or run from it.

Does abstract art leave you feeling in awe or annoyed? Art can provoke powerful experiences, making one feel overcome by the experience of beauty. Are there beauty universals based in evolution and biology, or is beauty in the eye of a culturally conditioned beholder?In this episode of Minds Matter, Beth and Ava enter the fray to examine what neuroscience and psychology can add to the debate on aesthetics.

Do you consider yourself to be a curious person? If you are, you might have better relationships, be less aggressive, and less affected by rejection. Sounds nice right? On this episode of Minds Matter, Beth Fisher and Ava Ma de Sousa discuss curiosity, and whether this is a trait that can be trained.​Tune in for a deep dive into the brain on curiosity, how it helps memory, and why so many people are fascinated by morbid content, like car crashes and true crime.

Empathy has been touted as the answer to the world's crises, while also been pointed to as a potential hindrance to morality. How can researchers be so divided? In this episode of Minds Matter, Beth Fisher and Ava Ma de Sousa explore empathy's various definitions, its possible grounding in 'mirror neurons', and whether the empathy lives up to its hype or notoriety.