All in the Mind

How well are our memory systems functioning after lockdown? Cognitive neuroscientist Prof. Catherine Loveday discusses her new preliminary research into recalling individual memories of things we did during 2020. What insights can we gain from their richness?There have been more than 1100 entries for the All in the Mind Awards, and in the Professionals category, Zaynab who is recovering from psychosis, nominates her psychiatrist Dr Claire Purcell who went out of her way to help Zaynab reintegrate back into the community after years of institutionalisation. Fewer than 1 in 10 of the general population have regular problems with nightmares, but for people suffering from psychosis they can be frequent (50%) and their impact more intense. Nightmares have been a relatively unresearched area and treatment to alleviate their impact on sufferers is rarely directly addressed. We hear of a unique trial trying to change all that, led by Bryony Sheaves, research clinical psychologist at Oxford University. What is it about modern life that seems to cause such difficulty for so many? It’s this question that neuroscientist and stand up comedian Dean Burnett has been exploring in his new book Psycho-Logical. Drawing on his two decades working in the neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry field, Dean is attempting to find a different way of demystifying mental health.Producer: Adrian WashbourneProduced in association with the Open University

New research using weekly video or phone calls to help older people to identify which activities boost their moods does help to reduce loneliness and depression. Our studio guest Professor Daryl O'Connor from the University of Leeds is impressed by the pilot study which used a form of talking therapy - behavioural activation - to help people with long-term health conditions during lockdown.Can we "catch" moods from our friends? We hear from the researcher who has studied teenage choirs and orchestras to see if bad or good moods can be passed on. The latest finalist in the All in the Mind Awards 2021 and we hear from listeners about the noises which irritate them and their families, following our recent feature on misophonia. And how ten minutes of expressing gratitude every week can help to improve students' grades and wellbeing.

Why do some people feel they deserve good fortune - and what happens to them if they expect everything to go their way and then encounter bad luck? Emily Zitek, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Cornell University, discusses her new insights into entitlement.There have been more than 1100 entries for the All in the Mind Awards and in the Professionals category, Joanna, who suffered from depression, nominates her occupational therapist, Richa Baretto. They’re now finalists and they tell Claudia about their special therapist-patient relationship.Could occasional fasting improve some important aspects of our memory? In what’s thought to be the first human study, Sandrine Thuret, head of the neurogenesis and mental health lab at Kings College London, showed that by restricting the number of calories you eat on 2 days a week, the ability to differentiate between very similar or overlapping memories can increase. Does this have the potential to be used as an intervention to prevent or boost cognitive decline. Claudia Hammond's guest is Mathijs Lucassen, Senior Lecturer in mental health at the Open University.Producer Adrian WashbourneProduced in association with the Open University

What can you learn about personality from someone's voice? Professor Kavita Vedhara talks about some new research. Claudia hears from Poppy who nominated her head of year at sixth form college, Sophie, who helped her through a severe depression. Also while dog owners may know their pets can show jealous behaviour, a new experiment reveals how complex that emotion might be in our canine friends. For some people certain sounds, often related to breathing and eating but also repetitive sounds like tapping or a clock ticking, can fill people with instant panic or intense rage. Claudia talks to Professor Julia Simner about her search for people with misophonia for some new research being done at the University of Sussex. And can pink drinks make you run faster? Apparently they might and it's all down to the placebo effect.

Checking in with a long-running soap opera can help us psychologically. Claudia Hammond grew up overhearing the Archers as her parents listened - and wants to know what fans get out of the drama. Life-long Archers fans Helen and Marjorie grew up listening to the world's oldest soap opera. Jane is the first in her family to listen and Callum got into it because of his nan. Sadly she now has dementia and can only remember characters and events from the 1960s. But Callum still feels close to her when he listens with his partner who's expecting their first baby this summer. He's been shocked by Alice's problems with alcohol but hopes that she can get the support she needs, now that her secret is out. Jane and Helen both had difficult relationships with alcohol in the past - and can relate to what Alice is going through. Jane explains that alcoholism is a life-long illness and not a moral choice. She believes that her past issues have helped to shape who she is today and is open about it to try to reduce some of the stigma surrounding alcoholism. Marjorie believes that Chris is out of his depth and needs to take advice on how to support Alice - information she has found invaluable in her own family. Professor of neuroscience at the University of Westminster Catherine Loveday is an enthusiastic part-time Archers fan. She tells us about new research on post-natal depression. We hear from Dr Dara Greenwood, who's associate professor of psychology at Vassar College in the United States and studies what we get psychologically out of soap operas. She's says our brains are hard-wired to be drawn to people's stories, whether they are fictional or from real life. She also recognises that the escapism has drawn people in during the pandemic.Producer: Paula McGrath

Professor of Psychology at the University of Leeds, Daryl O'Connor, discusses note-taking and reveals a replication study that challenges the idea that writing notes is superior to typing. The podcast also explores the All in the Mind Awards, highlighting the special doctor-patient relationship between a GP and a patient with an eating disorder. Additionally, the podcast delves into the impact of racist killings on the mental health of black Americans, discussing research that shows worsening mental health in response to high-profile cases.

Claudia Hammond talks to Professor Catherine Loveday of Westminster University about her new research on our memories during lockdown. Have our memories really got worse during the pandemic? And Claudia meets the first of the finalists in the All in the Mind Mental Health Awards 2021: we hear about StrongMen - a group set up to support men who have been bereaved. It was nominated by Adam Lee who suffered severe mental health issues following the unexpectedly loss of his daughter. The awards recognise the people and organisations that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help you with your mental health. Radio 4 listeners nominated the unsung heroes and after a process of sifting through the entries, a judging panel of people with extensive experience of mental health has selected nine finalists, three from each category. And how come some people have found lockdown to be a positive experience. Is there anything those of us who've found it harder can learn from them?Producer: Adrian WashbourneProduced in association with The Open University

What is the best way of getting on with people at home and at work? Psychologists Emily and Laurence Alison have spent their careers working with the police as they build rapport with suspects, sometimes terrorism suspects or perpetrators of domestic violence. And their conclusions about how best to do it have lessons for the rest of us too. They discuss their new book, "Rapport: the four ways to read people". Claudia catches up with Helen who nominated a finalist in the group category of the 2018 All in the Mind Awards to find out what she’s been up to in the last two years.What can you do in middle age to protect your brain later on? Everyone’s brain changes as they get older, but some people maintain their cognitive health and others don’t. Rik Henson, Deputy Director of the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge, has brought together studies using brain scans with research where people in their 80s are asked to look back on their lives to try to work out the impact middle age activity can have on preserving your faculties.Do we have everything to look forward to in our teens and then realise later what life can throw at us? Bill Chopik Assistant Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University, carried out the largest study of its kind to discover when optimism peaks, with surprising results.Claudia's studio guest is Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Westminster.Producer Adrian Washbourne

Claudia Hammond asks why there is little research in the UK into whether childhood racism can cause mental health problems in the future. She is joined by BBC Broadcaster, Rajan Datar, psychiatrist Kam Bhui and Professor Craig Morgan to discuss the importance of investigating racism and its effects and how recent findings are pointing towards the kinds of changes that need to be made in the future. Claudia catches up with Hannah who nominated the winner in the group category of the 2018 All in the Mind Awards to find out what she’s been up to in the last two years. Also Madeleine Finlay reports on why being double-jointed means you might be more likely to be prone to anxiety.Producer: Pam Rutherford

What really works when it comes to preventing and dealing with mental health difficulties? Can a world exist in which no one is held back by mental health problems.? That’s the vision of Professor Miranda Wolpert Head of the Mental Health Priority Area at the Wellcome Trust. With £200million to spend over five years, Miranda Wolpert and her team are taking a radical new approach to addressing anxiety and depression in 14- to 24-year-olds. Claudia hears about her new vision in addressing mental health problems in young peopleSleep problems are common in adolescence, and often related to anxiety and depression. But one factor which might be affecting mental health in people in their twenties is how they slept as teenagers, according to new research from Faith Orchard - lecturer at the University of Sussex. She disentangles exactly what is going on and teases apart the specific sleeping difficulties involved in the complex relationship between sleep, anxiety and depression.We use various mental shortcuts to save our brains effort. One of those is that when we’ve made a choice in the past and rejected one option, we carry on rejecting that option and downgrade the thing we didn’t choose and actively avoid it if we are offered it again. And until now what wasn’t realised was that infants who of course have far less sophisticated thinking processes, do it too. Does this mean it’s intuitive, rather than something we learn to do? Alex Silver from the University of Pittsburgh dissects the evidenceProducer Adrian Washbourne