Seth Grant talks about Synapse Complexity (BS 176)

Seth Grant (click to play audio)

BS 176 is my fifth interview with molecular biologist and neuroscientist Dr. Seth Grant from The University of Edinburgh. Dr. Grant was recently recognized for his pioneering work by the Federation of European Neuroscientists. He continues to make fundamental discoveries about the structure and function of the synapse and this month we discuss the discovery that synapse complexity and diversity is greater than expected, along with the  implications of these discoveries. 

Dr. Grant first appeared on Brain Science back in 2008. So in this interview, I also asked him to take us back through some of the key discoveries of his career. These include the discovery that the synapse is much more complex than previously assumed and the fact that this complexity preceded the evolution of animals with brains. More recently he has discovered that synapses are also more diverse than expected and that those in some parts of the brain are more complex than others.

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Links and References:

• Seth Grant: University of Edinburgh

• FENS EJN Award 2020

• Cizeron M, Qiu Z, Koniaris B, et al. A brainwide atlas of synapses across the mouse life span. Science. 2020;369(6501):270-275. doi:10.1126/science.aba3163

• Additional references are available in the episode transcript and in the show notes for previous episodes (Listed below)

Dr. Grant’s Previous Brain Science Interviews:

• BSP 51: our first introduction to synapse complexity and evolution

• BS 101: The role of the synapse in learning and disease

• BS 137: How synapses change through out the lifespan

• BS 150: Introducing the Synaptome and why it matters

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Announcements:

• Coming November 17, 2020: Webinar: "Embracing Uncertainty: How to Thrive in Uncertain Times." Listen to closing announcements to learn more.

• Coming soon! episode compilations based on topic or guest. Look for all Seth Grant's interviews next month.

• Brain Science comes out on 4th Friday each month.

• Support Brain Science by buying Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty by Virginia "Ginger" Campbell, MD

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Exercise Promotes Brain Plasticity (BSP 111)

John Ratey, MD
Click picture to hear interview

According to psychiatrist Dr. John Ratey the best way to improve brain plasticity is by exercise.  I spoke to him shortly after he published his best-seller Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (2008). He commented that even compared to drugs "Exercise is the champ."

Download BSP 111

Since then Dr. Ratey has been traveling the world promoting the value of exercise for people of all ages, but his main focus has been on young people and on trying to restore and invigorate physical education programs in the schools. In Spark he provided some of the preliminary evidence that vigorous exercise promotes better academic performance, but that evidence had continued to mount.

Besides improving academic performance regular exercise also helps over all mental health. Exercise is especially effective for problems like depression and ADHD. Our brains rely on a complex mixture of neuroactive chemicals (neurotransmitters, etc.), but since our understanding of these is still very primitive, treatment with drugs can be unpredictable. Dr. Ratey feels that medications can be an important part of treating problems like ADHD, but that exercise should be included as an essential element.

Of course, even those of us who don't struggle with mental illnes are concerned with keeping our brains healthy as we age. Here again Dr. Ratey argues that exercise is essential. He speculates that exercise tricks your brain "into thinking that you're younger and that you still need to grow, as opposed to being stationary and having atrophy occur." Also, when you keep on learning (new things) your brain continues to respond and build new pathways. This is very similar to what Dr. Michael Merzenich (one of the pioneers of brain plasticity) told us in BSP 105.

Dr. Ratey is working on a new book that will be an update on the science that has been done since Spark was published, but his 2008 interview remains one of my favorites. That's why I just released an updated version of this interview as BSP 111. 

How to get this episode:

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• Buy Episode Transcript for $1.

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE. All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free. See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

References and Links

• Visit http:johnratey.com.

• Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (2008) by John J. Ratey

• A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain
  by John J. Ratey

• Soft-Wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life by Dr. Michael Merzenich PhD (References for Soft-Wired)

• See the episode transcript for additional references.

Related Episodes:

• BSP 45: Dr. Ratey talks about ADHD

• BSP 87: Dr. Patricia Greenwood talks about her book Nurturing the Older Brain and Mind.

• BSP 105: Dr. Michael Merzenich talks about his book Soft-Wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life.

Announcements:

• Reminder: The Brain Science Podcast mobile app is now FREE for iOS, Android and Windows Mobile. Click here to learn more.

• This is the first time I have reposted an older episode. I need listener suggestions about what other older episodes you would like me to share with new listeners.

• Don't forget to check out my other podcast Books and Ideas.

• Please share your feedback about this episode by sending email to brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com or going to the Brain Science Podcast Discussion Forum at http://brainscienceforum.com. You can also post to our fan pages on Facebook or Google+.

John Ratey Returns

Richard Manning and John Ratey (click on photo to hear Dr. Ratey's interview)

Back in 2008 I interviewed Dr. John Ratey twice: first about his then new book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain (BSP 33) and then later about his work with ADHD (BSP 45). Dr. Ratey was one of my favorite guests so I was eager to interview him about his new book Go Wild: Free Your Body and Mind. This latest book explores the science behind the current movement to embrace a more healthy lifestyle based on lessons learned from our hunter gatherer ancestors. Since the topic doesn't quite fit on the Brain Science Podcast I recorded Dr. Ratey's latest interview for my other show Books and Ideas, but I am including the mp3 as a free download in the BSP feed.

Listen to Episode 55 of Books and Ideas

Click here for complete show notes and free episode transcript.

2013 Neuroscience Highlights (BSP 104)

Ginger Campbell with Rusty and Greta

Its time for the Brain Science Podcast's seventh annual review episode. In 2013 we had the chance to talk with ten scientists, including three returning guests. We also celebrated our 100th episode and passed 5 million downloads.

BSP 104 is a review of some of the key ideas we explored in 2013. I also announced the launch of a new Premium Subscription program. Beginning around December 30 the twenty-five most recent episodes will remain free while the rest of the 100+ podcasts and transcripts will be available either by subscription or for individual purchase. 

Click here to learn more about our new Premium Content.

How to get this episode:

• FREE: audio mp3 (click to stream, right click to download)
• Buy Transcript for $1.
• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.
• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE.  All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free.  See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

2013 Episodes and Books

• BSP 93: Interview with Fernando Cervero, Phd, author of Understanding Pain
• BSP 94: Interview with Benjamin Bergen, Phd, author of Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning
• BSP 95: Part 2 of discussion of Understanding Pain: Exploring the Perception of Pain by Fernando Cervero
• BSP 96: Interview with Dr. Robert Burton, author of A Skeptic's Guide to the Mind: What Neuroscience Can and Cannot Tell Us About Ourselves
• BSP 97: Interview with Daniel Lende and Greg Downey, editors of The Encultured Brain: An Introduction to Neuroanthropology
• BSP 98: Discussion of The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum by Temple Grandin
• BSP 99: Interview with Temple Grandin, Phd (The Autistic Brain)
• BSP 100: Interview with Alvaro Fernandez, co-author of The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: How to Optimize Brain Health and Performance at Any Age
• BSP 101: Interview with Seth Grant about how the synapse has evolved
• BSP 102: Interview with Dr. Allen Frances, author of Saving Normal: An Insider's Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life
• BSP 103: Interview with Olaf Sporns, PhD, author of Discovering the Human Connectome

Announcements

• On December 31st a new Premium Subscription will allow listeners to support the Brain Science Podcast while having access to our Archives and Premium content. Click here to learn more.
• Individual episodes (mp3) and transcripts are now available for $1 each.
• Donations are still accepted and appreciated.
• Subscribe to the free Brain Science Podcast Newsletter so that you never miss a new episode.
• Dr. Campbell will be at the New Media Expo in Las Vegas, NV January 4-6, 2014

Send feedback to Dr. Campbell at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com.

Synapse Evolution with Seth Grant (BSP 101)

Seth Grant (click photo to hear interview)

Early in his career Seth Grant helped develop the transgenic mice that Eric Kandel used in his studies of how memory works. Since then he has combined his skill in genetics with his work on isolating the proteins that form the functional components of the synapse. (The synapse is a key component in the nervous systems of all multi-cellular animals.) When we last talked back in BSP 51 I was particularly struck by how many of these proteins actually evolved with single celled life--long before the arrival of nervous systems.

Recently Grant's work has focused on the discovery that the vertebrate synapse is actually much more complex than the one present in invertebrates. For BSP 101 we got together to talk about two papers he and his collegues recently published in Nature Neuroscience. These papers explore how small changes in the synapse proteins effect learning in measurable ways.

Grant has a special gift for making complex ideas clear, which means that this interview can be enjoyed by all listeners, even those who are new to the Brain Science Podcast and neuroscience. 

How to get this episode:

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• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE. The 50 most recent episodes are also free. Just subscribe in your favorite podcasting app.

References: 

• S.G.N. Grant, T. J. O'Dell, K. A. Karl, P. L. Stein, P. Soriano, and E. R. Kandel, "Impaired long-term potentiation, spatial learning, and hippocampal development in fyn mutant mice." Science 258 (1992):1903-10.

• Emes RD, Pocklington AJ, Anderson CN, Bayes A, Collins MO, Vickers CA, Croning MD, Malik BR, Choudhary JS, Armstrong JD, Grant SG, "Evolutionary expansion and anatomical specialization of synapse proteome complexity." Nature Neuroscience 11 (2008) 799-806.

• Nithianantharajah, J., Komiyama, N., McKechanie, A., Johnstone, M., Blackwood, D. H., Clair, D. S., Emes, R. D., van de Lagemaat, L. N., Saksida, L. M., Bussey, T. J. & Grant, S. G. N. “Synaptic scaffold evolution generated components of vertebrate cognitive complexity.” Nature Neuroscience 16 (2013) 16-24. doi:10.1038/nn.3276

• Ryan, T. J., Kopanitsa, M. V., Indersmitten, T., Nithianantharajah, J., Afinowi, N. O., Pettit, C., Stanford, L. E., Sprengel, R., Saksida, L. M., Bussey, T. J., O'Dell, T. J., Grant, S. G. N. & Komiyama, N. “Evolution of GluN2A/B cytoplasmic domains diversified vertebrate synaptic plasticity and behavior.” Nature Neuroscience 16 (2013) 25-32. doi:10.1038/nn.3277

• List of research papers by Seth Grant

• See FREE transcript for more links and references

• More episodes about brain evolution: BSP 47, BSP 48, and BSP 51

Announcements: 

• You can support the the Brain Science Podcast by visiting the BSP Store and by direct donations.

• Upcoming Episode will feature the return of Olaf Sporns (BSP 74) and Dr. Allen Frances, author of Saving Normal: An Insider's Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life and Essentials of Psychiatric Diagnosis, Revised Edition: Responding to the Challenge of DSM-5®.

• I (Dr. Campbell) will be at the University of Florida November 1-5, 2013 attending the meeting of the National Association of Science Writers. Drop me an email at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com if you would like to have a meet up.

Leave feedback here or visit the Brain Science Podcast discussion group at Goodreads.com, our Fan Page on Facebook or our page on Google+.

Neuroanthropolgy: What Is It and WHY Should You Care? (BSP 97)

You may be tired of seeing the prefix "neuro" used to describe every new fad, but The Encultured Brain: An Introduction to Neuroanthropology [2012] edited by Daniel H. Lende and Greg Downey makes an impassioned argument for why neuroscience and anthropology should be working together to unravel the ongoing mystery of how our brains make us who we are.  The latest Brain Science Podcast  (BSP 97) is a thought-provoking conversation with Downey and Lende.  After explaining that anthropology can offer neuroscience field data about "brains in the wild," we explore two case studies that demonstrate the promise of this new partnership.

How to get this episode:

• Buy audio mp3 for $2.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE. All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free. See the individual show notes for links the audio files

Subscribe to the Brain Science Podcast or listen on the BSP Mobile app.

References and Links:

• The Encultured Brain: An Introduction to Neuroanthropology [2012] edited by Daniel H. Lende and Greg Downey

• Ethnography and Addiction by Daniel Lende*

• Balance between cultures: equilibrium training by Greg Downey*

• YouTube video showing copoeira

• Neuroanthropology: Blog on PLOS

• Principles of Brain Evolution by Georg F. Striedter

• BSP 47: Discussion of Principles of Brain Evolution

• *Please see the FREE transcript for additional references.

Announcements:

• he Brain Science Podcast is nearing episode 100! I want to include listener comments. Send your emails and mp3 files to brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com or click here to learn more.

• The Brain Science Podcast Newsletter has moved to Mailchimp. Click here for the new sign-up form.

• Please nominate the Brain Science Podcast as one of the best science podcasts on the web at http://www.thesciencestudio.org.

• Keep an eye out for the latest BSP News!

The Origin of Emotions with Jaak Panksepp (BSP 91)

Dr. Jaak Panksepp

In his new book, The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions, Jaak Panksepp set out to make his life's work more accessible to a general audience.  To be honest, reading this book requires a significant commitment, but I think he does a wonderful job of updating his classic textbook, Affective Neuroscience.  Anyone who is interested in this field will definitely want this book as a reference.

The other strength of Archeology of Mind is its evolutionary approach.  The primary emotional processes that Panksepp has spent his career studying have their origins in the ancient parts of the brain that are shared by all mammals.  This contradicts longstanding assumptions in neuroscience, but it has important implications for both humans and other animals.

In Episode 91 of the Brain Science Podcast, Dr. Panksepp and I talked about some of the new information contained in Archaeology of Mind, with a particular focus on FEAR, which, contrary to what many researchers claim, does NOT begin in the amygdala, but begins much lower.  We do talk briefly about the experimental evidence, but this was covered in more detail during Dr. Panksepp's previous appearance on the Brain Science Podcast in BSP 65.

How to get this episode:

• Buy mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE. All episodes posted after January 1, 2013 are FREE. Please see individual show notes for links to audio files and transcripts.

Listen in your Favorite Audio app: Audible, Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and many more.

References:

• The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions, by Jaak Panksepp and Lucy Biven.

• Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions, by Jaak Panksepp.

• Please see the episode transcript for additional links and references.

Related Episodes:

• BSP 32: An introduction to brain anatomy.

• BSP 47: A review of brain evolution.

• BSP 65: Previous interview with Jaak Panksepp (click here for Premium version).

• BSP 89: Interview with Evan Thompson, author of Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind.

• BSP 90: Review of Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, by Antonio Damasio.

Announcements:

The earliest episodes of the Brain Science Podcast  are now disappearing from iTunes but they remain freely available here.  They are also available within the Brain Science Podcast  app for mobile devices.  By the way, the mobile app has been updated, and I need users to post new reviews.

Don't forget to get your copy of my eBook, Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty, from Amazon.com.  You can also buy the PDF version HERE.

The Brain Science Podcast is supported by listener Donations.  It also relies on your word of mouth, so don't forget to share it with others.

Next month's Brain Science Podcast  will be our annual review episode. Meanwhile don't forget to check out my other podcast, Books and Ideas.  The most recent episode is an interview with Emily Reese from Minnesota Classical Radio.

Join the Brain Science Podcast Fan Page on Facebook, Google+, and share your thoughts in our Discussion Forum on Goodreads.  Of course, you can also send me email at gincampbell at mac dot com.

To get show notes automatically and never miss an episode of the Brain Science Podcast sign up for the BSP Newsletter.

Review of "Self Comes to Mind" by Antonio Damasio (BSP 90)

Episode 90 of the Brain Science Podcast is a discussion of Self Comes To Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, by Antonio Damasio. Damasio's book focuses on the answer to two key questions: How does the brain generate the Mind? and, How does the Brain generate Consciousness? His approach is unusual because many scientists and writers treat the Mind and Consciousness as identical. In contrast, Damasio argues that Mind precedes Consciousness. Listen to this podcast to learn how the Mind becomes Conscious.

How to get this episode:

• Buy audio mp3 for $1.

• Buy Transcript for $1.

• Premium Subscribers now have unlimited access to all old episodes and transcripts.

• New episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are always FREE. All episodes posted after January 1, 2013, are free. See the individual show notes for links the audio files.

Listen in your Favorite Audio app: Audible, Amazon music, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube and many more.

References:

• Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain, by Antonio Damasio.

• The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness, by Antonio Damasio.

• Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions, by Jaak Panksepp.

• The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions, by Jaak Panksepp and Lucy Biven.

• Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind, by Evan Thompson

• Psychology (10th Edition) by Carole Wade and Carol Tavris.

• I of the Vortex: From Neurons to Self, by Rodolfo R. Llinas.

• For more references see the episode transcript.

Related Episodes of the Brain Science Podcast: 

• BSP 21 and BSP 23 How the Brain Creates Maps of the Body

• BSP 65: Jaak Panksepp talks about the subcortical origins of emotions

• BSP 89: Evan Thompson talks about his book, Mind in Life

Announcements:

• Next month's Brain Science Podcast will be a return interview with Jaak Panksepp to talk about his new book, The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions.

• Please check out my other podcast, Books and Ideas.

• The earliest episodes of the Brain Science Podcast are no longer available from iTunes but you can get them here or by buying the Brain Science Podcast app, which is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android.

• Get my eBook, Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty, from Amazon.com for only $3.99.

• Social Websites for the Brain Science Podcast: Discussion Forum on Goodreads, Facebook Fan Page, Google+ page.

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Send me feedback at brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter (@docartemis).