How Your Brain Works & Changes

In this episode, I discuss testosterone and estrogen hormones and how they impact the brain, body, and behavior after puberty. I also discuss how various behaviors such as exercise (resistance and end...

12 Apr 20211h 58min

In this episode, I discuss how hormones such as testosterone and estrogen and their derivatives impact the early development of the brain and body and their maturation. I review published data on envi...

5 Apr 20211h 34min

In this episode, I discuss the biology of emotions and moods in the context of relationships. I focus on the science of how early infant-caregiver attachment, combined with adolescence and puberty sha...

29 Mar 20211h 37min

This episode explains the science of motivation and drive. I describe how dopamine — a chemical we all make in our brain, underlies our desire for and pursuit of our goals, as well as our capacity to ...

22 Mar 20211h 25min

This episode explains the brain-body connections that allow the specific foods we eat to control our moods and motivation. I discuss the vagus nerve and its role in dopamine and serotonin release in t...

15 Mar 20211h 40min

This episode explains what stress is, and how it recruits our brain and body to react in specific ways. I describe the three main types of stress, and how two of them actually enhance the function of ...

8 Mar 20211h 35min

In this episode, I describe the science of how and why pain arises in the body and brain, and how we can actively control our experience of pain. I discuss inflammation, stress, acupuncture, limb dama...

1 Mar 20211h 35min

In this episode, I describe how to access focused learning bouts, creative states, and the underlying neural circuitry involved. I frame this in the context of our daily 24-hour cycle in order to make...

22 Feb 20211h 27min