The Synapse

Why are teenagers more vulnerable to addiction? Is vaping really safer than smoking? And is addiction simply a matter of willpower, or is there something deeper happening in the brain?In this episode of Simply Neuroscience's Mental Health Awareness Series, we sit down with neuroscience researcher Miray Youssef to explore the science behind adolescent substance use and addiction.Content Advisory: This episode discusses substance use, nicotine, cannabis, and addiction. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, consider seeking support from a qualified healthcare or mental health professional.Mental Health Awareness Sources Linked at End: SAMHSA Treatment Locator: ⁠⁠⁠https://findtreatment.gov⁠⁠⁠VA Mental Health: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov⁠⁠⁠NAMI Helpline: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.nami.org/nami-helpline/⁠⁠⁠The Trevor Project: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.thetrevorproject.org/⁠⁠⁠U.S. Mental Health Resource Guide: ⁠⁠⁠https://ncdvtmh.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Locating-MH-Resources-UPDATED-MARCH-2023.pdf⁠⁠

How do you rebuild a life when a severe mental health crisis shatters everything you thought you knew about your future?In this deeply insightful episode, writer, peer support worker, and public speaker Leif Gregersen shares his journey from an seemingly picture-perfect adolescence to navigating the onset of schizoaffective disorder at age 18. He opens up about the painful realities of early symptoms, the weight of stigma and hospitalization, and the long road through years of recovery.Mental Health Awareness Sources Linked at End: SAMHSA Treatment Locator: ⁠⁠https://findtreatment.gov⁠⁠VA Mental Health: ⁠⁠https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov⁠⁠NAMI Helpline: ⁠⁠https://www.nami.org/nami-helpline/⁠⁠The Trevor Project: ⁠⁠https://www.thetrevorproject.org/⁠⁠U.S. Mental Health Resource Guide: ⁠⁠https://ncdvtmh.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Locating-MH-Resources-UPDATED-MARCH-2023.pdf⁠⁠Leif's Substack: https://leifgregersen.substack.com/ Leif's Email: http://[email protected]/[email protected]'s Mental Health Resources: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zrK_JHYDUp_CDPL8BOZRhS-9q2BX1kWg/view

What if your brain could move a robotic arm, restore speech, or even bring back the sensation of touch? Brain-computer interfaces are turning neural activity into action, and the technology is advancing faster than most people realize.In this episode Mr. Anas Reda, a fifth-year MD-PhD candidate at Vanderbilt University and a researcher in functional neurosurgery, joins Ms. Prisha Hallur, host of the Synapse Podcast, to explain what brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) actually do and how they decode intention from brain activity. Using a simple three-step framework—acquisition, interpretation, and output, he breaks down how imagining a movement can be translated into control of a cursor, robotic limb, or other device.You'll discover:Why most current BCIs read the combined activity of thousands or hundreds of thousands of neurons rather than individual neuronsHow motor, speech, vision, and sensory BCIs aim to restore lost neurological functionHow a person with locked-in syndrome used neural signals to communicate intended speechHow responsive neurostimulation devices detect and treat epileptic seizuresWhy EEG, fMRI, minimally invasive stent-based systems, and implanted chips involve different trade-offs between safety, precision, and resolutionMr. Reda also traces the field's evolution from early human implants and primate experiments to modern systems that help patients walk, speak, control computers, and operate robotic limbs. The promise is enormous, but so are the challenges: improving signal quality, training brain-specific AI models, increasing device durability, and ensuring these life-changing technologies are distributed equitably.

Join Ela - 16-year-old science communicator, magazine founder, and neuroscience researcher - who's done everything from decoding complex brain chemistry to navigating early careers in STEM, Episode 3 will give an in-depth view of maladaptive daydreaming and the implications of the phenomena.Mental Health Awareness Sources Linked at End: SAMHSA Treatment Locator: ⁠https://findtreatment.gov⁠VA Mental Health: ⁠https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov⁠NAMI Helpline: ⁠https://www.nami.org/nami-helpline/⁠The Trevor Project: ⁠https://www.thetrevorproject.org/⁠U.S. Mental Health Resource Guide: ⁠https://ncdvtmh.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Locating-MH-Resources-UPDATED-MARCH-2023.pdf⁠

Medical school comes with intense academic pressure, high expectations, and an unspoken culture of perfectionism that can leave students feeling isolated when facing setbacks. In this episode, third-year osteopathic medical student Riya Patel opens up about the realities of navigating medical training, dealing with uncertainty, and protecting your mental health along the way. Drawing from her experiences in pediatric cancer advocacy and medical school, Riya shares candid insights on practicing self-compassion. Mental Health Awareness Sources Linked at End: SAMHSA Treatment Locator: https://findtreatment.govVA Mental Health: https://www.mentalhealth.va.govNAMI Helpline: https://www.nami.org/nami-helpline/The Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/U.S. Mental Health Resource Guide: https://ncdvtmh.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Locating-MH-Resources-UPDATED-MARCH-2023.pdf

In the first episode of our Mental Health Awareness Series, we come together with Karina L. Weinstein to explore an often-overlooked side of youth mental health: the experiences of parents and caregivers supporting a child through a mental health crisis. We’ll be discussing emotional challenges and the importance of compassion for the entire family.

In this episode you will learn a lot about the human mind, especially about the origin of human beliefs, their impact on society, why we are different in terms of choosing what to believe in, increasing importance of trust in the global world, can we ever free ourselves from the machinery that drives us to believe in irrational things, is there a way to design a better society and much more. Find us at simplyneuroscience.org

Connect with Dr Hanson! rickhanson.com Connect with Simply Neuroscience: simplyneuroscience.org Intro and Outro Music: Where The Waves Take Us by Purrple Cat | https://purrplecat.com/ Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Dr Sarah McKay is an Oxford educated neuroscientist, as well as the author of The Women's Brain Book and Baby Brain. She is also an influential neuroscience commentator who has been featured on ABC, quoted on the Wall Street Journal, and appeared as a TedX speaker. Today I had the chance to talk to her about her career and her transition out of the lab and into science communication. I also had the chance to learn her views on finding purpose in your work, the futility of the modern biohacker movement, and taking on the challenge of parenthood. Connect with Dr McKay! https://drsarahmckay.com/about/ Check out her book at: https://www.boomerangbooks.com.au/baby-brain-the-surprising-neuroscience-of-how-pregnancy-and-motherhood-sculpt-our-brains-and-change-our-minds-/dr-sarah-mckay/book_9780733648984.htm Connect with Simply Neuroscience: simplyneuroscience.org Intro and Outro Music: Where The Waves Take Us by Purrple Cat | https://purrplecat.com/ Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Dr John Ratey is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, an internationally recognized authority on exercise and neuropsychiatry, and the author of Go Wild and Spark. He's also been a longtime advocate of exercise and reconnecting with our ancestors' ways of life, ideas that today echo across many corners of the internet. Today I had the chance to talk to him about topics ranging from the essentials that we aren't getting from the modern world, how reconnecting with our origins betters our lives, neuroscience's failure to find an explanation for consciousness, and the importance of exercise for health and performance. Connect with Dr Ratey! http://www.johnratey.com/ Check out his book on exercise at https://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science-Exercise-Brain/dp/0316113514 Connect with Simply Neuroscience: simplyneuroscience.org Connect with me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/simonjiang43 Intro and Outro Music: Where The Waves Take Us by Purrple Cat | https://purrplecat.com/ Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/ Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... 0:00 Entering the field of exercise science 1:08 Intro 2:16 What got you into studying psychiatry? 2:55 We aren't close to understanding consciousness 6:35 Exercise can be as effective as medication 10:04 Can exercise be used alongside medication? 11:30 Aerobic vs anaerobic exercise 13:09 Exercise increases academic performance 15:00 Temporary high vs lasting mood boost 17:00 How a sedentary lifestyle wrecks your body 18:38 Forced vs voluntary exercise 21:10 People who change the world all exercise 22:30 How the modern world messes with our hunter-gatherer bodies 29:22 Find a community for your exercise 30:12 Outro