E17 – Afraid: Understanding the Purpose of Fear and Harnessing the Power of Anxiety

In this Halloween special episode, Dr. Marusak interviews Dr. Arash Javanbakht, a psychiatrist and director of the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic (STARC) at Wayne State University about fear and his new book, “Afraid”. They discuss the purpose of fear, fear-based disorders, such as anxiety and PTSD, why we like to be scared (e.g., rollercoasters, haunted houses), some surprising benefits of fear, and more. We are giving away a free signed copy of Dr. Javanbakt's book! See our @brainstempodcast social media before November 7, 2023, for details. To learn more about Dr. Javanbakt, visit: https://www.starclab.org & https://www.instagram.com/arash_javanbakht/.  To learn more about Dr. Javanbakt’s new book, visit: https://www.amazon.com/Afraid-Understanding-Purpose-Harnessing-Anxiety/dp/1538170388.   Help is available 24 hours/day at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.  BrainSTEM is hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Hilary Marusak. Production by Amanpreet Bhogal, Manmeet Bhogal, and Gabby Maramag. This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Society for Neuroscience and Michigan Society for Neuroscience.    Subscribe, share, and follow us! Email us with topic or guest suggestions. Visit our website: www.brainSTEMpodcast.com. Our video podcasts are also posted on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2LTYvOoFc6L7p2kUMaFhCA/videos  

First, Dr. Marusak talks with her best friend, Kristen Ciantro. Kristen is a stay-at-home mom with four kids (the fourth was actually born right before this episode aired!) and a degree in electrical engineering. Then, Dr. Marusak talks with Dr. Bridget Callaghan, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at The University of California, Los Angeles, where she directs the Brain & Body Lab. Together with her lab, Dr. Callaghan studies the impacts of early caregiving relationships on mental and physical health outcomes across the lifespan and into the next generation.   To learn more about Dr. Callaghan’s work, you can follow her and her lab on social media @Dr_BCallaghan and @BABLab_UCLA or visit her lab’s website: https://brainandbodylab.psych.ucla.edu/. Additional recommended readings/resources:  “Baby Brain” by Dr. Sarah McKay and Psychology Today’s Find a Therapist Tool on their website: www.psychologytoday.com.  Help is available 24 hours/day at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.  BrainSTEM is hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Hilary Marusak. Audio and video by Amanpreet & Manmeet Bhogal. This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Society for Neuroscience and Michigan Society for Neuroscience.  Subscribe, share, and follow us! Email us with topic or guest suggestions. Visit our website: www.brainSTEMpodcast.com. Our video podcasts are also posted on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2LTYvOoFc6L7p2kUMaFhCA/videos. 

This special episode features an interview with Dr. Clara Zundel, Ph.D., about recent research on the impact of air pollution on the brain and mental health. Dr. Zundel is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine. Her work focuses on how environmental toxins, such as air pollution, impact brain and behavior and increase risk for psychiatric disorders across the lifespan.  To learn more about our research studies, visit www.wsuthinklab.com. To obtain real-time updates and forecasts on air quality in your area, visit www.airnow.gov.   Help is available 24 hours/day at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.  BrainSTEM is hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Hilary Marusak. Audio and video by Amanpreet & Manmeet Bhogal. This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Society for Neuroscience and Michigan Society for Neuroscience.  Subscribe, share, and follow us! Email us with topic or guest suggestions. Visit our website: www.brainSTEMpodcast.com. Our video podcasts are also posted on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2LTYvOoFc6L7p2kUMaFhCA/videos.

In this special episode, Dr. Marusak talks with Dr. Greg Fonzo, Ph.D. about recent advances in brain stimulation used in his lab and others. Dr. Fonzo is an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School.  Dr. Fonzo’s research encompasses two main themes.  First, his laboratory utilizes non-invasive neuroscience tools such as neuroimaging and neuromodulatory probes to understand neurobiological mechanisms of stress-related mental health disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and major depression.  Second, his laboratory is focused on designing novel neuroscience-informed interventions to alleviate mental health symptoms, with a particular focus on psychedelic-assisted therapies and neuromodulation  To learn more about Dr. Fonzo's work, visit https://sites.utexas.edu/fonzolab/. To learn about the Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy at UTexas, visit: https://dellmed.utexas.edu/units/center-for-psychedelic-research-and-therapy  The ultrasound footage is courtesy of OneMind.org.   Help is available 24 hours/day at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255.  BrainSTEM is hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Hilary Marusak. Audio and video by Amanpreet & Manmeet Bhogal. This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Society for Neuroscience and Michigan Society for Neuroscience.  Subscribe, share, and follow us! Email us with topic or guest suggestions. Visit our website: www.brainSTEMpodcast.com. Our video podcasts are also posted on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2LTYvOoFc6L7p2kUMaFhCA/videos. 

First, Dr. Marusak talks with Johnny Crowder, a suicide/abuse survivor, TEDx speaker, touring musician, mental health & sobriety advocate, and the Founder & CEO of Cope Notes, a text-based mental health platform that provides daily support to users in nearly 100 countries around the world. Then, she speaks with Dr. Christopher Pittenger, a clinician-scientist with expertise in the neurobiology and treatment of OCD at Yale University School of Medicine.  To learn more about COPE notes, visit: copenotes.com. For a link to Johnny's first TEDx talk, which covers thought patterns & why the brain does what it does, visit: copenotes.com/tedx. Visit the International OCD Foundation's website for facts and information about OCD, and resources, including find a therapist who specializes in OCD: iocdf.org. Help is available 24 hours/day at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255. BrainSTEM is hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Hilary Marusak. Audio and video by Amanpreet & Manmeet Bhogal. This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Society for Neuroscience and Michigan Society for Neuroscience. Subscribe, share, and follow us! Email us with topic or guest suggestions. Visit our website: www.brainSTEMpodcast.com. Our video podcasts are also posted on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2LTYvOoFc6L7p2kUMaFhCA/videos.

This special episode covers antisocial behavior, with an interview with neuroscientist and psychologist Dr. Luke Hyde. Dr. Hyde is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan. His work focuses on how adversity and inequality impact child brain and behavior development with an additional focus on the development of behavior problems and antisocial behavior in youth and adults. To learn more about Dr. Hyde's research, visit: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mindlab/. For a link to the Aftermath: Surviving Psychopathology Foundation, visit: aftermath-surviving-psychopathy.org/. The CDC website has science- and evidence-based practices for parenting: www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/index.html. For parents who are worried about their child's behaviors, look for a child psychologist or social worker and ask them what sort of science- and evidence-based interventions they use. You can also Google "parent management training near me". Help is available 24 hours/day at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255. BrainSTEM is hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Hilary Marusak. Audio and video by Amanpreet & Manmeet Bhogal. This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Society for Neuroscience and Michigan Society for Neuroscience. Subscribe, share, and follow us! Email us with topic or guest suggestions. Visit our website: www.brainSTEMpodcast.com. Our video podcasts are also posted on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcJA47yll5ffIZ_xZgXqPiw/featured.

Dr. Marusak talks with Dr. Sunny S. Lou, MD, PhD, about burnout among medical professionals. Dr. Lou is a fellow in the Division of Adult Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Lou’s research interests include leveraging information from the electronic health record to develop models for clinical decision support and to improve anesthesiology workflow. For a video version of this episode, visit our BrainSTEMpodcast Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcJA47yll5ffIZ_xZgXqPiw/featured. To learn more about Dr. Lou’s research, visit: sslou.rbind.io. For resources for medical providers experiencing burnout: American Psychiatric Association. Help is available 24 hours/day at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255. BrainSTEM is hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Hilary Marusak. Audio and video by Amanpreet & Manmeet Bhogal. This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Society for Neuroscience and Michigan Society for Neuroscience. Subscribe, share, and follow us! Email us with topic or guest suggestions. Visit our website: www.brainSTEMpodcast.com. 

First, Dr. Marusak talks with Vara, a young cancer survivor with PTSD symptoms. Then, she talks with Dr. Ryan Herringa, a child psychiatrist and neuroscientist at University of Wisconsin who specializes in the treatment and study of childhood traumatic stress and PTSD.  To learn more about Dr. Herringa's research, visit the BRAVE Research Center's website: brave.psychiatry.wisc.edu. For resources for children and families, visit the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, the Trevor Project, and the National Institute of Mental Health. A local pediatrician or counselor can refer to a mental health provider, or Psychology Today's website. Help is available 24 hours/day at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255. BrainSTEM is hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Hilary Marusak. Audio and video by Amanpreet & Manmeet Bhogal. This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Society for Neuroscience and Michigan Society for Neuroscience. Subscribe, share, and follow us! Email us with topic or guest suggestions. Visit our website: www.brainSTEMpodcast.com. 

First, Dr. Marusak talks with two black women therapists about psychedelics: Jamilah George (@MilahSingz), a Clinical Psychology PhD student, and Sara Reed (@minds_health), a licensed Marriage and Family therapist and CEO of a mental health technology company called Minds iHealth Solutions. Then, she talks with Dr. Jessica Maples, a researcher at Emory University who specializes in exposure-based treatments for PTSD, including psychedelic augmentation of psychotherapy such as MDMA and psilocybin.  To learn more about psychedelic research, visit: https://medium.com/north-star/the-shadows-you-wont-face-dd586fa57716 https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/09/21/psychedelic-medicine-will-it-be-accessible-to-all/ https://psychedelicstoday.com/2020/09/01/sara-reed-ketamine-therapy-through-a-culturally-responsible-lens/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212144719301218?via%3Dihub https://www.mindsihealth.com/  https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2054/4/3/article-p125.xml  https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2054/4/1/article-p4.xml https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2054/4/3/article-p146.xml. To learn about the Grady Trauma Project, visit gradytraumaproject.com. To learn more about Dr. Jessica Maples-Keller, go to: jessmaples.wixsite.com/website-1. BrainSTEM is hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Hilary Marusak. Audio and video by Amanpreet & Manmeet Bhogal. Subscribe, share, and follow us! Email us with topic or guest suggestions.

First, Dr. Marusak talks with Vara, a young cancer survivor with PTSD symptoms. Then, she talks with Dr. Ryan Herringa, a child psychiatrist and neuroscientist at University of Wisconsin who specializes in the treatment and study of childhood traumatic stress and PTSD. For a video version of this episode, visit our BrainSTEMpodcast Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcJA47yll5ffIZ_xZgXqPiw/featured. To learn more about Dr. Herringa's research, visit the BRAVE Research Center's website: brave.psychiatry.wisc.edu. For resources for children and families, visit the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, the Trevor Project, and the National Institute of Mental Health. A local pediatrician or counselor can refer to a mental health provider, or Psychology Today's website. Help is available 24 hours/day at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255. BrainSTEM is hosted by neuroscientist Dr. Hilary Marusak. Audio by Amanpreet & Manmeet Bhogal. This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Society for Neuroscience and Michigan Society for Neuroscience. Subscribe, share, and follow us! Email us with topic or guest suggestions. Visit our website: www.brainSTEMpodcast.com.