Nov 26, 2010
My Subject My Child: A Parent/Researcher's Search for Answers on Autism
What happens when a parent receives a diagnosis that his/her child has a condition where there is no known cure or treatment? And then what transpires when that same parent is also a scientist/researcher with the expertise to take matters into his/her own hands? This radio documentary profiles a neuroscientist who has advanced both treatment and research on autism – primarily because of his extraordinary devotion as a parent. Autism has become a personal and professional crusade for him, and he is on the verge of announcing a significant scientific breakthrough.
Mar 16, 2009
The Importance of Clinical Trials
Clinical Trials have long been a part of the history of medical research. While testing new drugs or devices, investigators enlist patients with fixed characteristics, dispense treatments and assemble data for a set period of time. The results can be crucial for the advancement of medical knowledge. Dr. Reisa Sperling knows that well. She’s the Director of Clinical Research in the Memory Disorders Unit at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Director of the Neuroimaging program at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. In this podcast, she talks about her own research and the importance of clinical trials and the patients who so generously participate in them.
Feb 01, 2009
Neuroethics and Deep Brain Stimulation
While Research in brain science holds exciting prospects for the treatment of disease, our increasing ability to manipulate the brain poses grave questions both for scientists and for society at large. An emerging field called Neuroethics is connected with a broad array of issues that ask where do we draw the line on manipulating brain function? In this podcast, Dr. Judy Illes, Canada Research Chair in Neuroethics and Professor of Neurology at the University of British Columbia, offers some background on the neural maze of science and ethics.
Dec 01, 2008
Healthy Aging with Eric Kandel, M.D (Part 1)
Welcome to a podcast series from the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives which presents the research and life stories of three prominent neuroscientists. In this podcast, we feature Dr. Eric Kandel who has spent his life studying learning and memory. In the year 2000, Dr. Kandel won the Nobel Prize for his research on how short and long term memories are created and stored. Dr. Kandel’s most recent book, In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a new Science of Mind tells his life story as well as breakthroughs in our knowledge of learning and memory.
Dec 01, 2008
Healthy Aging with Eric Kandel, M.D. (Part 2)
Welcome to a podcast series from the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives which presents the research and life stories of three prominent neuroscientists. In this podcast, Dr. Eric Kandel shares his thoughts about how to remain healthy as we age and describes his own remarkably active life.
Dec 01, 2008
Healthy Aging with Marilyn Albert, Ph.D. and Guy McKhann, M.D. (Part 1)
Welcome to a podcast series from the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives which presents the research and life stories of three prominent neuroscientists. In this podcast, Drs. Marilyn Albert and Guy McKhann are among the leading experts in the world—on how to age and how to keep our brains young. They’ve go-authored a book about it and head separate departments at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine—where they have each significantly advanced research in the field. And they are a husband and wife team—who are aging gracefully together. In this two-part series, they discuss their research and offer their own reflections on the optimal path to aging well.
Dec 01, 2008
Healthy Aging with Marilyn Albert, Ph.D. and Guy McKhann, M.D. (Part 2)
Welcome to a podcast series from the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives which presents the research and life stories of three prominent neuroscientists. In this podcast, Drs. Marilyn Albert and Guy McKhann are among the leading experts in the world—on how to age and how to keep our brains young. They’ve go-authored a book about it and head separate departments at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine—where they have each significantly advanced research in the field. And they are a husband and wife team—who are aging gracefully together. In this two-part series, they discuss their research and offer their own reflections on the optimal path to aging well.
Jul 31, 2008
Brian Wandell, Ph.D., on the findings of the Dana Arts and Cognition Consortium
In this podcast we hear from Dr. Brian Wandell of the department of psychology at Stanford University. His research for the Dana Consortium focused on identifying regions of the brain and neural pathways related to reading and exploring the relationship between early arts training, art capability, and the development of the children’s reading skills.
Jul 31, 2008
Elizabeth Spelke, Ph.D. on the findings of the Dana Arts and Cognition Consortium
In this podcast, we hear from Dr. Elizabeth Spelke, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and Co-Director of the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Initiative. For thirty years, Dr. Spelke has been investigating how infants and very young children gain their knowledge of the world. In her research for the Dana Consortium, Dr. Spelke conducted a series of studies examining the relationship between music and mathematical abilities.
Jul 31, 2008
Michael Posner, M.S., Ph.D. on the findings of the Dana Arts and Cognition Consortium
In this podcast we hear from Dr. Michael Posner, Professor Emeritus at the University of Oregon in the department of psychology. Dr. Posner is best known for his work on imaging the brain during cognitive tasks. His research for the Dana Consortium focused on exploring whether changes in the brain that might take place in arts training might also affect children and their overall cognition.
Apr 23, 2008
Autism Commentary with Dr. Barry Gordon
In honor of National Autism Awareness Month, Alliance member, noted author and leading authority on memory, Barry Gordon, M.D., Ph.D. talks as a researcher and parent of an autistic child about the current state of autism.
Mar 10, 2008
The Brain-Injured Soldier Part 1
A two-part podcast about the connection and intersection of brain injury and PTSD in U.S. veterans of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Featuring an interview with Dr. Jordon Grafman, senior investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disoders and Stroke, the podcasts will explain the history, science and treatment implications of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and explore this subject from the perspective of the injured veteran as well.
You can also read this recent press briefing on the same topic.
Mar 10, 2008
The Brain-Injured Soldier Part 2
A two-part podcast about the connection and intersection of brain injury and PTSD in U.S. veterans of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Featuring an interview with Dr. Jordon Grafman, senior investigator at the National Institute of Neurological Disoders and Stroke, the podcasts will explain the history, science and treatment implications of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and explore this subject from the perspective of the injured veteran as well.
You can also read this recent press briefing on the same topic.
Jan 19, 2007
Therapy for your CEO
Executive Function Therapy:
For victims of stroke or head injuries — tumors or brain disorders — what happens when standard rehabilitation techniques like physical therapy or occupational therapy come to an end? Are these victims then truly prepared to re-enter the work force? Sarah Ward (a cognitive rehab specialist in Boston) says most aren’t. She calls it the “silent epidemic” – where persons with damage to their frontal lobes (the brain’s “CEO”) may look as though they’ve “recovered” in the eyes of their physicians after a ten-minute check up – but most still have great difficulty functioning day to day.
Damage to the frontal lobes can leave someone who is truly smart without the ability to plan, organize time and space, initiate projects or see them through to completion. The control center orchestrates an array of “executive functions.”
Sarah Ward is now one of a small community of therapists around the country who are working to better re-integrate such patients into the workforce. She works on teaching compensatory strategies – like how to execute a task from start to finish, independently problem solve, or re-learn small tasks like small talk – how to listen or to write.
Ward was trained as a speech pathologist and learned about this issue when her own husband was hit by a truck more than a decade ago. His struggle became her personal and professional passion. In this piece we would come to understand this little-known field with Sarah Ward — and hear the stories of a collection of her patients.
Dec 16, 2006
Brain Music
Scientists have at their disposal medical instruments that now allow them to see far more deeply into the human brain than ever before. For instance, sensors can in any 15 seconds pick up as much as four million bits of information. But with so much information, how do you make any sense of it? Traditional methods of charts and graphs aren't cutting it. That's where music comes in-and a fascinating new intersection between art and science. DABI member Apostolos Georgopoulos, M.D., Ph.D. talks about his research. Brian Newhouse has more.
Nov 15, 2006
Dance and the Brain
Nobel laureate and Dana Alliance member Gerald Edelman and Susan Sgorbati, an improvisational dance teacher at Bennington College, explore what happens in the brain when dancers create patterns of movement. The dancer, working with Sgorbati, is Katie Martin and the percussionist is Jake Maginsky. This program was aired on KPBS in November. Marjorie Sun of KPBS filed the report.
Oct 03, 2005
Crossroads and Frontiers
This edition of the award-winning Gray Matters series centers on three fascinating case histories:
- 1848 Phineas Gage, survives a construction accident that drives a tamping iron through his skull.
- 1953 Patient "H.M." undergoes surgery to relieve epilepsy with most unexpected results.
- 1982 Young drug addicts display mysterious symptoms: those of advanced Parkinson's disease.
Scientific research continues to advance studies in frontal lobe damage, memory, and Parkinson's disease.
Mar 01, 2005
Learning Throughout Life
Education doesn't begin the day you're dropped off at kindergarten; nor does it end when they hand you a diploma. Life is filled with opportunities for learning. This program explores new brain research across the life span.
Dec 01, 2004
The Body Clock
An internal biological clock is fundamental to all living things. It regulates the daily patterns or rhythms of our lives, when we sleep, when we wake, when we feel at our best and at our worst. This program gives an overview of the structures in the brain that regulate body clocks, discusses what happens when body clocks go wrong and introduces the field of chronobiology.
Oct 01, 2004
Mapping the Brain
Brain imaging is helping scientists map the complex circuitry of the brain, pathways leading to people's deepest despair, brightest potential and darkest addictions. The researchers are among the world's pioneer brain scientists, studying the images for clues about how the brain functions and what to do when it malfunctions.
Dec 20, 2003
Stroke and the Brain
Physicians and researchers specializing in stroke have adopted the term “brain attack” to convey the message that stroke is a medical emergency that needs to be viewed and treated with the same urgency as a heart attack. Researchers are optimistic that we are on the threshold of having the first true interventional agents for acute stroke treatment and hospitals across the country are developing stroke teams to prepare for the coming therapeutic challenge. Featuring Maya Angelou and Ray Bradbury.
Dec 18, 2003
The Teenage Brain
Brain researchers are finding physiological evidence for something that parents of adolescence have long suspected- teenagers just do not think or feel the same way that adults do. Research now shows that the disparities are due, in part, to the fact that teenage brains actually work differently from those of adults. Hosted by Natalie Portman.
Dec 11, 2003
Sports, Fitness, and the Brain
Like the body’s muscles, the brain physically adapts itself to exercise. Research can now point to a myriad of links between peak physical performance and profound changes in the brain. ABC sports commentator Frank Gifford hosts.
Dec 07, 2003
Surgery and the Brain
An intensely dramatic program that takes listeners inside the human brain – where several times a day some of the leading neurosurgeons in the country perform minor miracles. It is also a tour of some of the most promising innovations happening on the operating table; breakthroughs that include surgery for Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, tumors, stroke and complex spinal surgery.
Dec 01, 2003
Neuroethics
Research holds exciting prospects for the treatment of neurological disease, but our increasing ability to manipulate the brain will pose grave questions for both scientists and society at large. This program explores where we draw the line on manipulating brain function. Neuroethics, a new field of ethical study, examines the human and social implications that accompany contemporary brain research.
Nov 23, 2003
Music and the Brain
How is music perceived by the brain and which cells and circuits come into play? How does music influence a child’s developing brain? Are musicians’ brains wired differently from those of other people? Neuroscientists around the world have begun to explore the neural underpinnings of music. Any kind of music, whether it’s being played or just listened to, is able to shape the structure and function of the brain. Mandy Patinkin hosts.
Nov 09, 2003
Sleep and the Brain
We spend a third of our lives sleeping. Research now shows that the sleeping brain is as active as the working brain and perhaps more. Explore the value of healthy sleep, which some say is more important to general health than diet, exercise or heredity. Hear new findings about sleep deprivation, the dreaming brain and changes in sleep patterns throughout life.
Nov 04, 2003
Stress and the Brain
Stress may actually damage the brain’s structure and chemistry. This program highlights new research that makes clear how inextricably entwined stress, the brain and the body are. Veteran newscaster and journalist Robert MacNeil hosts.
Nov 01, 2003
Emotion and the Brain
Features the latest research into emotional expression in the biology of the brain – and its repercussions for the body. New studies are leading scientists to consider that the brain is organized into multiple emotional processing systems, a complex web of connections that handles each emotion separately.
Oct 19, 2003
The Immune System and the Brain
Brain science and immunology interact in preventing, fighting and in some cases causing disease. A new field, neuroimmunology, has emerged that integrates these two disciplines. This program reviews breakthroughs in the interactions between the nervous system and the immune system. Advances in autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis are featured – as well as hopes of truly revolutionary developments such as an Alzheimer’s vaccine.
Oct 07, 2003
Men, Women and the Brain
No doubt – men and women are different. But is there a male brain and a female brain? Researchers are consistently finding that the brains of the two sexes are subtly but significantly unique. This program presents a review of the latest research on the neurological explanation for sex differences, including questions of behavior, aggression and perception, as well as differences in incidence of depression, addiction, eating disorders and migraine headaches.
Oct 01, 2003
Alzheimer's Disease and the Brain
Research is providing new insights to improve understanding of why brain cells crucial to memory and behavior are suffocated by Alzheimer's disease. Although there is no cure for this frightening disease, the new focus on earlier diagnosis and treatment may significantly delay its course. Hosted by world-champion swimmer Diana Nyad.
Oct 01, 2003
The Arts and the Brain
Examines how the arts can play a valuable role in children's growth by engaging them in activities ideal for maximizing development. This program also explores the underpinnings of art. Are artists' brains wired differently than other people's brains? And, how might the arts be used as a healer for people with brain injury, stroke or Alzheimer's disease?
Mar 01, 2002
Bioterrorism and the Brain
During the last three decades, much information has been generated from research in brain science and immunology. In the event of a biological attack, experts in both fields offer their best guesses on the impact of vaccination, methods of boosting our immune system to "buy us time," and why blocking the effect on the brain may be a legitimate line of defense.
Oct 03, 2001
Trauma and the Brain
This program provides scientific insight from the nation’s top researchers on the shock of the events of September 11, 2001 drawing from brain research past and present: studies of why traumatic memories incubate and are strengthened over time, what brain scientists understand about how fear works and recent advances in identifying and helping victims of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dec 10, 1997
Memory and the Brain
For decades, psychologists and brain scientists have been mystified by how memory works. Now, research is helping us shed light on tracking memory to its roots, to its molecular structure in the brain. What we know about memory – what it is and how it works – is the focus of this program. [Revised 2000]
Apr 01, 1997
Alcohol, Drugs and the Brain
More than 50 million Americans smoke cigarettes and roughly 20 million are dependent on alcohol and/or other drugs. New findings in brain research have led neuroscientists to confirm the link between addiction and the brain. Hosted by Pat Summerall. [Revised 2000]
Mar 01, 1997
Depression and the Brain
Join CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace for a powerful examination of depression and the brain. By speaking out about his own depression, Wallace has helped to put a recognizable and trusted face on this very serious problem. This program reviews cutting-edge research that is transforming lives. [Revised 2000]
Jan 01, 1995
The Developing Brain
When a child is born, its brain is a quarter of its adult size. By the age of two, the cortex is working at adult levels, and by four, a child's brain is more than twice as active as an adult's. This program explores how the normal brain develops and what can go right and wrong along the way. Hosted by Judy Woodruff. [Revised 2000]
Oct 30, 1994
Pain and the Brain
Chronic pain is estimated to affect some 50 million Americans per year. More has been learned about the nature of pain and ways to control it in the past few decades than at any other time in history. Cancer pain, headaches and back pain are among the topics discussed with neuroscientists who are at the frontiers of pain research. Actress Samantha Eggar hosts. [Revised 2000]
Jan 01, 1994
The Aging Brain
A moving and enlightening program hosted by Patricia Neal, examines memory loss and aging, Alzheimer's Disease, stroke, depression and alcoholism, as well as the latest research in these fields. [Revised 2000]