Psychiatry podcasts

Scientific American's Science Quickly examines an early pilot trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for people with long-term anorexia. The episode carefully discusses reported changes in symptoms and motivation, possible neuroplasticity mechanisms, the small uncontrolled sample and the need for larger randomized studies and clinical safeguards.

Corey Keller discusses how transcranial magnetic stimulation can probe and influence brain networks. He explains efforts to measure the brain's response to stimulation and to understand why treatment outcomes differ, outlining the opportunities and remaining uncertainties in developing more precise psychiatric interventions.

Hosted by Nicholas Weiler

Leanne Williams explores how brain imaging could help explain biological differences among people with similar mental-health symptoms. She describes research on brain-network patterns in depression and the possibility of using those measurements to support more individualized diagnosis and treatment.

Hosted by Nicholas Weiler

Jacob Hooker of Sensorium Therapeutics speaks with Rafael Rosengarten about investigating plant-derived compounds for psychiatric and neurological drug development. They discuss ethnobotanical records, knowledge graphs and AI as tools for generating hypotheses, alongside the medicinal chemistry and clinical testing needed to turn potential leads into medicines.

Hosted by Rafael Rosengarten

Knut Martin Folkestad recounts decades of living with drug dependence and his experience of medication-assisted rehabilitation. Conversation in Norwegian.

Lloyd Minor and Karl Deisseroth discuss how tools for mapping and controlling neural circuits are reshaping research on the human mind. Deisseroth recounts the development of optogenetics and its use in investigating the brain activity underlying emotion and behavior. They explore Stanford Medicine's Human Neural Circuitry research program and how advances in circuit-level neuroscience could improve understanding and treatment of mental illness. The conversation also considers scientific discovery and the importance of humility in research.

Hosted by Lloyd Minor

Chris Rozell discusses combining deep-brain stimulation, neural recordings and machine learning to study treatment-resistant depression. The conversation examines biomarkers of recovery, open- and closed-loop interventions, prediction of treatment responses and explainable models, while addressing the obstacles and interdisciplinary work involved in precision neuroengineering.

Hosted by Paul Middlebrooks

Nicole Rust examines why advances in neuroscience have not translated straightforwardly into treatments for brain and mental disorders. Drawing on Elusive Cures, she considers the relationship between memory and mood, robustness and fragility, modelling, standardisation and iterative changes in how researchers frame the problems they study.

Hosted by Paul Middlebrooks

Tor-Morten Kvam discusses research into psychedelic-assisted treatment of mental illness and the history of this field. Conversation in Norwegian.