Shows
The Giants Shoulder#43 Nick Lane: Origin of Life, Aliens, Metabolism, Bioelectricity, Consciousness and Ai!Nick Lane is a biochemist, Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London, and author of Transformer, The Vital Question, and Power, Sex, Suicide — books that have revolutionised how we think about the origin of life, complexity, and the deep chemistry powering consciousness.Life, Lane argues, didn’t begin in a soup but in the cracks of the seafloor — powered not by sunlight, but by geochemical gradients, ancient electricity, and the quiet inevitability of metabolism. And astonishingly, those same forces still flow through your cells — and possibly your mind.Expect to learn how life may have sta...2025-07-252h 30The Giants Shoulder#42 Meet Dr Michael Levin The Scientist Creating New Forms of Synthetic Life!Dr. Michael Levin is a biologist, computer scientist, and co-creator of the Xenobot — the world’s first living, programmable organism, built entirely from frog skin and heart cells. These tiny constructs can move, heal, and even replicate — making them the first-ever synthetic life forms capable of self-replication.But this is just the beginning.Dr. Levin’s research into bioelectricity is flipping biology on its head. He’s shown that cells use electrical signals — not just genes — to communicate, store memories, and make decisions. He’s grown eyes on tadpole tails, regenerated limbs, and reprogrammed cancer — all by changing ce...2025-07-231h 06The Giants Shoulder#41 No. 1 Reality Theorist: Consciousness, Quantum Fields, The Weird Experiment that Disproves Spacetime!James Glattfelder is a physicist and complexity theorist turned philosopher of mind and reality, and author of The Sapient Cosmos — a provocative attempt to rethink the universe as fundamentally conscious and informational.Forget what you think you know about space, time, matter, or even consciousness. Glattfelder believes that reality isn’t built from particles, but from information — and that consciousness might not emerge from brains, but be the very substrate of the cosmos itself.Expect to learn what information really is and why it might be more fundamental than matter, how quantum field theory dismantles our in...2025-07-071h 53The Giants Shoulder#40 Learning Expert: Hallucinated Reality, Rewiring Baby Brains, Emotions, Learning & Ai!Dr. Mark Williams is a cognitive neuroscientist, author of The Connected Species, and one of the world’s leading experts on how we learn, connect, and perceive reality — and why modern life may be rewiring our brains in ways we don’t fully understand.Your brain is not showing you the world as it is — it’s hallucinating a version that helps you survive. And that illusion is breaking down. Especially for children.Expect to learn why reality itself is a convincing hallucination created by your brain, how technology is disrupting emotional development and attention in kids, w...2025-06-261h 09The Giants Shoulder#39 Consciousness Expert: Alien Minds, Insane Biology and the Evolution of Subjectivity!Peter Godfrey-Smith is a philosopher of biology, diver, and author of Other Minds and Metazoa — two of the most important works on animal consciousness ever written. His research explores the octopus not just as an animal, but as an alien intelligence that evolved a complex mind entirely separate from our own.Octopuses have distributed brains in their arms, no cultural learning, no social lives — and yet they solve problems, play, and even throw objects in rage. They live just 1 to 2 years, mate once, and die — raising a profound question: why would evolution build a mind this s...2025-06-201h 22The Giants Shoulder#38 Meet the Drug & Brain Expert Fired For Exposing the Truth! Dr David NuttProfessor David Nutt is the neuropsychopharmacologist who built the world’s first science-based drug-harm scale, led the pioneering LSD brain-scan, and lost his post as the UK government’s chief drug adviser after declaring that alcohol is deadlier than LSD. He’s the author of Drugs Without the Hot Air, Drink, Cannabis, and Psychedelics, and he’s now engineering a hangover-free alternative to booze.Drug policy isn’t broken by accident—it’s broken by design. From kids denied life-saving cannabis to a global war on psychedelics that stalled mental-health breakthroughs for half a century, Profes...2025-06-1657 minThe Giants Shoulder#37 Expert Palaeontologist: Direwolf De-Extinction, Dinosaur Myths, Brains and Sex! Dr David HoneDr. David Hone is a paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and author of How Fast Did T. rex Run?, a myth-busting investigation into the surprising behavior, intelligence, and complexity of dinosaurs.Forget the lumbering monsters of Jurassic Park — dinosaurs were social, strategic, and sometimes even spectacularly weird. From display structures and pack hunting to nesting behaviour and brain evolution, Dr. Hone’s work reveals the dynamic lives these creatures once lived.Expect to learn why T. rex might not have been the top predator we imagine, how dinosaurs used feathers and horns to flirt rather than fight, whet...2025-06-122h 01The Giants Shoulder#36 I Challenged the World’s #1 Child-Attachment Expert! Erica KomisarErica Komisar is a psychoanalyst, clinical social worker, and author of Chicken Little, The Sky Isn’t Falling, a fiercely debated book about raising resilient adolescents in an anxious world.With over three decades of clinical experience, Erica argues that the roots of childhood mental illness—depression, anxiety, even ADHD—can be traced back to emotional stress in the earliest years of life, especially when children are deprived of consistent, attuned caregiving. And yes, that means daycare is in the firing line.Expect to learn why Erica believes ADHD is not a disorder but a stress...2025-06-0557 minThe Giants Shoulder#35 What People Who Taste Triangles Reveal About Consciousness! Dr Anina RichDr. Anina Rich is a cognitive neuroscientist and one of the world’s foremost experts on synesthesia — the rare phenomenon where senses merge, allowing people to see music, taste shapes, or feel touch by sight alone.But synesthesia isn’t a neurological glitch — it’s a window into how all of our brains construct reality.In this conversation, we explore how synesthesia reveals the brain’s hidden architecture: how we fuse the senses, how attention shapes perception, and why reality itself might just be a controlled hallucination.Expect to learn what it’s like to taste triangle...2025-06-031h 04The Giants Shoulder#34 Meet the Psychiatrist Redefining Mental Illness! Dr Nicholas FabianoDr. Nicholas Fabiano is a psychiatrist, researcher, and rising star in the world of mental health who’s challenging the foundations of how we diagnose and treat mental illness.He believes depression isn’t just in your head — it’s in your whole body. From prescribing exercise as medicine to exploring the role of creatine in mood and cognition, Dr. Fabiano is pioneering a new, evidence-based psychiatry that breaks free from outdated diagnostic boxes and recognizes the deep connection between mental and physical health.Expect to learn why the DSM fails to capture the complexity of depre...2025-05-231h 58The Giants Shoulder#33 Meet the Neuroscientist Unlocking the Hidden Language of Intelligence! Dr Chris SummerfieldDr. Chris Summerfield is a neuroscientist, cognitive scientist, and author of These Strange New Minds — a groundbreaking exploration of whether machines like ChatGPT are starting to think, and what that reveals about human intelligence itself.Summerfield has spent his career studying how the brain perceives, predicts, abstracts, and decides — and now he's using that knowledge to decode how artificial systems are learning to do the same, often without being told how.Expect to learn why your brain might just be doing autocomplete on reality, how AI systems are starting to mirror human thought through pure pred...2025-05-091h 04The Giants Shoulder#32 Meet the Man with ZERO Mental Imagery! Tom EbeyorTom Ebeyer is the founder of the Aphantasia Network, the world’s largest organisation dedicated to understanding the invisible differences in how people experience mental imagery — or in some cases, don’t experience it at all.Aphantasia is the inability to visualise images in the mind’s eye — a condition that affects how we remember, dream, feel emotion, and even plan for the future. Most people who have it don’t even realise it.Expect to learn how Tom discovered he couldn’t picture anything in his head, how aphantasia can protect people from PTSD, why some artis...2025-05-071h 19The Giants ShoulderGiant Moment #6 Your Emotions Are Not What you Think! Dr Anil SethCheck out the Full Podcast with leading consciousness researcher Dr Anil Seth here - https://youtu.be/lOSA06K0l1oAnil Seth is a neuroscientist, author, and one of the world's leading experts in consciousness research. His TED talk Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Experience has captivated over 17 million viewers, and his groundbreaking book Being You explores the incredible mystery of perception and consciousness.Buy Being You (It's Genuinely Great) - https://amzn.to/4ccATngYour brain is constantly hallucinating your reality—it's predicting, guessing, and making mistakes every moment of your life. Understanding th...2025-05-0322 minThe Giants Shoulder#31 Meet the Harvard Neuroscientist Who Watched Her Own Brain Die! | Dr Jill Bolte TaylorDr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist and author of My Stroke of Insight, one of the most powerful and widely viewed neuroscience stories of all time.At 37, Dr. Taylor suffered a catastrophic hemorrhagic stroke that shut down the entire left hemisphere of her brain. As a brain scientist, she watched her mind unravel from the inside out—losing language, identity, memory, and self. But what she found on the other side wasn’t just silence—it was peace, euphoria, and a profound sense of oneness with the universe.Expect to learn what it feels...2025-05-011h 37The Giants Shoulder#30 Dr Nick Enfield Language Expert: How Language Warps Your Memory, Emotions, Beliefs and Reality itself!Dr. Nick Enfield is a linguistic anthropologist and author of Language vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists, a mind-bending exploration of how words shape — and distort — the world we live in.Language isn’t just a tool for communication. It’s a tool for persuasion, manipulation, and coordination. It rewires our perception, memory, emotions, and beliefs — often without us even realizing it.Expect to learn why describing a face can make you forget it, how language evolved not to describe reality but to influence others, why humans are unmatched in social...2025-04-251h 47The Giants Shoulder#29 Dopamine Expert: How to Rewire your Brain for Meaning in a World Addicted to MORE!Mike Long is a playwright, speechwriter, and co-author of Taming the Molecule of More — the practical sequel to the bestselling neuroscience book The Molecule of More.Dopamine doesn’t bring happiness — it brings anticipation. It’s the molecule that keeps us scrolling, swiping, craving, and chasing. But when understood and tamed, it can also drive purpose, focus, and deeply fulfilling lives.Expect to learn why dopamine isn’t about pleasure at all, how it hijacks our relationships, sex lives, and attention spans, the true science behind dopamine fasting and cold plunges, how porn and dating apps rewire the brain’...2025-04-181h 18The Giants Shoulder#28 No. 1 Intuition Expert: Harnessing your Subconscious, Aphantasia and The Future of AI RelationshipsDr. Joel Pearson is a psychologist, neuroscientist, and founder of Future Minds Lab at UNSW — a cutting-edge research group exploring consciousness, intuition, mental imagery, and the psychology of decision-making in the age of AI.He’s the world’s leading expert on aphantasia — the inability to visualize mental images — and author of The Intuition Toolkit, a science-backed guide to harnessing the power of the subconscious mind.Expect to learn how intuition really works in the brain, the 5 science-based rules for trusting your gut, how to train intuition like a skill, the surprising link between interoception and uncons...2025-04-151h 55The Giants Shoulder#27 Meet the Scientist Who Mathematically Proved that Reality is an Illusion! Dr Robert PrentnerDr. Robert Prentner is a philosopher of mind and consciousness researcher working alongside Donald Hoffman, co-authoring the *Conscious Agent Theory* — a radical scientific framework that challenges our deepest assumptions about reality.Buy The Case Against Reality: How Evolution Hid the Truth from Our Eyes - https://amzn.to/42uSB11According to their work, we don’t perceive the world as it truly is. Our brains evolved not for truth, but for *useful illusion*. Space and time? Icons. Objects? Interface elements. And what you think of as “reality” may be nothing more than a simplified desktop, hiding the chaotic code beneath...2025-04-101h 34The Giants ShoulderGiant Moment #5 The Incredible Connection between AI and Brain Evolution! Dr Paul CisekDr. Paul Cisek is a professor of neuroscience at the University of Montreal, and focuses on understanding how the brain controls behaviour. Particularly through the lens of motor control and decision-making. His interdisciplinary approach combines neurophysiological recordings, computational modelling, and evolutionary biology to explore how the brain mediates interactions with the world. This type of knowledge makes for an incredibly interesting conversation! Check out the Full Podcast with the amazing Dr Paul Cisek - https://youtu.be/C6frE6nj1tY2025-04-1034 minThe Giants ShoulderGiant Moment #4 Why Parenting Matters... But your DNA Matters More - Dr Robert PlominThis Giant Moment was taken from #10 Behavioural Geneticist Dr Robert Plomin - How DNA impacts Personality and the Future of Genetic Testing and ManipulationCheck out the full episode here - https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vIhY07qFBNms01I1yJvc2?si=InaapK9iTWKHJJU4me8TJQ2025-04-0420 minThe Giants Shoulder#26 No. 1 Consciousness Expert: Optical Illusions that Prove Reality is a Lie, Emotions, Books and AI!Anil Seth is a neuroscientist, author, and one of the world's leading experts in consciousness research. His TED talk Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Experience has captivated over 17 million viewers, and his groundbreaking book Being You explores the incredible mystery of perception and consciousness.Buy Being You (It's Genuinely Great) - https://amzn.to/4ccATngYour brain is constantly hallucinating your reality—it's predicting, guessing, and making mistakes every moment of your life. Understanding these hallucinations can radically alter your view of what’s real, what’s illusion, and how your emotions are truly made.Expect to learn why the famous...2025-04-021h 20The Giants Shoulder#25 Evolution Expert: Meet the Scientist Running a 50,000 Generation Evolution Experiment!Dr. Will Ratcliff is an evolutionary biologist, professor, and researcher pioneering groundbreaking experiments in evolutionary biology and synthetic biology.Understanding how complex life evolved from single-celled organisms is one of biology's greatest mysteries. By evolving yeast from simple single cells into increasingly complex multicellular forms in his laboratory, Dr. Ratcliff is unlocking the fundamental rules that govern evolution itself. So how does life go from microscopic simplicity to stunning complexity, and what secrets are hidden within evolutionary leaps?Expect to learn how scientists forced yeast to evolve multicellularity, why evolution doesn't always mean increasing complexity...2025-03-312h 01The Giants Shoulder#24 No. 1 Psychiatrist: Everything you NEED TO KNOW about the Molecule Controlling your Life! Dr Daniel LiebermanDr. Daniel Z. Lieberman is a clinical professor of psychiatry and author of *The Molecule of More*, one of the most influential neuroscience books of the last decade.Dopamine drives our ambition, creativity, addictions, obsessions, and even our experience of love — but it’s not the pleasure molecule you think it is. It’s the molecule of *desire*. And understanding how it works could change your life.Expect to learn why wanting and liking are completely different systems in the brain, how dopamine tricks us into chasing goals that never satisfy, the difference between desire and control dopami...2025-03-261h 03The Giants ShoulderGiant Moment #3 Are Psychedelics the Answer to the Mental Health Crisis? - Dr Christof KochGiant Moment taken from Dr Christof Koch - Consciousness, Psychedelics and Mental Health Giants Shoulder 32025-03-2212 minThe Giants ShoulderGiant Moment #2 Dr Kevin Mitchell Debunks the BIGGEST Brain MythsKevin Mitchell is an associate professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. His research is aimed at understanding the genetic program specifying the wiring of the brain and its relevance to variation in human faculties, especially to psychiatric and neurological disease and to perceptual conditions like synaesthesia.2025-03-1522 minThe Giants Shoulder#23 Sleep Expert Reveals SHOCKING Stories: Murder, Motorcycles, and Midnight Madness | Dr Guy LeschzinerGet the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet at https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL (use Code GIANTSMANTA10)Dr. Guy Leschziner is a neurologist, world-renowned sleep expert, and acclaimed author specialising in the fascinating complexities of sleep disorders and their extraordinary impact on human behaviour.Sleep is not just an 'on or off' state—it's a complex spectrum where different parts of our brains can independently switch between waking and sleeping. From sleepwalkers who cook meals, drive cars, or even commit crimes without memory, to the phenomenon of 'local sleep' occurring even when we're wide awake, sleep continues to surprise scientists.Ex...2025-03-131h 23The Giants Shoulder#22 Social Neuroscientist: "What Everyone Gets Wrong about Dopamine & Serotonin"Dr Taylor Guthrie is a social neuroscientist, researcher, and one of the leading experts in how our sense of self emerges from our relationships, our goals, and the powerful social forces around usWe all assume we know what’s happening inside our own minds. But what if the way you describe your identity—your inner narrative, your motivations, your beliefs—turns out to be incomplete? What if you’ve spent your entire life overlooking how deeply social context shapes you? Taylor’s research suggests that most people don’t truly understand the hidden processes guiding how...2025-03-102h 05The Giants Shoulder#21 No 1 Gut & Poo Expert Reveals the Hidden Mental Health Triggers in Your Microbiome | Dr Will BulsiewiczDr. Will Bulsiewicz is a board-certified gastroenterologist, bestselling author, and a leading expert on the microbiome.Understanding your gut is a lifelong journey. Repairing a troubled microbiome, fueling your “second brain,” and harnessing the power of short-chain fatty acids are all part of the process. So how do we move beyond the confusing myths around gut health to support our mood, energy, and overall well-being?Expect to learn how gut microbes influence motivation and ambition, how to use fiber to boost brain power, what cutting-edge science says about fecal transplants, how chronic stre...2025-03-062h 17The Giants ShoulderGiant Moment #1 The Most DISTURBING Psychological Case in a 50 Year CareerThis first giant moment is from episode #20 with inner experience expert Dr Russell Hurlburt. In this clip Dr Hurlburt talks about the clinical case that shaped his 50 year career in the field of Inner Experience research. It blew my mind. Dr Russell Hurlburt is a psychologist, researcher, and one of the leading experts in the study of inner experience.We all assume we know what’s happening inside our own minds. But what if the way you describe your inner thoughts—your inner monologue, mental images, emotions—isn’t accurate? What if you’ve spent your entir...2025-02-2523 minThe Giants Shoulder#20 No 1 Inner Experience Expert - Inner Monologue, Aphantasia and How Your Mind Lies to YouDr Russell Hurlburt is a psychologist, researcher, and one of the leading experts in the study of inner experience.We all assume we know what’s happening inside our own minds. But what if the way you describe your inner thoughts—your inner monologue, mental images, emotions—isn’t accurate? What if you’ve spent your entire life mischaracterizing your own experience? Russell’s research suggests that most people don’t truly understand how their minds work.Expect to learn why you might not actually have an inner monologue, the five core phenomena of inner experience, why most psychological self-reports a...2025-02-101h 24The Giants Shoulder#19 Dr William Li - Dementia & Cancer May Start in the Blood VesselsDr William Li is a medical doctor, internet personality with over a million combined followers and author of Eat to Beat Disease. His viral Ted Talk “Can we Eat to Starve Cancer” has been viewed over 11* million times where he lays out his pioneering work in the field of angiogenesis. The process by which our body forms new blood vessels. Correction from video as I state only 5 Million times. In 1994 he co-founded the Angiogenesis Foundation with the mission of using advances in angiogenesis to tackle the worst plagues of society like cancer and Dementia.Buy His Book that is Chan...2025-01-3156 minThe Giants Shoulder#18 750 Million Years of Brain Evolution in 2 Hours 3 Minutes - Dr Paul CisekDr. Paul Cisek is a professor of neuroscience at the University of Montreal, and focuses on understanding how the brain controls behaviour. Particularly through the lens of motor control and decision-making. His interdisciplinary approach combines neurophysiological recordings, computational modelling, and evolutionary biology to explore how the brain mediates interactions with the world. This type of knowledge makes for an incredibly interesting conversation!
Timestamps:
00:00 The Evolutionary Lens on Neuroscience
06:56 Understanding the Brain as a Control System
13:14 The Historical Context of Nervous System Development
20:30 Key Evolutionary Transitions in...2025-01-232h 03The Giants Shoulder#17 Dr Luis Favela - The Mind Is NOT a Computer: Rethinking Consciousness, Perception and IntelligenceIn this episode, we dive into the revolutionary field of ecological psychology with Dr. Luis Favela, author of The Ecological Brain. What if the brain isn't a computer, but part of a dynamic system that includes your body and the world around you? Discover how this paradigm shift challenges traditional cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and why it could redefine how we understand perception, action, and intelligence.Dr. Favela shares compelling insights from his work, exploring key concepts like affordances, the perception-action loop, and how our minds evolved to interact with a complex environment. From World War II bomber pilots...2024-12-301h 52The Giants Shoulder#16 The Investigative Journalist Taking on Wim Hof, Andrew Huberman, Peter Attia and David SinclairScott Carney is a New York Times Best Selling Author, Youtuber and Investigative Journalist. He's risen online from his popular investigations into the ethics and business dealings of popular health influencers like Andrew Huberman, Peter Attia, David Sinclair and Wim Hof.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
03:30 Introduction to Scott Carney's Journey
09:27 The Rise of Wim Hof and Ice Bathing
15:26 The Science Behind Cold Exposure
21:18 The Ethics of Health Influencing
40:39 The Influence of Joe Rogan
50:19 The Ethics of Health Influencers
01:04:50 The Power of Placebo...2024-12-171h 15The Giants Shoulder#15 Clinical Neuropsychologist - Mechanisms of Remembering, Confabulation and the Weirdest Cases of AmnesiaDr. Brian Levine is a senior scientist at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, professor in the Departments of Psychology and Medicine (Neurology), University of Toronto, and a clinical neuropsychologist. He is interested in the function and dysfunction of large-scale neural systems as expressed in complex human behaviours, including episodic and autobiographical memory and executive functioning.
Donate to my Paypal. Thank you so much!
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L38HCUYY5TDTG
Skip to what interests you most!
00:00 Intro
02:15 Introduction to Memory Deficits
08:15...2024-12-041h 02The Giants Shoulder#14 Faceblind Journalist - "How at 38 I Turned my Neurodiversity into my Superpower"Donate to my Paypal. Thank you so much!https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=L38HCUYY5TDTGSadie Dingfelder, also known online as the Faceblind Journalist is a Scientific Communicator and lives with one of the most severe cases of prosopagnosia ever recorded. Sadie lived for 38 years without any idea she was born with this remarkable brain until she came across prosopagnosia at her work. 02:13 Introduction to Sadie and Prosopagnosia03:15 The Neuroscience of Facial Processing10:18 Learning to See in 3D15:59 The Journey of Training and Progress19:59 Funny Mistakes and Bizarre Incidents31:49...2024-11-261h 15The Giants Shoulder#13 Politics & Biology: The Shocking Link Between Brain Differences and Political Ideologies!Dr. Kevin Smith studies the biology and psychology of individual-level differences in political attitudes and behaviour. In this conversation, Dr. Kevin Smith discusses the intersection of psychophysiology and political behavior, exploring how individuals respond to political stimuli and the physiological and psychological impacts of political stress. Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:23 Introduction to Psychophysiology and Political Responses05:22 The Impact of Political Stimuli on Mental Health08:19 The Role of Social Media in Political Stress11:23 Political Stress Across Different Countries14:17 Evolutionary Perspectives on Political Stress17:27...2024-11-191h 19The Giants Shoulder#12 Dr Tony Zador NeuroAI Expert - “How to Model the Human Brain and Build Brain Based AI”Dr. Tony Zador is a neuroscientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, known for pioneering work on the connectome and computational neuroscience.In this episode, we dive into one of the most urgent frontiers of science — the intersection of neuroscience and artificial intelligence. As AI races ahead, what can the brain teach us about building better machines? And could the secrets of our neural circuits unlock the next revolution in AI?Expect to learn why our current understanding of the brain might be as limited as understanding a city by staring at blueprints, why it’s essential to create a new...2024-11-112h 10The Giants Shoulder#11 Brain Decline Expert: “Why Alzheimer’s Research Is Failing and How We Can Win”Dr Tara Spires Jones is one of the leading Alzheimers disease researchers in the entire world and is the current president of the British Neuroscience Association and Director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Timestamps00:00 Intro04:15 Understanding Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia08:52 The Role of Amyloid and Tau Pathology10:46 Advancements in Alzheimer's Research23:43 Promoting Brain Resilience through a Healthy Lifestyle30:21 The Influence of Genetics on Alzheimer's Risk35:07 Genome-wide Association Studies and Alzheimer's Risk Genes42:44 The...2024-09-021h 01The Giants Shoulder#10 Dr Robert Plomin: Controversial Findings in Behavioural Genetics, Parenting, Obesity & Divorce!Robert Plomin is a prominent behavioural geneticist known for his pioneering work in the field of psychology and genetics. His research has significantly advanced our understanding of how genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in behaviour, personality, and cognitive abilities. Timestamps:0:00 Introduction to Behavioral Genetics08:47 The DNA Revolution: Studying Genetic Influence18:57 The Nature of Nurture: Non-Shared Environment30:34 Recognizing the Biological Component39:36 Predicting Behavior with DNA44:40 The Interaction of Genetics and Environment53:23 Cultural Variations in Heritability01:01:17 The...2024-08-232h 33The Giants Shoulder#9 Computational Neuroscientist Dr Mark Humphries: Brain Computers, NeuroAI and the Mystery of Dark NeuronsDr. Mark Humphries is a computational neuroscientist, researcher, and author exploring the fascinating world of how our brain cells communicate and how reality itself can be rewired.Your brain isn't fixed—it's a flexible, powerful learning machine. Understanding how your neurons adapt, how sensory substitution can unlock entirely new perceptions, and the profound ethical implications of brain-machine interfaces like Neuralink could redefine what it means to be human. So, what happens when we hack our neural code and expand our sensory horizons?Expect to learn why your brain can be trained to experience entirely new senses, how Neuralink’s plan...2024-08-161h 23The Giants Shoulder#8 Luke O’ Neill - How COVID Affects the Brain, Master Drug for Inflammation and Pandemic ScandalsLuke O'Neill is a renowned Irish immunologist whose groundbreaking research and charismatic public engagement have made significant contributions to the field of immunology and science communication. Born in Dublin, Ireland, O'Neill has become a prominent figure in both the academic world and the public eye, known for his expertise in inflammation, infectious diseases, and innate immunity.00:00 Intro 04:13 - The Role of Scientific Communication During the Global Pandemic07:25 - Providing Hope and Reassurance in Times of Fear and Uncertainty17:39 - Lessons Learned: Ventilation, Masks, and Vaccines in Controlling Pandemics22:49 - Bridging the Gap: Communicating Research Papers to a General Audience29:26...2024-08-0354 minThe Giants Shoulder#7 Autism Expert Dr Laura Andreae - We Don't know what Autism is, Is Social Media Rewiring our Brains and AI FearsDr Laura Andreae is a Developmental Neuroscientist from King’s College London. She has conducted pioneering research into how our synaptic circuits are laid down during development, basically how we are wired from childhood how our neuron’s link up in specific critical ways at critical times to make us, us. She is also a world foremost expert in the development of autism and intellectual disorders at a synapse level. 00:00:00 Intro00:04:17 Understanding Brain Development and Wiring00:09:31 Debunking Misconceptions about Autism00:12:30 The Uncertain Impact of Social Media on Brain Development00:16:41 Exploring the Differences in Male and...2024-07-191h 30The Giants Shoulder#6 Spatial Neuroscientist Dr Hugo Spiers - The Incredible way our Brain Constructs the World Around UsDr Hugo Spiers is a cognitive Neuroscientist from University College London. He has spent over 25 years studying our spatial navigation system and memory. He has published over 160 research papers on whats actually happening in the brain when we are moving from one place to another, something we all take for granted but is quite remarkable brain system that we all use every day.I learned personal things in this podcast about what my awful sense of direction means for me, why I should try to improve and just an incredible amount about the incredible brain systems we...2024-07-1055 min
The Giants Shoulder#5 Neuroscience Communicator (SenseOfMind) - Tools to build Emotional Resilience and increase Intrinsic Motivation.Andrew Cooper Sansone otherwise known as SenseofMind on his popular youtube channel is a prolific Neuroscience content creator and communicator. He runs the social brain podcast where he delves into fascinating topics like the Evolution of the brain the Neuroscience of emotions and everything in between. With a biochemistry background he’s incredibly knowledgable about different brain systems and current Neuroscience research that help you improve your life. This knowledge made for a fascinating conversation which I really enjoyed. 00:00 Intro03:30 Unraveling the Mystery of the Brain13:13 The Challenges of Neuroscience Communication36:11 Finding Peace and Pe...2024-06-281h 09The Giants Shoulder#4 Social Neuroscientist Dr Redmond O' Connell - How we make Decisions, Free Will and How Intelligent is AI really?Dr Redmond O’ Connell is a cognitive neuroscientist from Trinity College Dublin, the college where I received my degree. He has spent decades studying our decision making systems in the brain, how we build evidence in a manner shaped by our experience and perceptions and ultimately how we make heavily biased decisions. Dr Redmond has won many awards and is a brilliant researcher and scientific communicator. Subscribe on youtube and follow on Spotify so you don’t miss the next neuroscience podcast, I hope you enjoy!00:00 Intro03:23 The Brain's Decision-Making Proc...2024-06-181h 14
The Giants Shoulder#3 Dr Christof Koch - Consciousness and Sharing Personal Psychedelic ExperiencesDr. Christof Koch is a leading neuroscientist who has dedicated his life to unraveling the secrets of consciousness. As the Chief Scientist of the MindScope Program at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, his work has transformed our understanding of how our minds work.00:00 Intro02:27 The Nature of Consciousness05:41 Practical Implications of Consciousness Research09:54 Boundaries of Consciousness in Organisms32:08 Exploring Consciousness and the Experience of Flow37:32 The Impact of Psychedelics on the Brain and Mental Health51:00 AI and the Future of Human...2024-06-0755 min
The Giants Shoulder#2 Neuroscientist Shane O'Mara - Walking, Creativity and DopamineDr Shane O' Mara is a Neuroscientist and professor of Experimental Brain Research in Trinity College Dublin. Dr O' Mara's academic research concerns the brain systems supporting learning and memory, and how they are affected by stress and depression; He has also explored the intersection of psychology and neuroscience with policy, evidence-based policy-making and related areas. 04:11 The Under-Walking Epidemic 11:26 The Impact of Standing Desks 13:52 Walking Treadmills vs. Outdoor Walking 30:08 Long-Distance Endurance Walking 32:44 Walking and All-Cause Mortality 34:40 Walking and Mental Health 47:51 The Link Between Walking and Creativity 55:44 The Role of the...2024-05-261h 45
The Giants Shoulder#1 Neuroscientist Kevin Mitchell - Free Will, Neuroplasticity, Microbiome MisinformationKevin Mitchell is an associate professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin. His research is aimed at understanding the genetic program specifying the wiring of the brain and its relevance to variation in human faculties, especially to psychiatric and neurological disease and to perceptual conditions like synaesthesia.00:00 Intro01:08 Introduction and Background22:02 Debunking Brain Myths: The Truth About Neuroplasticity39:04 The Importance of Critical Thinking and Skepticism52:32 Questioning Claims about the Gut Microbiome01:08:22 The Limitations of Brain Connectivity and the Complexity of the Brain01:18:16 Synesthesia...2024-04-301h 38
Kickoff Sessions#128 Evan Mcgloughlin – Practical Guide to Solving Big ProblemsIn this episode, Evan Mcgloughlin shares his experience and expertise in the startup universe, drawing from his career as CEO and Co-Founder of Weeve. Evan provides valuable insights for navigating complex challenges and driving growth in your business. From identifying problems to implementing effective solutions, Evan offers a step-by-step guide to mastering early stage startup challenges and achieving success.As the CEO and Co-Founder of Weeve, Evan has played a key role in the company’s growth and product development, and has deep experience of going from 0 to 1 with Weeve. Weeve, literally, weaves foreign words into the En...2023-01-181h 13
The Big Tech ShowAre data centres to blame for Ireland’s energy crisis?With the cost of living and energy crisis dominating the news right now, data centres are coming under greater scrutiny. This week on the Big Tech Show we ask are data centres to blame for Ireland's energy woes? If blackouts do happen, we explore what kind of tech can help get your through an energy outage. And we talk to the two young tech entrepreneurs who have quit Dublin for Spain because the rent is too high here. Guests: Cian McNally, Evan McgloughlinSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.2022-09-0224 min