Headshake

THE BRAIN IS HUNGRY FOR PEOPLE. Keeping in mind new experiences of isolation during the pandemic, recent research shows parallels between a socially-deprived brain craving people and a fasted brain craving food.   Full notes at headshake.show/episodes/34

Here's more involuntary neuroscience: spinal reflexes. They're so involuntary, your brain doesn't even know they happened. Full notes at headshake.show/episodes/33

The letter A is always red to some people. To others, the sound of a car horn might always smell like pie. Libby and Ruka sensually explore the rare but real condition of synesthesia.   Full notes at headshake.show/episodes/32

Does it feel like you've heard this before? An episode on déjà vu. An episode on déjà vu. Full notes at headshake.show/episodes/31

Returning to the land of electrophysiology, Lord Nathan and Lady Kristen focus this time on action potentials, which neurons use to send electrical signals long distances in the body. God save the Baked Bean! Full notes at headshake.show/episodes/30

In 1848, Phineas Gage survived an unfortunate railroad accident that later informed science and medicine's understanding of how the prefrontal cortex works. Supporting character: Spikey the tamping iron Full notes at headshake.show/episodes/29

It's Headshake's anniversary, and the finale of the Gap Junction Almanac. We hope you've had the "Time of Your Life," and we'll still be "Friends Forever." Let's cheer ourselves up with a discussion of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).     Key Words bipolar ii, circadian rhythm, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), depression, heritable, light box, light therapy, lux, major depression, melatonin, norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI), psychotherapy, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), serotonin, summer pattern, vitamin D, winter pattern     Old West Word of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) Anglomaniacs Lots of old west insults - Listen to the episode for a season finale's worth of insults   References and Resources NIMH » Seasonal Affective Disorder (nih.gov), National Institute of Mental Health Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) - Symptoms and causes, Mayo Clinic Are You Affected By Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)?, Psychology Today ClimaTemps http://www.madison.climatemps.com/sunlight.php https://www.oahu.climatemps.com/sunlight.php Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)   Season 1 Spotify Playlist! HEADSHAKE: The Playlist Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja Early Bird Science - Ruka's other science podcast earlybirdscience.com Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your medical provider before making decisions about your health.

"Nerves?" This is a neuroscience podcast. Haven't we been talking about nerves the whole time??? Nope! Learn why. Key Words afferent, anopsia, anosmia, autonomic, axon, cardiac muscle, cardiovascular, caudal, central nervous system (CNS), cervical nerves, coccygeal nerves, cranial nerve, efferent, gastrointestinal (GI), innervate, larynx, lateral, lumbar nerves, mastication, medial, motor, nerve, nucleus ambiguus, peripheral nervous system (PNS), pharynx, ptosis, pulmonary, rostral, sacral nerves, sensory, skeletal muscle, smooth muscle, somatic, spinal nerve, sternocleidomastoid, thoracic nerves, trapezius, trigeminal neuralgia CN I - Olfactory CN II - Optic CN III - Oculomotor CN IV - Trochlear CN V - Trigeminal (Divisions: Ophthalmic, Maxillary, Mandibular) CN VI - Abducens CN VII - Facial CN VIII - Vestibulocochlear CN IX - Glossopharyngeal CN X - Vagus CN XI - Spinal Accessory CN XII - Hypoglossal Old West Word of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) Zitted Zooning References Textbooks Vander's Human Physiology, 13th Edition Principles of Neural Science, Kandel, Schwartz, and Jessell, 4th Edition Fundamental Neuroscience for Basic and Clinical Applications, Haines, 3rd Edition Season 1 Spotify Playlist! HEADSHAKE: The Playlist Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja Early Bird Science - Ruka's other science podcast earlybirdscience.com Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your medical provider before making decisions about your health.

There are two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of microbes in your gut. Are these little residents controlling your brain? If so, how? Poop Detectives Libby and Ruka are on the case. Key Words autism, bacteria, depression, enteroendocrine, fecal transplant, gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), gastrointestinal (GI) system, gut flora, gut microbiome, immune cells, inflammation, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), kynurenine, neuropod cells, Parkinson's disease, psychobiome, psychobiotics, schizophrenia, serotonin, tryptophan, Valsalva maneuver Old West Words of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) Yack Yam References and Resources Meet the 'psychobiome': the gut bacteria that may alter how you think, feel, and act, Science Magazine, May 7, 2020 Season 1 Spotify Playlist! HEADSHAKE: The Playlist Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your medical provider before making decisions about your health.

Hair cells in your inner ear and piano keys in your brain. This is our second episode on the sense of hearing. Libby and Ruka wrap up the year with thicker-than-usual Wisconsin accents. Happy birthday to Libby, and Happy New Year! Key Words amplitude, auditory cortex, basilar membrane, brain stem, calcium, cochlea, cochlear duct, cocktail party effect, cranial nerve viii (vestibulocochlear), decibels, depolarization, frequency, gating, glutamate, hair cells, helicotrema, inner hair cells, mechanically-gated, neurotransmitter, organ of Corti, outer hair cells, oval window, pitch, potassium, receptor, round window, scala tympani, scala vestibuli, stapedius, stapes, stereocilia, synapse, tectorial membrane, tensor tympani, thalamus, threshold of pain, tinnitus, tip link, vesicles, voltage-gated Old West Word of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) weather breeder wabble Related Episodes Lime in the Cochlea [Audition, Part 1] Reference Textbook: Vander's Human Physiology, 13th Edition Season 1 Spotify Playlist! HEADSHAKE: The Playlist Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your medical provider before making decisions about your health.

This is part one of two episodes about the auditory system. You could say it's a "preliminary hearing." Key Words amplitude, audition, auditory system, aurical, cochlea, cochlear duct, deaf, decibel, eardrum, endolymph, eustachian tube, external auditory canal, frequency, hearing impaired, hearing, helicotrema, incus, inner ear, malleus, middle ear, organ of Corti, outer ear, oval window, perilymph, pinna, pitch, round window, scala tympani, scala vestibuli, stapes, tympanic membrane, volume, zone of compression, zone of rarefaction Old West Words of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) Wearing the bustle wrong Wipe your chin BRAND NEW Season 1 Spotify Playlist! HEADSHAKE: The Playlist Reference Textbook: Vander's Human Physiology, 13th Edition   Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your medical provider before making decisions about your health.

Bad news/good news: Grand mal got run over by a reindeer, BUT we got new microphones! In addition to learning what science does and doesn't know about brain lightning storms (seizures), hear Libby's seasonal reflections on the Little Drummer Boy. Key Words absence, amygdala, anticonvulsant, apoptosis, atonic, aura, benzodiazepine, carbamazepine (Tegretol), cellular signaling cascade, clonic, complex, cortex, cyanotic, diazepam (Valium), electroencephalogram (EEG), epilepsy, excitotoxicity, GABA, GABAA receptor, generalized, glucose, glutamate, grand mal, hippocampus, inhibitory surround, kindling, limbic, lorazepam (Ativan), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), metabolism, motor, myoclonic, necrosis, negative symptom, occipital, oxygen, partial (focal), petit mal, phenytoin (Dilantin), piloerection, plasticity, positive symptom, positron emission tomography (PET), postictal, primary, secondary, seizure, sensory, simple, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), status epilepticus, symptomatic epilepsy, tonic, tonic-clonic, visual 54 key terms! Old West Words of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) vum vaultinghouse References and Resources Textbooks Principles of Neural Science, Kandel, Schwartz, and Jessell, 4th Edition Vander's Human Physiology, 13th Edition   Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your medical provider before making decisions about your health.

Who are you?! Oh, right. Hi, Jeff! Sorry about that. Our forgetting neurons were working particularly hard last night. Yes, you have neurons that make you forget. Turns out they're important in memory.   This Episode's Spotify Playlist Neuralized   Key Words action potential, amygdala, anxiety, appetite, CA1, calcium transients, chemogenetics, consolidation, contextual fear conditioning (CFC), cued fear, dreams, electroencephalogram (EEG), electromyography (EMG), electrophysiology, fiber photometry, forget, GABA, GABA-ergic, glutamate, hippocampus, hypothalamus, immunohistochemistry, inhibitory post-synaptic current (IPSC), limbic, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons, memory, microendoscopy, novel object recognition (NOR), optogenetics, retention, retrobeads   Old West Word of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) Unsalted   References and Resources Primary research paper: REM sleep–active MCH neurons are involved in forgetting hippocampus-dependent memories, Science, 20 Sept 2019 "Kid's Menu:" Scientists Find The Neurons That Make Your Brain Forget   Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja   Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY BREAK GLASS. Libby and Ruka are busy or dead. Either way, you get to listen to this episode recorded as a backup for times like these. Hear their joy, and remember them as they were before the pandemic.   Key Words boredom susceptibility, cortisol, disinhibition, dopamine, experience seeking, mindfulness, norepinephrine, sensation seeking, thrill and adventure seeking, zorbing  The big five: Openness to experience Conscientiousness Agreeableness Extroversion Neuroticism Old West Words of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) Balls, Beef, Biff Reference Lust for Life, Psychology Today, October 2019   Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

Headshake's personal chef (a.k.a. Ruka's spouse) is also an electrical and electronic engineer. Steven A. Gago helps Libby and Ruka tackle the mysteries of newly-developed microcircuit chips that could one day become implants to replace diseased neurons. Key Words Alzheimer's, analog, assimilate, bioimplant, Bötzinger region, brain stem, bursts, CA1, chip, circuit, current, digital, hardware, hippocampus, Hodgkin-Huxley model, medulla, model, pyramidal cells, respiratory neuron, solid state neuron, soma, transistor, very-large-scale integration (VLSI) Old West Words of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) There you ain't Teapot Tin Toad strangler References and Resources Artificial neurons developed to fight disease, BBC, December 2019 Optimal solid state neurons, Abu-Hassan et al, Nature Communications, December 2019   Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

In this elephant-themed episode, Headshake's male and female hosts talk about whether or not there are differences in the brain between the sexes. If there are, how do they get there, and do they even matter? Key Words ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, behavior, conduct disorder, corpus callosum, development, eating disorders, environmental, frontal lobe, gender, generalized anxiety disorder, genes, hormones, hypothalamus, innate, intersex, major depression disorder, parietal lobe, phrenology, plasticity, sex, social Old West Words of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) shote skittles slamgander slantindicular see the elephant saltwater vegetables References and Resources Brain scientists haven't been able to find major differences between women's and men's brains, despite over a century of searching, The Conversation, August 6, 2020 Neuroscience and Sex/Gender: Looking Back and Forward, The Journal of Neuroscience, January 2, 2020 Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

Does listening to Headshake activate your fight or flight response? Or maybe it leaves you comfortably in your rest and digest state. Ruka and Libby talk about the differences between these systems while planning Libby's self-eulogized Viking funeral. Key Words acetylcholine, adrenal medulla, adrenaline, afferent, autonomic motor, autonomic nervous system, blood pressure, central nervous system (CNS), cervical, collateral ganglia, efferent, enteric, epinephrine, fight or flight response, ganglion, gastrointestinal (GI) tract, glucose, heart rate, heart, homeostasis, innervate, liver, lumbar, norepinephrine, parasympathetic, peripheral nervous system (PNS), postganglionic, preganglionic, pupils, rest and digest state, sacral, somatic motor, somatic nervous system, somatic sensory, special sensory, spinal cord, stress, sympathetic trunk, sympathetic, thoracic, visceral sensory Old West Words of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) Rumbumptious Rum hole References and Resources Textbook: Vander's Human Physiology, 13th Edition   Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja   Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

Want to lose 1.5 pounds fast? Get a hemispherectomy! Libby and Ruka discuss research on highly-functioning adults who, for medical reasons, had half their brains removed as kids. Key Words anatomical hemispherectomy, behavior, brain stem, cerebellum, cerebrum, chronic focal encephalitis, cognition, connectome, control/executive, cortical dysplasia, default, dorsal attention, emotion, functional hemispherectomy, intelligence, functional network, hemispherectomy, limbic, parcel, perinatal stroke, plasticity, Rasmussen encephalitis, salience/ventral attention, somatosensory/motor, visual Old West Word of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) Quincy Bonuses: puddin' foot, prairie chips, pop your corn References and Resources Research Paper: Intrinsic Functional Connectivity of the Brain in Adults with a Single Cerebral Hemisphere Related articles How The Human Brain Rewires Itself After Half A Hemisphere Is Surgically Removed What Is Brain Plasticity And Why Is It So Important? Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

Libby and Ruka learn about the strange but harmless experience of being awake and not being able to move. This episode is brought to you by the letter P and delicious chocolate frosted Kooky Monkey Brains: "They're mentally delicious." Key Words atonia, brain stem, general anxiety disorder, glycine, hallucinate, interneurons, jet lag, medulla, midbrain, narcolepsy, non-rem, panic disorder, pons, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), rapid eye movement (REM), REM-off, REM-on, shift work, sleep offset paralysis, sleep onset paralysis, sleep paralysis, sleep phase, spinal cord Old West Word of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) Piece of pudding Pecker pole References and Resources Sleep Paralysis and the Monsters Inside Your Mind, Scientific American Principles of Neural Science, Kandel, Schwartz, and Jessell, 4th Edition Sleep Paralysis, NHS   Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja   Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.

In an attempt to recover from the last episode's derailment by boy bands, Ruka speeds through an overview of the hypothalamus and the anterior pituitary. In the process, she discovers Libby's deep past with the movie Cool Runnings. Key Words - New record: 46! adrenal cortex, adrenaline, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), anterior pituitary, biogenic amine, catecholamine, corticotropin, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), dopamine, endocrine feedback loop, epinephrine, estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), germ cell, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), gonadotropins, gonads, growth hormone (GH), growth hormone release inhibiting hormone (GHRIH), growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), homeostasis, hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis, infundibulum, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), luteinizing hormone (LH), median eminence, melanocyte, melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH), melanocyte-stimulating hormone release-inhibiting factor (MIF), melanocyte-stimulating hormone-releasing factor (MRF), ovaries, ovum, parvocellular neurons, peptide hormone, portal vasculature, progesterone, prolactin, somatostatin, sperm, testes, testosterone, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), thyroxine, triiodothyronine Old West Word of the Day (Gap Junction Almanac) Oof Related Episode Episode 14: Turkey Saddle [Hypothalamus and Posterior Pituitary] References and Resources Textbooks Vander's Human Physiology, 13th Edition Principles of Neural Science, Kandel, Schwartz, and Jessell, 4th Edition Fundamental Neuroscience for Basic and Clinical Applications, Haines, 3rd Edition   Connect with us! FB @HeadshakeShow T @HeadshakeShow 'Sta @HeadshakeNinja Site headshake.show OR headshake.ninja   Music Bushwick Tarantella by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1300002 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Modified from original with volume fading and cuts   Disclaimer This podcast is for entertainment and education only. Neither of the hosts is a medical doctor, and nothing they say is medical advice. Please consult with your physician before making decisions about your health.