On episode 9 of A Chat with Uma, I provide a high-level overview of the full spectrum of brain science research. This episode serves as a primer to illustrate the spectrum of brain research that exists across psychology, neuroscience, psychiatry, and other related fields. This primer breaks down each level of research, its techniques, and jargon in an intuitive and accessible way, illustrating the advantages and limitations of each research approach and how they come together to comprehensively answer the questions we have about brains, mental/psychiatric illnesses, and consciousness. From observational human studies all the way to molecular analysis, this episode will teach you the basics of how brain research works across the spectrum of scientific study, from human to molecule.

This easily digestible, accessible primer will equip you with the basic knowledge and skillset to begin effectively interacting with brain research that interests you across the full spectrum of fields, including: observational studies, clinical psychology, experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, psychiatry, clinical trials, cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging, systems neuroscience, cellular neuroscience, molecular neuroscience, human-derived stem cell research, computational neuroscience, and more.

Topics Covered + Timestamps:

(00:00:00 ): Introduction to Brain Research 101 & the spectrum of research

(00:05:46 ): My scientific background, biases, limitations; Disclosures & disclaimers

Brain Research Spectrum: each includes explanation, techniques, examples, advantages, limitations, + description of experimenters

(00:11:51 ) Observational research, naturalistic settings & within laboratories (humans)

(00:18:14 ) Psychology research, psychiatry, clinical trials (humans)

(00:24:48 ) Cognitive neuroscience, neuroimaging/brain scans (humans)

(00:44:22 ) Pre-clinical research, neurobiology, animal models

(00:46:45 ) Systems neuroscience, circuits

(00:51:24 ) Cellular & molecular neuroscience, therapeutic targets

(00:56:25 ) Human-derived stem cell models, brain organoids

(00:59:58 ) Computational neuroscience, computational modeling

(01:02:30 ) Variability in humans vs. preclinical research, experimenters in pre-clinical research

(01:10:05 ) Full example of research question + how this question would be functionally answered across each part of the brain research spectrum discussed in this episode

I cannot wait to connect with you, answer all of your questions, and co-create this with you. Welcome to a Chat with Uma!

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