Alzheimer's Disease Risk and Reward   When they hear about my work as a neurodegeneration researcher, people always ask me about Alzheimer's disease risk factors. What really causes Alzheimer's disease?  Plaque and tangle buildup   The truth is there's no one secret to staving off dementia, other than living your best life.  This doesn't mean following every impulse, but rather thinking clearly about your habits and consciously making those good habits easier to access.   Better lucky than good, but in this case it helps to be both. The kicker is that stress is also a ..read more

This episode is about neural networks on noradrenaline- the key neuromodulator known to flip almost every switch in the brain!  Drs. Esteban Oryarzabal and Connor Wander break down how noradrenaline, or norepinephrine help regulate brain states useful for attention and task-switching.  The studies here cover a whole new way to interpret brain imaging studies, which could have huge implications for neuroscience everywhere! Youtube link: https://youtu.be/NyMQhw5NpG4 Please note that this episode is special- it's a preview from research that hasn't fully undergone peer review.  Thi ..read more

  VIDEO WITH VISUAL AIDS ON YOUTUBE!!   How did you get so put together?  DNA is the blueprint, but it doesn't determine everything.  DNA gets turned into RNA, and then finally into proteins that help build your body and brain.  But there are SO many steps in that process that affect the final product- you.   The sum of these steps is a process called genetic regulation.  Genetic regulation makes sure that not all of our genes are expressed and turned into protein at the same time and same place- that would be a mess! This episode is all about genet ..read more

Marijuana and other cannabis products are becoming increasingly available across the country, and while compounds like CBD have been shown to be safe and even helpful in adults, the side effects of cannabis products are relatively unknown when it comes to the developing fetus. We've known that alcohol causes birth defects for over 40 years, causing a condition called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and the greater spectrum of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).   But alcohol isn't the only commonly used substance to cause birth defects.   Dr. Parnell's lab and others show ..read more

This week's episode is about the big things in life- specifically, supermassive black holes in dwarf galaxies!  Connor Wander sits down with Mugdha Polimera from UNC to talk about her work studying supermassive black holes and how their frequency in dwarf (smaller) galaxies can teach us about the formation of the universe.  She quite literally looks back in time! Mugdha explains how she studies such huge elements so far away, what her studies could mean for our understanding of the universe,  reviews her journey to be an astrophysicist, comments on some popular science myths, an ..read more

This episode is all about bad bugs.  Specifically, a flesh-eating bacteria strain called Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus).  S. aureus is a very common bacteria that's best known for becoming resistant to antibiotics, and becoming MRSA.  Bacteria and the immune system are always at war with each other.  Antibiotics can give the body the edge in this battle, but common resistance is making this much harder in hospitals and homes across the world.  Bacteria survive these antibiotics and the immune system is left to clean up the mess.  Currently, S. aureus is a major ..read more

Join Lebaron (Lee) Agostini and Connor Wander in our FIRST VIDEO episode! This episode is all about Cancer Biology. Lee studies experimental cancer therapies for pancreatic cancer. New cancer therapies called combination or synergystic cancer therapies use multiple drug types to shut down, corner, and eliminate cancer cells in the body. The full video version of this episode is available on Nov 5th at 7PM EST ! Head on over to our YouTube Channel and check it out there! Also streaming (audio only) on all the usual platforms. Further information Here's a recent paper from Lee and his lab a ..read more

What is Alzheimer's disease? Who can get Alzheimer's, and how does the disease progress?  Maya Gostyla and Connor Wander break down the state of Alzheimer's disease treatments, risk factors, and potential breakthroughs in the field.   Related Episodes If you like this episode, we have tons of podcasts on Alzheimer's disease! You can hear more about Maya and her research story in this episode.   Further Reading about Alzheimer's disease Here's a great review from the experts on where Alzheimer's research and therapies are today. For more in-depth analysis of developments in ..read more

This week's episode is with the host of The Blunt Report podcast: Konner Blunt.  Connor and Konner talked about ALzheimer's disease, the experience of podcasting, science communication, and Jiu Jitsu among other things.    Check out The Blunt Report here: http://www.thebluntreport.com/   More about Alzheimer's disease: https://www.straightfromascientist.com/alzheimers-disease/     ..read more

Tayler is a PhD candidate in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia. Her research focuses on the pharmacology and toxicology of supposed ‘fertility-boosting’ herbal supplements on sperm cells, using flow cytometry to elucidate their effects at a cellular level. She is also a science communicator in her spare time, and posts regular pharmacology-based series online. You can find her on Instagram at @taylercatherine Link to a good general review on oxidative stress: https://www.nature.com/articles/35041687 Link to a review of herbal medicine safety i ..read more