

Mind & Matter
Nick Jikomes
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers alive today about how your mind-body reacts to what you feed it.The weekly M&M podcast features conversations with the most interesting scientists, thinkers, and technology entrepreneurs alive today.Not medical advice.At M&M, we are interested in trying to figure out how things work, not affirming our existing beliefs. We prefer consulting primary rather than secondary sources and independent rather than institutional voices. If we encounter uncomfortable truths or the evidence suggests unfashionable ideas may be valid, so be it.As the host, my aim is to help you better understand how the body & mind work by curating & synthesizing information in a way that yields science-based insights that you can choose to use or disregard in your own life. Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.I am motivated to connect the dots and distill general principles from what I learn, preferring to ask questions and play devil’s advocate to debating or incessantly pushing my own viewpoint.My beliefs:Taking ownership of your health starts with taking ownership of your information diet.All knowledge is provisional and we must work hard to prevent ourselves from becoming attached to our favorite ideas & preferred conclusions.Wisdom comes from an iterative, trial-and-error process of learning and unlearning. Letting go of pre-conceived notions can be painful, but pain is information.Sometimes modern discoveries teach us we must unlearn received wisdom. Other times, modern information overload & historical chauvinism cause us to forget ancient wisdom which stills applies. The framework for learning that I embody is inspired by three Ancient Greek maxims inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi:“Γνῶθι σεαυτόν” (Know thyself)“Μηδὲν ἄγαν” (Nothing in excess)“Ἐγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα” (Certainty brings insanity)
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 6, 2021 • 1h 41min
Cognition, Decision Making, Learning, Schemas & the Brain | Aaron Gruber | 31
Send us Fan MailNick talks to neuroscientist Dr. Aaron Gruber about topics related to cognition and learning in the brain, including what we know about how the brain detects salience and assigns value, makes decisions, and constructs flexible models of the world, sometimes called ‘schemas.’ They also discuss how neuropsychiatric disorders like depression can influence the brain’s schemas, as well as how they can be impacted by psychoactive drugs, ranging from stimulants to psychedelics.*Not medical advice.Support the showHealth Products by M&M Partners:AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.SporesMD: Premium mushrooms products (gourmet mushrooms, nootropics, research). Use code 'nickjikomes' for 20% off.Lumen device: Optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. MINDMATTER gets you 15% off.For all the ways you can support my efforts

Jul 16, 2021 • 1h 19min
Psilocybin, Ketamine, Neuroplasticity, Depression & Imaging the Brain | Alex Kwan | 30
Send us Fan MailNick talks to applied physicist and neuroscientist, Dr. Alex Kwan. His lab studies how neuropsychiatric drugs, such as psilocybin and ketamine, affect neural circuits in the brain’s of mice. They discuss how his lab actually conducts this research, what they have discovered so far, and look at some real data, images and movies of neurons in the brain, which you can see for yourself in the video version on YouTube.*Not medical advice.Support the showHealth Products by M&M Partners:AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.SporesMD: Premium mushrooms products (gourmet mushrooms, nootropics, research). Use code 'nickjikomes' for 20% off.Lumen device: Optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. MINDMATTER gets you 15% off.For all the ways you can support my efforts

Jul 9, 2021 • 1h 33min
Ketamine, SSRIs, Depression, Psychiatric Disorders & the Brain | Lisa Monteggia | 29
Send us Fan MailNick talks to neuroscientist Dr. Lisa Monteggia about research on psychiatric disorders of the brain. Lisa described how psychiatric disorders like depression manifest in the brain, how traditional anti-depressant drugs like SSRIs work in the brain, and her research on how the drug ketamine can have rapid depressant effects in treatment-resistant patients.*Not medical advice.Support the showHealth Products by M&M Partners:AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.SporesMD: Premium mushrooms products (gourmet mushrooms, nootropics, research). Use code 'nickjikomes' for 20% off.Lumen device: Optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. MINDMATTER gets you 15% off.For all the ways you can support my efforts

Jun 25, 2021 • 1h 43min
Origins of Life, Alien Biochemistry, Extraterrestrial Biology, Assembly Theory & Consciousness | Lee Cronin | 28
Send us Fan MailNick talks to chemist Dr. Lee Cronin about life: how it originated on Earth, how we might detect signs of alien life in the universe, whether it can be created in the lab, and related topics. Lee talked about his work on "assembly theory," which provides a framework for thinking about these questions and providing an unbiased way to detect signatures of life in the universe. They also discussed how some of these ideas might relate to evolution, selection, consciousness, and time. *Not medical advice.Support the showHealth Products by M&M Partners:AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.SporesMD: Premium mushrooms products (gourmet mushrooms, nootropics, research). Use code 'nickjikomes' for 20% off.Lumen device: Optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. MINDMATTER gets you 15% off.For all the ways you can support my efforts

Jun 18, 2021 • 1h 1min
Genomics, CRISPR, Synthetic Biology, Biotechnology Startups, Dyslexia & Narcolepsy | George Church | 27
Send us Fan MailHarvard-MIT geneticist George Church, PhD talks about advances in genome sequencing and editing technologies, interesting biotech startups using CRISPR genome editing to tackle human disease, and interesting areas in synthetic biology. Dr. Church also discussed how he has coped with both narcolepsy and dyslexia throughout his life, and became a successful scientist despite have these brain disorders. *This content is never meant to serve as medical advice.Support the showHealth Products by M&M Partners:AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.SporesMD: Premium mushrooms products (gourmet mushrooms, nootropics, research). Use code 'nickjikomes' for 20% off.Lumen device: Optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. MINDMATTER gets you 15% off.For all the ways you can support my efforts

Jun 11, 2021 • 1h 49min
MDMA (Ecstasy), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Psychotherapy & MAPS | Berra Yazar-Klosinski | 26
Send us Fan MailNick talks to Dr. Berra Yazar-Klosinski, the Chief Science Officer for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Berra talked about the results of MAPS' recent Phase III clinical trials for treating severe PTSD, how these studies are conducted, and what we know about the underlying biology of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the drug MDMA. *Not medical advice.Support the showHealth Products by M&M Partners:AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.SporesMD: Premium mushrooms products (gourmet mushrooms, nootropics, research). Use code 'nickjikomes' for 20% off.Lumen device: Optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. MINDMATTER gets you 15% off.For all the ways you can support my efforts

Jun 4, 2021 • 1h 32min
Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), Brain Waves & the Psychedelic Experience | Chris Timmermann | 25
Send us Fan MailNick talks to neuroscientist & psychologist, Dr. Chris Timmermann, a scientist at the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London. Chris led the first neuroimaging studies on the effects of the potent tryptamine psychedelic DMT on the brain. They discussed DMT and related psychedelics, including how DMT is normally consumed in both recreational and laboratory contexts, how people describe its effects, how it compares to psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD, and whether it is an endogenous compound present in our own bodies. Chris also described his research on how DMT affects patterns of brain activity, and what he hopes to learn from ongoing research, which includes extending the duration of DMT experiences from a few minutes up to 30 minutes per session.*Not medical advice.Support the showHealth Products by M&M Partners:AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.SporesMD: Premium mushrooms products (gourmet mushrooms, nootropics, research). Use code 'nickjikomes' for 20% off.Lumen device: Optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. MINDMATTER gets you 15% off.For all the ways you can support my efforts

May 28, 2021 • 1h 50min
Microbiome, Gut Health, Probiotics, Diet & Intermittent Fasting | Emeran Mayer | 24
Send us Fan MailNick talks to gastroenterologist and neuroscientist, Dr. Emeran Mayer. Emeran is a distinguished professor at UCLA and an expert in gut health and the microbiome. His last book was titled, “The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Health.” His latest book builds on this, and is titled, “The Gut-Immune Connection.”Support the showHealth Products by M&M Partners:AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.SporesMD: Premium mushrooms products (gourmet mushrooms, nootropics, research). Use code 'nickjikomes' for 20% off.Lumen device: Optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. MINDMATTER gets you 15% off.For all the ways you can support my efforts

May 21, 2021 • 1h 20min
Psilocybin Therapy, Alcohol Addiction & Being a Clinical Study Participant | Jon Kostakopoulos | 23
Send us Fan MailNick talks to Jon Kostakopoulos, an early participant in an NYU study looking at psilocybin for the treatment of alcoholism. Jon went through psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy over the course of many weeks for this study, which included three separate days of psilocybin administration. He talked about his battle with alcoholism leading up to the study, how he was recruited to the study, and what his psilocybin experiences were like. He also shared what he has been doing since his psilocybin experiences, including founding Apollo Pact, a non-profit working to advance research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin. *Not medical advice.Support the showHealth Products by M&M Partners:AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.SporesMD: Premium mushrooms products (gourmet mushrooms, nootropics, research). Use code 'nickjikomes' for 20% off.Lumen device: Optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. MINDMATTER gets you 15% off.For all the ways you can support my efforts

May 14, 2021 • 1h 41min
Machine Learning, Animal Behavior, Artificial Intelligence & Giving Computers a Sense of Smell | Alex Wiltschko | 22
Send us Fan MailNick talks to neuroscientist and machine learning engineer, Alex Wiltschko, PhD. Alex is a senior scientist at Google Brain, where he leads the digital olfaction group, where are working to build machines with a sense of smell. Alex received a PhD in neurobiology from Harvard, where he developed sophisticated machine vision and machine learning techniques to study animal behavior. They discussed Alex's research, the neuroscience of olfactory perception and animal behavior, as well as Alex's thoughts on topics related to machine learning and artificial intelligence. *Not medical advice.Support the showHealth Products by M&M Partners:AquaTru: Water filtration devices that remove microplastics, metals, bacteria, and more from your drinking water. Through link, $100 off AquaTru Carafe, Classic & Under Sink Units; $300 off Freestanding models.KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.SporesMD: Premium mushrooms products (gourmet mushrooms, nootropics, research). Use code 'nickjikomes' for 20% off.Lumen device: Optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. MINDMATTER gets you 15% off.For all the ways you can support my efforts


