From Our Neurons to Yours

Julia Kaltschmidt, an associate professor studying the enteric nervous system, explores the idea of the gut as a 'second brain.' She explains what the enteric nervous system is and how it compares to the brain. She discusses microbiome interactions, links between gut dysfunction and neurological disorders, and open questions about ENS organization and therapeutic potential.

What can octopus and squid brains teach us about intelligence?One of the incredible things about octopus's is that not only do they have an advanced intelligence that lets them camouflage themselves, use tools and manipulate their environments and act as really clever hunters in their ecosystems, they do this with a brain that evolved essentially from something like a slug in the oceans hundreds of millions of years ago.Our brains share virtually nothing in common with theirs. The question for scientists is what can studying a creature with a completely different brain from our own, teach us about the common principles of what makes a brain, what makes intelligence? What does it mean for this creature to have an intelligence that is something like our own? To learn more, we spoke this week with Ernie Hwaun and Matt McCoy, two interdisciplinary postdoctoral scholars at the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford who study cephalopod intelligence from completely different angles.LinksQ&A: Evolution of octopus and squid brains could shed light on origins of intelligenceStretchy, conductive electrodes that can keep up with an octopusAndrew Fire lab (Stanford Medicine)Ivan Soltesz lab (Stanford Medicine)Marine Biological Laboratory Cephalopod InitiativeAcknowledgementsErnie Hwaun's research has been supported through a Stanford Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Interdisciplinary Scholars Award and ONR MURI grant N0014-19-1-2373.Matt McCoy's research has been supported through a Stanford Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute Interdisciplinary Scholars Award, the Stanford Genomics Training Program, and several programs at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, including a Grass Fellowship in Neuroscience, a Whitman Early Career Fellowship, and the Cephalopod Initiative.Episode CreditsThis episode was produced by Michael Osborne, with production assistance by Morgan Honaker and Christian Haigis, and hosted by Nicholas Weiler. Cover art by Aimee Garza.Send us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience.We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at neuronspodcast@stanford.eduLearn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

If you've ever had a migraine, you know that the symptoms — splitting headache, nausea, sensitivity to light — mean you're going to want to spend some time in bed, in a dark room. Migraines are flat out debilitating, and the statistics back this up.Migraines are the third most common neurological disorder. They affect as many as a billion people around the world, making them one of the world's 10 most disabling diseases according to the World Health Organization. But for all the misery for those who suffer from migraines, it's been a long haul for scientists to figure out what actually causes these episodes, and more importantly, how to provide relief.We spoke this week with  Gabriella Muwanga, a Stanford graduate student who studies what's actually going on in the brain during a migraine. And for good reason —  Muwanga has suffered from regular migraines herself since childhood and hopes to contribute to finding better treatments for them in the future.LinksMuwanga's research profileThe Tawfik lab at Stanford MedicineThe Airan lab at Stanford MedicineStanford headache specialist demystifies migraine auras (Stanford Scope Blog, 2017)Migraine Treatment Has Come a Long Way (New York Times Well Blog, 2022)ReferencesAhn, A.H. and Basbaum, A.I. Where do triptans act in the treatment of migraine? Pain. 2005 May; 115(1-2): 1–4.Charles, A., Baca, S. Cortical spreading depression and migraine. Nat Rev Neurol 9, 637–644 (2013). Weatherall, M.W. The diagnosis and treatment of chronic migraine. Ther Adv Chronic Dis. 2015 May; 6(3): 115–123.Hoffmann, J.,  Baca, S. M., and  Akerman, S. Neurovascular mechanisms of migraine and cluster headache. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2019 Apr; 39(4): 573–594.Episode CreditsThis episode was produced by Michael Osborne, with production assistance by Morgan Honaker and Christian Haigis, and hosted by Nicholas Weiler. Cover art by Aimee Garza.Send us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience.We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at neuronspodcast@stanford.eduLearn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Why are psychiatrists taking a fresh look at MDMA? Recently, there's been growing excitement in the scientific community about revisiting the potential medical benefits of psychedelic drugs that have been off limits for decades. Scientists are discovering or rediscovering applications of psilocybin, LSD, MDMA, and other compounds for treating people with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute has several leading experts paving the way in this field, including today's guest, Robert Malenka. Beginning in the 1980s, Malenka pioneered neuroscientists' understanding of how our brain circuits to change with experience by uncovering fundamental mechanisms of synaptic plasticity. More recently, his laboratory at Stanford has explored the brain's so-called "reward circuitry," including its role in social behavior and empathy and its response to  drugs such as MDMA.Malenka is Nancy Friend Pritzker Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford and a Deputy Director of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute where he co-directs the NeuroChoice Initiative, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding human decision making and the science of addiction.LinksHeifets & Malenka, "MDMA as a Probe and Treatment for Social Behaviors." Cell (2016)Heifets, et al., "Distinct neural mechanisms for the prosocial and rewarding properties of MDMA." Science Translational Medicine (2019)Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute NeuroChoice InitiativeMore on Malenka's work"5 Questions: Robert Malenka on Ecstasy research" (Stanford Medicine, 2016)"Being a Neuroscientist: A conversation with veteran Stanford brain researcher Rob Malenka" (Stanford Medicine Scope Blog, 2018)"Social aversion during opioid withdrawal reflects blocked serotonin cues, mouse study finds" (Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, 2022)Episode CreditsThis episode was produced by Michael Osborne, with production assistance by Morgan Honaker and Christian Haigis, and hosted by Nicholas Weiler. CoverSend us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience.We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at neuronspodcast@stanford.eduLearn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

Announcing:  From our Neurons to Yours, the new podcast from the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford University.On this show, we criss-cross scientific disciplines to bring you to the frontiers of brain science, one simple question at a time. Send us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience.We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at neuronspodcast@stanford.eduLearn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.