Lobes and Robes

What is Dignity Neuroscience?

In this episode we interview Dr. Tara White, a neuroscientist who studies issues at the intersection of neuroscience and psychology, including how individuals make meaning and feel and act on a sense of agency in their lives. We focus on an exciting term Dr. White recently coined, “dignity neuroscience,” to describe the links between the findings of neuroscience about what conditions promote human development and learning and the human rights principles that international human rights law scholars have identified. We further discuss Dr. White’s view that there is an emerging consilience about the core concept of human dignity and explore how this idea might be converted into policy objectives.

The Neuroscience of How Babies See Faces

Neuroscientist Dr. Laurie Bayet, a professor in the department of neuroscience at AU who focuses on the study of infant cognition, discusses her path-breaking research on the cognitive development of the infant brain. Dr. Bayet discusses her and others’ work on how babies see and come to understand the world around them. She explains some of the creative techniques used to study what infants are perceiving and thinking and describes some of the paths forward for future research and possible policy outcomes.

What Neuroscience Can Teach Us about Sex Differences

In this podcast, we meet Dr. Colin Saldanha, a professor in the neuroscience department at AU who talks with us about his research on hormones and the brain. He discusses the fascinating findings coming out about the role of estrogens in both male and female brains. Dr. Saldanha discusses hormonal change over the life span, the reasons cycling occurs in females but not males, and the similarities and differences in hormonal activities and brain structure, on average, in males and females. The conversation also turns to some of the connections between genetics, hormonal effects, and sex differentiation in the development of the fetus. Dr Saldanha talks about the importance of doing medical research on both males and females, noting differences in how males and females may process some pharmaceuticals as one example, and other topics.

In Memoriam: Dr. Jay Schulkin

Dr. Jay Schulkin, a guest speaker on the Lobes & Robes Podcast: Session 2, Episode 1, passed away recently after a short illness. He will be remembered as "an outstanding researcher, scholar, colleague, and friend" - Dr. Terry Davidson, Trone Family Eminent Scholar Chair in Neuroscience and Behavior Department of Neuroscience, American University. 
 
 

Season 2: Episode 1 The Connections between Neuroscience and the Classical Philosophical Pragmatists

This episode features Dr. Jay Schulkin, a noted author and neuroscientist with training in philosophy. We explore the connections between the development of neuroscience as a discipline and the rise of the classical pragmatist philosophers, including John Dewey, Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, as well as the proto-pragmatist jurist Oliver Wendell Jones, Jr. What are the connections between the start of experimental psychology in the U.S. and the rise of classical pragmatism? Dr. Schulkin discusses Holmes’ interest in behavioral sciences, statistical inference, rigorous experimental design, and the prediction of human behavior, including the actions of judges. We explore how one might draw the line between neuroscience and other disciplines. Finally we explore the perennial question: What are the alternatives to determinism as an orientation for neuroscience?

Episode 8: Neuroscience and Anti-Discrimination Law

Can neuroscience help remedy discrimination against members of traditionally subordinated groups that are protected under U.S. anti-discrimination law? In this episode, the two podcast co-hosts, Dr. Terry Davidson and Prof. Susan Carle, engage in a friendly debate on the potential usefulness of neuroscience in developing knowledge about how discrimination occurs and how it might be ameliorated through policy interventions informed by neuroscience.

Episode 7: Foods that harm and foods that protect the brain

Foods that harm and foods that protect the brain.  The focus of this episode is on the research of Professor Katie Holton, who hold joint appointments in the Department of Health Studies and the Department of Neuroscience at AU.  Dr. Holton discusses with Professors Carle and Davidson, how foods containing high level of glutamate can have toxic effects on the brain--effects that have been linked to the occurrence of fibromyalgia and Gulf War illness. Combining her expertise in nutrition and in neuroscience, Dr. Holton explains her research which shows that a specially formulated diet that is low in glutamate can dramatically reduce the symptoms of both diseases.  Dr. Holton also describes the types of food that contain both high and low amounts of glutamate and how some foods may protect against the neuronal damage produced by glutamate toxicity. More about Dr. Holton’s work can be found here: https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/holton.cfm

Episode 6: : Chemical Weapons: The Science and the Policy

This episode features AU Chemistry Professor Stefano Costanzi, an expert both on the harm chemicals pose to living organisms and global security policies aimed at protecting the public from those dangers. In conversation with Drs. Carle and Davidson, Dr. Costanzi discusses the gaps in current policies and practices that allow chemical weapons to proliferate as well as some of his ideas about solutions and tools to narrow those gaps. Dr. Costanzi’s work itself bridges the neuroscience and public policy divide, and in so doing he models how science and policy can be brought into communication with each other. More about Dr. Costanzi’s work can be found here: https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/costanzi.cfm.
 

Episode 5: Stress, Drugs and Food: A Conversation between an Economist and Two Neuroscientists

This episode presents a dialogue involving economist Dr. Erdal Tekin, a member of AU’s Department of Public Administration and Policy, along with neuroscientists Terry Davidson and Tony Riley, and law professor Susan Carle discussing research and policy approaches to drug abuse, obesity and other potentially harmful brain-based behaviors. Dr. Erdal explains how economists think about addiction and other types of self-destructive behavior as a problem of “time inconsistency”—in other words, individuals sometimes don’t calculate the value of their future preferences sufficiently in deciding on their current actions. Davidson, Riley and Carle then discus bringing economics and neuroscience together in preventing and treating addiction and obesity and the need for more inter-disciplinary collaboration.  More information about Dr. Tekin and his work can be found here: https://www.american.edu/spa/faculty/tekin.cfm

Episode 4: The Neuroscience of Drug Abuse

The Neuroscience of Drug Abuse: This episode features AU Professor of Neuroscience Dr. Anthony Riley discussing his research on the neuroscience of drug abuse.  Drugs cause both positive and negative effects on the brain; drug use becomes problematic when negative effects overwhelm the brain’s ability to compensate.  Dr Riley discusses the policy challenges revealed by the neuroscience of addiction, including what he sees as one of the biggest problems—namely, relapse.  Riley, Davidson and Carle also discuss gene expression, adolescence, the microbiome, and other factors that affect likelihood of drug use escalation and therefore are important to public policy interventions.  More about Dr. Riley and his research can be found here https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/alriley.cfm.