A brief discussion with Professor Vaidya on her laboratory's recent publication, Neural response to working memory load varies by dopamine transporter genotype in children

A brief interview with Dr. Lars Nyberg on the aging brain, genetics and the study of "resting states" in the aging brain. Two blog posts related to his research are HERE and HERE.

A short chat with Dr. Christina Rodrigues, Department of Psychology, Oregon State University on her recent paper, "Oxytocin receptor genetic variation relates to empathy and stress reactivity in humans".

(minor note - Apologies for the interfering sound of kids carrying on in the background in some parts of this interview.  My 2 young boys were chasing each other in the next room whilst recording.)

Dr. Garet Lahvis of the Oregon Health and Science University discusses his lab's recent publication, "Empathy is Moderated by Genetic Background in Mice" and more general aspects of genetic and animal models of empathy and social behavior.

Interviewed on his lab's recent publication, "A primate-specific, brain isoform of KCNH2 affects cortical physiology, cognition, neuronal repolarization and risk of schizophrenia”. Thanks again Dr. Weinberger!

Auditory stimuli generously provided by Frank Becker and Ivar Reinvang.  See their research article, "Successful syllable detection in aphasia despite processing impairments as revealed by event-related potentials".

Was a delight to chat with Monica Coenraads today and learn more about the work of the Rett Syndrome Research Trust.  If you are a family member, student or scientist with an interest in the latest happenings in research on Rett syndrome, please visit their website.

An interview with Professor Michael Frank who runs the Laboratory of Neural Computation and Cognition at Brown University.

From his lab's website:

"Our research combines computational modeling and experimental work to understand the neural mechanisms underlying reinforcement learning, decision making and working memory. We develop biologically-based neural models that simulate systems-level interactions between multiple brain areas (primarily basal ganglia and frontal cortex and their modulation by dopamine). We test theoretical predictions of the models using various neuropsychological, pharmacological, genetic, and neuroimaging techniques."

In this interview, Dr. Frank provides some overviews on how genetics fits into this research program and the genetic results in his recent research article "Prefrontal and striatal dopaminergic genes predict individual differences in exploration and exploitation" Lastly, some lighthearted, informal thoughts on the wider implications and future uses of genetic information in decision making.

approximately 30mins

A short interview with Michael Corbin, founder of every minute .org on his background, interests and efforts in the area of suicide prevention and mental health advocacy. You can reach Michael via his email or the website contact page.