March 21, 2019 9:12 pm

Friday, We Go Inside Your Brain as We Answer Cosmic Queries on Neuroscience

Our intrepid host Neil deGrasse Tyson once said, “Everything we do, every thought we’ve ever had, is produced by the human brain. But exactly how it operates remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries, and it seems the more we probe its secrets, the more surprises we find.” said. Well, on this episode of StarTalk Radio, we try and unlock some more of those surprises.

Neil is joined in-studio by first-time comic co-host Jackie Hoffman and neuroscientist and StarTalk All-Stars host Heather Berlin, PhD, as they answer an array of fan-submitted questions that cover a wide variety of brain topics including mental health, psychedelic drugs, and more.

We start with the basics. You’ll find out if there are differences between the brains of men and women. Once we nail down the basics, we dive right into the psychedelics. You’ll hear why taking psychedelics is similar to having your brain in a dream state. We discuss the claims that people sometimes “see the universe” when they take psychedelics. Heather surprises Jackie by revealing that we’re all kind of hallucinating all the time. We also try and break down the nature of our reality.

You’ll learn about the current state of mental health awareness and why it’s still difficult for some people to accept it as a medical condition. If you want to know what the mental health conversation looks like in the sports world, I recommend checking out our Playing with Science episode, Mental Health in Sports, with Royce White.

You’ll explore dreams as we ponder the importance – or non-importance – of what happens in them. Our trio discusses the merits and mistakes of Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams. You’ll find out if brain transplants will ever become reality, and wee define “focus.” All that, plus, a fan asks, “Do you need a brain to feel pain?”

Please join us tomorrow night for Cosmic Queries – Neuroscience at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can watch or listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
-Ian Mullen