Jazz Bands and MRI Scans: How brains are creative

Have you ever wondered what’s going on in a musician’s head while they improvise? In our latest episode, Dr. Charles Limb gives us a window to peer into the process of creativity as it happens: scanning the brains of jazz musicians and rappers as they improvise. Tune in to learn what brain processes allow creative thought, why creativity matters, and whether or not you might compose the next great rock ballad.

Hosted by Ramie Fathy
Produced by Anna Lipkin and Ramie Fathy
Editing by the CTOR Team

Music:
"Maggot Brian" by Funkadelic
"Stormy Blues" by Arne Bang Huseby
"nostalgia of an ex-gangsta rapper" by deef
and original improvisations/compositions by Michael Bruschi

Honey, I Shrunk the Data

The world’s data is stored on millions of computers, or servers, that take up buildings’ worth of space and consume about as much electricity as France. How do we keep up with the increasing amount of data that we are generating? In this episode, we talk to Dina Zielinski, a bioinformatician, about her unexpected solution: storing digital data on DNA.



Music: "Lode Runner" and "Onward" from Poddington Bear.

Your Brain on Music

Carry The One Radio goes live, at the California Academy of Sciences. We talk sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll with Dr. Indre Viskontas, a Neuroscientist and Opera singer, at Nightlife: Brain and Body. Hear why the music industry is obsessed with your brain, why drug addicts often die in hotel rooms, and why "The Wheels on the Bus" becomes intensely annoying as you grow up.

Credits:

Diana Deutsch's spoken word to music example. More information about this study can be found here

Dwayne Christie: customized music to support the Diana Deutsch spoken word to music piece

Barber Adagio for Strings: hear the full score here

Interesting links:

Dr. Indre Viskontas' podcast Cadence and Ensemble Project. You may also be interested in Indre's podcast Inquiring Minds (Co-hosted by Kishore Hari)

California Academy of Science Nightlife is a 21+ nighttime event at the California Academy of Sciences every Thursday. Check out their upcoming events here

Hosted by Samantha Hindle and Ben Mansky. Produced by Samantha Hindle.

Free Will! at the Disco

How does a three pound ball of flesh inside your skull lead to your thoughts, your hopes, your feelings...and your sweet dance moves? There are more cells in your brain than there are people on Earth. Billions of neurons making trillions of connections. Trying to figure out how your brain works would be like trying to understand every conversation that’s going on in the world, all at one time…ten times over!

So how can we tackle this monumental task?

Most scientists simplify the problem by focusing on a single part of the brain, but what if we took a different path? What if we could understand everything that’s going on in a brain, all at the same time?

In this episode, Saul Kato explains how he’s doing just that.

Learn more about Saul Kato's work here: http://profiles.ucsf.edu/saul.kato

Follow Saul on Twitter: @neurotheory

Watch a worm brain in action!

The video shows multiple dots, which are each a 3D representation of the activity all the neurons in a single worm. Many of these "neural space" dots are present in the video, each showing the neural activity of the same worm at different times. With multiple dots shown together in this video allow you to see that the worm's "neural space" shows a similar repetitive pattern that sometimes diverges (in this video the divergence seen is when the worm took a left turn or a right turn).

The Hidden Addiction

From the basic biology to public policy: in this episode we tackle sugar. Find out what happens in our bodies when we eat sugar, as well as the disturbing tactics corporations use to get people hooked on products like soda and junk food. We then talk about soda taxes and other strategies Dr. Laura Schmidt and her colleagues are using to battle against the sugar industry.

Read more about Dr. Laura Schmidt's work, including her blog, here. 

This episode was produced by Meryl Horn, Devika Nair, and Sam Ancona Esselmann. 

Music attribution: Club Delirio Habanero by Laszlo Harsanyi, Latin Rhythm by Sunsearcher, An Opus in Ab, Third in Line, Dirt Bike Lovers, Just Below the Surface, Red City Theme, and The, Zeppelin by Blue Dot Sessions, Still On by VYVCH, Intermezzo, Lope and Shimmer, and 60s Quiz Show by Podington Bear, Le Songe d'Hacolhii by Sunhiilow, Scenery and Summer Days by Kai Engel, and El Juego by Javomarin

Where Ebola Hides

In this episode, we chat with Dr. Joe DeRisi, UCSF’s resident Sherlock Holmes of infectious diseases. You’ll hear about a surprising discovery that could have enormous implications for controlling - or even preventing - future Ebola outbreaks. One of the big mysteries surrounding Ebola has been where it hides between outbreaks. Here, Dr. DeRisi uncovers an unexpected culprit that could be harboring this deadly virus.

Produced by Sam Ancona Esselmann and Sam Hindle

Special acknowledgements:
First author on the BioRxiv manuscript Greg Fedewa

N.B. We acquired permission from the registered veterinary technician specialist on the phone call in the episode to use the conversation's audio.

Photo by James Tinius from here

Additional resources:

Click here to find out more about Dr. DeRisi's deadly menagerie

Here is an example of the effects of Avian Keratin disorder, as described in this episode. More information about this disorder can be found here

The following tracks were from Audio Library – YouTube:

Music:
Darkening Developments, Faceoff, and Intuit256 by Kevin MacLeod are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license

Search And Destory by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license

Lurking, Birds, and Slow Shock by Silent Partner

Sound effects:
Mouse Squeaking
Farm Morning with Sheep
Jungle Atmosphere Late Night
Woodpecker Pecking Fast
Woodpecker Pecking on Tree
Phone Ringing Untraditional

Clinical Trials and Tribulations: Steve Hauser's quest to cure MS

Photo Credit: NIAID

In this episode, a team of researchers disprove a decades-old dogma. The result? The first ever FDA-approved drug for primary-progressive multiple sclerosis. In this inspiring story spanning decades of research, you’ll hear all the science, and all the dramatic twists, behind this radical new treatment.

If you want to learn more about the science, visit this link to find a list of Dr. Steve Hauser's publications.

Music Used:

El Fuego and The Itis by Polyrhythmics; Juliette, Submerging Blue-Black, Three Colors, Whiplash String Swell, Theme in G, and Sincerely Yours by Podington Bear; Palestrina - Sicut lilium inter spinas by the Tudor Consort; The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan and Cylinder Nine by Chris Zabriskie; I Knew a Guy by Kevin MacLeod; Morning Four, Take Care and Snow by David Szesztay; Tarantella Lucana by Italian Village Music and Dance; Sunday Lovers by Monday Night Fever; As Colorful As Ever by Broke For Free; Puddle of Infinity by Young And Old Know Love; A String (Instrumental) by Loch Lomond; Samba Whistle by Reinsamba ; PSA audio was from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Building Breasts and Brains from the Bottom Up

Scientists usually study biology in animals such as lab rats, but their discoveries do not always translate between species. What if we could study human biology specifically? In this episode, we talk to Dr. Jurgen Knoblich and Dr. Zev Gartner about their efforts to create organoids, which are miniature, simplified versions of organs created from human cells. Using these organoids, Drs. Knoblich and Gartner can study how human organs develop and how they are affected by disease. How do they make these organoids, and what will organoids mean for our future health?

Rebroadcast: How the Bat Brain Knows Its Place

Have you ever spaced out while traveling somewhere but still made it to your destination effortlessly? Our brain is amazing at calculating exactly where we are relative to things around us, but this is a skill we often take for granted. In this episode, Producer Sama Ahmed talks with Dr. Michael Yartsev about how we know where we are in the world, how we make memories, and how we make decisions. Dr. Yartsev is uncovering all of this utilizing a rather unconventional and totally awesome animal: the bat! This episode is a re-release of an episode from 2013.