https://youtu.be/TscGzcPgmHg?si=LHZ_XW-4jqE1_bMm Dr. Frankie Fong, of Victoria University of Wellington, discusses imitation behaviors and how they are key to child development. He also shares his research on how these behaviours differ between cultures and influence digital media effects on children's socio-cognitive development. Dr. Frankie Fong: https://people.wgtn.ac.nz/frankie.fong Support the show Support us and reach out!https://smoothbrainsociety.comhttps://www.patreon.com/SmoothBrainSociety Instagram: @thesmoothbrainsocietyTikTok: @thesmoothbrainsocietyTwitter/X: @SmoothBrainSocFacebook: @thesmoothbrainsocietyMerch and all other links: Linktreeemail: thesmoothbrainsociety@gmail.com
Blog
#50. New Country. New Friends? Refugee Youth Experience of Resettlement in Aotearoa – Dr. Nuzha Saleem
https://youtu.be/I-AJ5ZWmOhU?si=nxfac4-yIa22uZBH Dr. Nuzha Saleem is a Teaching Fellow at Victoria University of Wellington. She discusses her research working with youth from migrant and refugee backgrounds. She has particularly focused her work around understanding the role of friendships in educational performance, identity and feelings of belonging for people from refugee backgrounds. Fellow Youth wellbeing researcher Niusha Aryan joins as co-host as we learn about Dr. Saleem's…
#49. Understanding Co-occurring Alcohol and Mental Health Problems – Dr. Jo-Anne Puddephatt
https://youtu.be/mUMAO66L3DU?si=DlbKRDG4SdaxFbSS Dr. Jo-Anne Puddephatt of Edge Hill University is a mixed-methods researcher in the field of mental health, alcohol use, and co-occurring problems. She combines her experience of working in psychiatric intensive care units with her expertise using datasets to explore the patterns of drinking across individuals experiencing different mental health problems. Jo-Anne also conducts qualitative research and works with patient involvement groups to explore…
#48. Booze, Dads and Drunken Rats – Dr. Sahir Hussain
https://youtu.be/RQZ2HZ8aMoE?si=0FKD77Ba7HSrbPVt Finally! after 47 episodes as host, Sahir takes his place in the wrinkly brained experts chair to talk about his research on how alcohol drinking by fathers can impact development of the future generations. Amer Hussain and Jeremy Hall co-host this special episode where we discuss the importance of animal research, find out why Dr. Hussain gets rats drunk and talk about the importance…
#47. Bayesian Statistics in Psychology Research – Dr. Taylor Winter
https://youtu.be/h5whVcdDVIs Bayesian Statistics allows combining prior information of a population to the current sample of experimentation to create stronger inferences. Dr. Taylor Winter, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics and Statistics at University of Canterbury, uses Bayesian methods to investigate a range of societal and group factors (Social Psychology). Dr. Winter takes us through some of the basic ideas around Bayesian statistics and how it differs from…
#46. Why we need to research Parkinson’s Disease – Bethany Facer
https://youtu.be/7ZsCAfwvaKQ Bethany Facer, PhD student at University of Liverpool and Science Communicator explains the intricacies of Parkinson's Disease. We discuss Beth’s Neuroimaging research into the neurodegenerative condition as she goes over some of the key biological mechanisms, clinical manifestations and current treatments which together highlight the need to better understand this multifaceted disorder. Later, co-host Pollyanna Ward and Beth discuss the importance of science communication…
#45. Maternal Depression and Antidepressant Use – Dr. Stephanie D’Souza
https://youtu.be/QXpFoTKGVSg There is often a tendency to focus on physical rather than mental health during pregnancy. While rates can vary by country, research suggests that about 10 – 20% of pregnant women experience depression during pregnancy. This is higher than the average rate of 6% seen in the general population. The changes during pregnancy can also make it hard for mood disorders to be detected…
#44. The Influence of Stoicism on Psychology – Dr. John Sellars
https://youtu.be/aI8UOKWdFPU?si=qCj3HVuRrbw8rCFg At its core, Stoicism is a tool in the pursuit of self-mastery, perseverance, and wisdom: something one uses to live a virtuous life. However, the English language has dealt great injustice to the word “Stoic.” Dr. John Sellars, Reader in the History of Philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London, and Research Fellow at King's College London, joins along with Dr. Johannes Karl, Dublin…
#43. Subjective Fear and The Experience of Presence – Dr. Christopher Maymon
https://youtu.be/h7WUx0Vg2us?si=VqZHyhNglZJIuOjZ Dr. Chris Maymon, of Victoria University of Wellington, talks to us about is research on the experience of being present. Him and his team use virtual reality to test the causal role of subjective and physiological components of fear in generating presence. Dr. Maymon goes through the background of understanding being present as a concept and how it is measured, the use of virtual…
#42. Do No Harm: The Life of a Neurosurgeon – Dr. Dilnavaz Bhiladvala
https://youtu.be/puZp3hzzDxA Dr. Dilnavaz Bhiladvala is a neurosurgeon with over 30 years of experience working in various hospitals across India and the UAE. She is the Head of Department of Neurosurgery at Al Dhaid Hospital, Sharjah, UAE before which she was the Head of Department and Professor Neurosurgery at Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, India. She takes us through how the field of neurosurgery has changed…
#41. ‘Ngaruroro’: Understanding Māori Wellbeing – Finley Johnson
https://youtu.be/xVI5irqlaQc Finley Ngarangi Johnson and Colleagues introduce 'Ngaruroro' which is a new model for Māori wellbeing. Fin, who is a PhD student at Victoria University of Wellington and a Researcher at the Ministry of Social Development, talks about the effort put into designing the new measure. the themes it covers and some of the issues faced when designing a wellbeing measure for the complexities of…
#40. Voice of Aroha – Kodrean Eashae & Luis Perez
https://youtu.be/_E7V9yI9eg8 World Refugee Day is on the 20th of June each year and is dedicated to refugees all around the world. We spoke to Kodrean Eashae and Luis Perez from Voice of Aroha. Voice of Aroha does incredible work highlighting the stories of refugees and minority communities in New Zealand with the aims of assisting in grassroots change. Host of Me, Racism and I, Thoraya…
#39. Reimagining the Role of the Catholic Church – Geo Robrigado
https://youtu.be/ZeI935be5-w The Catholic church is the only religious entity to hold a seat in the United Nations through the Vatican city’s status as a state. Geo Robrigado, Law graduate and former President of the Victoria University of Wellington Student Union, speaks about his research in law, international relations and politics focusing on how the Catholic Church maintains its political relevance. We go through the influence…
#38. Planetary Melancholia – Prateek Shankar and Valerie Navarrete
https://youtu.be/rgpSb-AZWi8 Prateek Shankar and Valerie Navarrete are founders of the Jungle Publics, a group trying to foster interdisciplinary discussions and reimagine how we relate to our planet and each other. They come on to talk about their first major publication titled “Planetary Melancholia“. The article is written with Center for Complexity and the Global Arts & Cultures department at the Rhode Island School of Design….
#37. Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics – Dr. Liza Bolton
https://youtu.be/KS2pOAnq1bQ The use of stats and throwing around numbers in conversation is incredibly common, yet statistics itself is poorly understood. Dr. Liza Bolton from @universityofauckland discusses the dark art that is statistics. Using examples, she takes us through some misconceptions and dispels the notion that numbers don’t lie. We cover how to identify the best ice cream store, how to not be fooled when stats…
#36. Drugs 101: Cannabis – Professor. Tim Karl
https://youtu.be/VcopxLLrZgk Professor Tim Karl of Western Sydney University. He joined to give us a basic overview into the world of cannabinoids. He spoke about what happens in our brain when we use/abuse cannabis and all the different components the plant has. This podcast covers where research is in terms of the benefits of medical marijuana, some of the concerns which people need to be aware…
EA #4. Atheism After Near Death Experiences – Dr. Alex Fry
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are common amongst those coming close to death and profoundly impact how they make sense of the world. Dr. Alex Fry of the University of Bournemouth draws on interviews with atheists who have had a NDE to explore whether death anxiety motivates attempts to make sense of the world and the extent to which the dominant belief systems in the UK shape…
#35. International Law and Armed Conflict – Prof. Alberto Costi
https://youtu.be/Na7-6V1OR_Q As the term “international law” is brought up frequently in discourse these days we sat down with Professor Alberto Costi to get an introduction into international law and laws of armed conflict. We cover how international law works and how it is implemented? Who can be held accountable for breaches in international humanitarian law? Where do non-state actors fit in? The nuances within the…
#34. How Virtual Reality is Reshaping Neuroscience – Dr. Chris Maymon
https://youtu.be/AtsAGMNewHA?si=B_9XrDyk4WGK0HGu On this episode, Dr. Christopher Maymon, Head of the Virtual Reality lab at Victoria University of Wellington delves into the captivating realm of VR and emotion research. Explore with us as we dissect groundbreaking studies and innovative experiments, uncovering the intricate interplay between VR experiences and human emotions. From negative emotions like fear and disgust to the the more obscure positive emotions like awe….
#33. So Emotional – Assoc. Prof. Gina Grimshaw
https://youtu.be/oS2ZlUjXFQ0?si=Wjzf5rK3LJSTdHRf Associate Professor Gina Grimshaw leads the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab at Victoria University of Wellington. She joins to talk about emotions and her research on how emotional states affect cognitive processes like attention, language, and executive control. Gina also gives us an intro into multiple aspects of emotions such as the association of emotions with colors and why artificial intelligence is poor at…