https://youtu.be/mqxHSmz1nV8 Dr. Kate Witt, lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, joins to discuss her research on Dopamine. Dopamine is an integral neurotransmitter, mainly associated with pleasure and motivation. Dr. Witt's work uses a genetically modified…
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EA #1. Explaining Māori Deconversion from Christianity in Aotearoa (New Zealand) – Dr. Sara Rahmani
https://youtu.be/dd2ZI-fxIRs For the first episode of our Explaining Atheism series, Dr. Sara Rahmani from the School of Social and Cultural Studies at Victoria University of Wellington joins us to talk about her project exploring Māori…
EA #0. Introduction to the Explaining Atheism Project
https://youtu.be/ct_dmuvuKjQ Smooth Brain Society is collaborating with the Explaining Atheism Project to bring you a brand new series focusing on non-religion. Over the course of the series we will have multiple guests from across the…
#29. Place Cells: How we know where we are – Prof. Kate Jeffery
https://youtu.be/W-Br7q_9ZAw Professor Kate Jeffery, Head of School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Glasgow. Discusses her work on our idea of place, space and navigation. We get an introduction to place cells which…
#28. Memory and Wrongful Convictions – Dr. Faye Skelton
https://youtu.be/AJ4IrFApbYU Dr. Faye Skelton is the program lead for Applied Criminology and Forensic Psychology at the Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland. She joins us to talk about miscarriages of justice, factors involved in wrongful imprisonment, false…
#27. I’m not rude, I’m just face blind (Prosopagnosia) – Dr. Tirta Susilo
https://youtu.be/ZIoZ-SNXNuA Some people are poorer at identifying faces. Dr. Tirta Susilo, Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, talks about what prosopagnosia is, what research tells us about how we perceive faces and objects, and…
#26. What is Artificial Intelligence?- Dr. Andrew Lensen and Amer Hussain
https://youtu.be/nOOEu-9YzF8 Dr. Andrew Lensen and Amer Hussain from the School of Engineering and Computer Science at Victoria University of Wellington come on the podcast to talk about Artificial Intelligence (AI). They cover how it works,…
#25. Politics, Rugby and Emotion Regulation: A snapshot of New Zealand (2023) – Prof. Marc Wilson and Terise Broodryk
https://youtu.be/dp2Yl8BFge8 It's election and rugby world cup time in Aotearoa New Zealand and Professor Marc Wilson and his team from Victoria University of Wellington are surveying the nation on aspects ranging from general well-being to…
#24. Perception of Ambiguous Images and False Memories – Dr. Marina Wimmer
https://youtu.be/k5VYFhYuGI4 Dr. Marina Wimmer, Associate Professor at Edinburgh Napier University calls in from Scotland to talk about the perception of ambiguous figures, “seeing” images without any stimulus and the development of false memories. She talks…
#23. Leadership and Mental health: Experiences from the Military – Dan ‘Zia’ Joseph
Dan Zai Joseph, author of Backpack to Rucksack: Insight Into Leadership and Resilience From Military Experts, joins from the United States to speak about mental health among military personnel and veterans, the importance of understanding…
#22. Cultural Embeddedness: Complexity of Māori identity – Dr. Ririwai Fox and Ellie Rukuwai
https://youtu.be/hFjgz2b3gpk Multiple factors shape the complex relationships people have with their own culture and identity. This particularly affects indigenous communities the world over and has given rise to a wave of leaders working towards uplifting…
#21. Diagnosing Wokeness: Researching what being ‘woke’ is and cancel culture – Prof. Paul Jose
Professor Paul Jose is a developmental, cross-cultural and political psychologist currently working at Victoria University of Wellington. He is the first psychologist to develop a thorough measurement of the concept of wokeness and joins us…
#20. Risks and opportunities of living in the digital age – Dr. Kasia Kostyrka-Allchorne
Dr. Kasia Kostyrka-Allchorne is the lead researcher of two National Health Service (NHS) projects in the United Kingdom. One looks at the use of mental health apps for parents with neurodiverse children (OPTIMA) and the…
#19. Poverty is Painful: Pain perception and socioeconomics – Dr. Marianne Reddan
Dr. Marianne Reddan, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City, USA. Joins Sahir and Olivia to talk about social factors which influence pain. We try to improve our understanding of what pain…
#18. Neuropsychology in Context – Dr. Carolyn Wilshire
Dr. Carolyn Wilshire is a neuropsychologist who examines the cognitive processes and neural systems involved in high-level mental functions (such as motivation and planning). Her work aims to critically analyze difficult-to-diagnose health complaints and provide…
#17. Language and Culture in Child Development – Associate Prof. Mele Taumoepeau
Associate Professor Mele Taumoepeau of Victoria University of Wellington joins Olivia and Sahir to talk about the use of language in child development and differences in growing up between cultures. Assoc Prof. Taumoepeau speaks to…
#16. Being Creative – Prof. Vlad Glaveanu
What do we mean when someone is creative? Professor. Vlad Glaveanu from Dublin City University video called in to talk about his work with creativity, imagination, culture, societal changes and possibility. We cover topics like…
#15. How to stop a Murderer – Prof. Adrian Raine
Dr. Adrian Raine, is one of the leading voices in neurocriminology. He was the first scientist to use neuroimaging to study the brains of murderers and is noted for his research on the neurobiological causes…
#14. Why do we perform rituals? – Dr. Johannes Karl
Dr. Johannes Karl, Assistant professor in Psychology at the Dublin City University, Ireland, joins us to talk about what rituals are, why they come about and what benefits they provide. Dr. Karl's research covers topics…
#13. Religion – Dr. Aiyana Willard
Dr. Aiyana Willard, Senior lecturer at the Centre for Culture and Evolution at Brunel University London and research associate at the Institute for Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology at Oxford. Dr. Willard along with Feryl Badiani,…