Category: The Mind & Neuroscience

↕

Pleasure in Other People’s Misfortune March 7, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Why do we slow down at accidents, follow celebrity scandals, and buy newspapers with tragic headlines? Armand DiMele examines schadenfreude, the universal tendency to feel pleasure at others’ misfortune, drawing on neuroscience showing the brain’s reward centers light up in response to tragedy and arguing this impulse is far more widespread than most people admit.

Fear, Sleeplessness and the Medicated Mind February 8, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Atti
Category: Anxiety & Fear, The Mind & Neuroscience

Surging sleeping pill prescriptions since 2000 point to a population kept chronically anxious by threat messaging and media fear cycles. Armand and co-host Roberta Maria Atti trace how an overstimulated amygdala eventually crashes into depression, why sleep is biologically active rather than passive rest, and what simple remedies can replace Ambien.

Stress Poverty and Neurogenesis February 1, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Christine Ulrich, Elizabeth Gould, Roberta Maria Atin, Ronald Duman
Category: Personal Growth & Change, The Mind & Neuroscience

Can the brain actually grow new cells, and does stress physically prevent it? Armand and molecular biologist Christine Ulrich examine neurogenesis research from Princeton and Yale, explaining how chronic stress and poverty reshape brain anatomy, and why doing something new every day may matter more than we think.

The Chemistry of Falling in Love January 19, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Love & Romantic Relationships, The Mind & Neuroscience

Love is a biological event as much as an emotional one. Armand DiMele walks through the full arc of attraction, from the mental state you bring to a first meeting, to the pheromones and immune-system signals that drive desire, to the oxytocin and dopamine that sustain long-term bonds. Knowing the science, he argues, makes us more compassionate lovers.

Why We Have Uncomfortable Emotions December 7, 2005

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Atti
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Uncomfortable feelings like jealousy, disgust, and schadenfreude exist because they once helped us survive. Armand DiMele and co-host Roberta Maria Atti apply evolutionary psychology to seven “deadly sentiments,” showing how emotions override rational thought to shift behavior instantly in the face of unforeseen threats or losses.

Why Humans Sing and Dance November 30, 2005

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Atti
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Emotions did not arrive randomly but were shaped by evolution, starting with mate selection in lush early environments. Armand DiMele and co-host Roberta trace how song and dance triggered the first feelings of love, expanded the human brain, and gave way to speech, testosterone, and the emotional complexity we carry today.

Why Flowers Make Us Happy November 9, 2005

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Flowers evolved 140 million years ago and may have developed beauty as a survival strategy by triggering genuine happiness in humans. Armand DiMele and co-host Roberta Maria Ati examine research showing 100% Duchenne smile responses to flowers, the contagion of facial expressions, and the deep evolutionary bond between humans and flowering plants.

Why We Tell Ourselves Certain Stories Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Diane, Dr. Carol Dweck, Giullian Gioiello, Jennifer, John Valerio, Kelly, Rick
Category: Identity & The Self, The Mind & Neuroscience

Neural activity, not psychology, drives the stories we construct about our lives. Armand DiMele argues that the brain manufactures narratives, jealousy, ambition, grief, romantic obsession, to exhaust excess electrical energy and restore equilibrium. Co-host Giullian Gioiello joins as callers test the theory against real losses and life patterns.

Lung Health with Dr. Neal Schachter Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Neal Schachter
Category: Society, Culture & Current Events, The Mind & Neuroscience

Dr. Neal Schachter, medical director of respiratory care at Mount Sinai Hospital, breaks down how lungs work, why cigarette smoke tops the list of lung enemies, and how the body regulates carbon dioxide. Armand and Schachter also cover asthma, allergies, urban pollution, and the key signs that tell a cold from the flu.

The Neuroscience of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Undated

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Anxiety & Fear, The Mind & Neuroscience

Seven million Americans live with OCD, yet most go undiagnosed for nearly a decade. Armand DiMele traces the disorder to its neurochemical roots in the amygdala and cingulate gyrus, explains why evolution wired us toward obsessive vigilance, and surveys its many overlooked forms from hoarding to contamination fear.