Hosts: Armand DiMele

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Music Memory and the Brain December 3, 2009

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Connie Tameno, Imas, Jose, Marlon Sobel, Nsara, Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Memories shift each time we recall them, and music rewires brain chemistry in ways science is only beginning to confirm. Armand DiMele and co-host Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW, draw on a recent conference on music and neurological function to explore how rhythm and melody can reach Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s patients, spark dopamine release, and even mirror the pull of addiction.

Happiness and the Resistance to Change December 1, 2009

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Sherri Siegel
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

Why do we keep making the same resolutions year after year? Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. dig into the inner force that blocks change, tracing resistance through its many disguises including procrastination, self-criticism, and forgetting. Armand’s concept of the internal “engineer” offers a fresh way to understand why the familiar, even when harmful, feels safer than growth.

Emotional Isolation and Being Locked In November 25, 2009

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Sherri Siegel
Category: Addiction & Compulsion, Identity & The Self

What does a rare neurological condition reveal about emotional life? Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. use locked-in syndrome as a lens to examine how people become trapped inside themselves through addiction, social anxiety, schizoid withdrawal, and holiday depression, then turn toward gratitude as a way out.

Finding Your Calling with Dr. Brian Schwartz November 18, 2009

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Brian Schwartz, Sherri Siegel
Category: Identity & The Self, Personal Growth & Change

Work should feel like play, but most people never find that fit. Career psychologist Dr. Brian Schwartz walks Armand and co-host Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. through a six-part model for career planning, starting with psychological type, the sensing-intuitive spectrum, and how self-knowledge leads to genuinely fulfilling work even in a tough economy.

The Dopaminergic Mind with Dr. Fred Previck November 10, 2009

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Fred Previck
Category: Meaning, Spirituality & Philosophy, The Mind & Neuroscience

What made humans human? Dr. Fred Previck, MD, cognitive neuroscientist and author, argues that a dramatic expansion of dopamine in the brain drove our species to language, abstract thought, strategic planning, and civilization itself. Armand DiMele traces the arc from early hominids to modern society, asking whether our dopaminergic drive is now outpacing our wisdom.

How Moods Feed on Themselves October 13, 2009

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

Moods are not simply feelings but products of neurotransmitters, nutrition, environment, and psychology working together. Armand DiMele argues that blame and repetitive arguing perpetuate bad moods rather than resolve them, and that a flexible, expansive mind, one open even to nonsense and surprise, is the real tool for change.

The Rhythms That Run Your Body September 30, 2009

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Sherri Siegel
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, The Mind & Neuroscience

Your heartbeat, digestion, sleep cycles, and mood are all governed by biological rhythms, and falling out of sync has real consequences. Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. explore cortisol, melatonin, the pineal gland, and what it means when two people’s rhythms simply don’t match.

The Social Rules of Manners and Etiquette September 23, 2009

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Sherri Siegel
Category: Society, Culture & Current Events, The Mind & Neuroscience

Why do manners exist, who gets to have them, and what happens when the brain can no longer enforce them? Armand DiMele and Dr. Sherry Siegel, M.D. trace etiquette from dementia and autism to class inequality and road rage, arguing that good manners are ultimately a function of time, neurological capacity, and self-awareness.

The Fear of Losing Control September 22, 2009

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Personal Growth & Change

Control shapes us from toilet training to adulthood, but the drive to master ourselves and others carries a steep cost. Armand DiMele traces the psychology of control through panic attacks, obsessive perfectionism, and bad habits, arguing that naming fear openly does more good than white-knuckling it.

The Gifts and Losses of Growing Old September 17, 2009

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Aging & Mortality, Personal Growth & Change

Getting older is full of gifts that youth misses entirely: steadiness, perspective, freedom from reactive chemistry. Armand DiMele makes the case for aging with dignity rather than fighting it, drawing on caller stories, brain science, and the value older workers bring to any room.