Keyword: neuroscience

The Human Body and Its Plant Connections May 3, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Atti

The body produces its own cannabis-like chemicals, and plants seem to have evolved to mimic them. Armand and co-host Roberta Maria Atti trace the endocannabinoid system through appetite, addiction, and the way opiates, alcohol, and tobacco all exploit receptors the nervous system built for itself, before landing on the idea that self-love is the original inner supply we keep outsourcing.

The Neuroscience of Happiness March 15, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Atti

What does the brain actually look like when it’s happy? Armand DiMele and co-host Roberta Maria Atti dig into fMRI research on monks, competing philosophical theories of happiness, and the idea that each person has a neurological “thermostat” they keep returning to no matter what fortune brings.

How Mirror Neurons Shape Empathy Undated

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Atti

Mirror neurons fire as if you are doing what you merely observe, and that single fact explains empathy, art, sports fandom, and psychic-seeming intuition. Armand and co-host Roberta Maria Atti trace the discovery from a researcher in Parma watching a monkey mimic his coffee sip, then connect it to personality types, great athletes, and the secret of why pizza vanishes at parties.