A neuroscientist explains: how music aff...

Ease into the weekend with our brand new podcast, showcasing some of the best Guardian and Observer writing from the week, read by talented narrators. In this episode, Marina Hyde looks at the new additions to Downing Street (2m00s), Hadley Freeman interviews Hollywood actor Will ... Show More

Ease into the weekend with our brand new podcast, showcasing some of the best Guardian and Observer writing from the week, read by talented narrators. In our first episode, Marina Hyde reflects on another less than stellar week for Boris Johnson (1m38s), Edward Helmore charts the ... Show More

Have you ever wondered what famous people actually eat? In our new podcast, Guardian restaurant critic Grace Dent does just that, asking well-known guests to lift the lid on the food they turn to when they’re at home alone – and what comfort foods have seen them through their liv ... Show More

It's been said that music has the power to soothe savage beasts, but what scientific impact does music have on humans? In this episode, Julie and Robert explore the influence of music on human brain cells -- and whether it can actually rebuild your brain. Learn more about your ad ... Show More

Can music make us healthier or even smarter? Can it change how we experience pain? In this episode, former rock musician and studio producer Daniel Levitin, PhD, talks about how music changes our brain’s chemistry and affects our health. APA is currently seeking proposals for APA ... Show More

Why do some songs get stuck in our heads? In this episode, our presenter Ginny Smith explores the psychology of earworms. Ginny hears about the possible evolutionary reasons for why we experience the phenomenon, learns what earworms can teach us about memory — and finds out how t ... Show More

This episode will render you oblivious, conked out and blissfully unaware. It’s about anaesthetics: those potent potions that send you into a deep, deathly sleep. Listener Alicia wants to know how they work, so our sleuths call on the expertise of consultant anaesthetist Dr Fiona ... Show More

This episode will render you oblivious, conked out and blissfully unaware. It’s about anaesthetics: those potent potions that send you into a deep, deathly sleep. Listener Alicia wants to know how they work, so our sleuths call on the expertise of consultant anaesthetist Dr Fiona ... Show More

What if the way you think about your brain and how and why it functions is just plain wrong? Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and author of the book “7 ½ Lessons About the Brain,” discusses myths about the brain and her theory that i ... Show More

This week, we bring you the second part of our conversation on the perils of too much pleasure. Psychiatrist Anna Lembke explains the neuroscience behind compulsive consumption, and how it alters our brains. She also shares techniques she’s learned from her patients to overcome t ... Show More

It can be hard enough to answer the question, "what kind of music do you like?" But how about "why do you like it?" That's one of the many questions about the human brain and sound that neuroscientist Nina Kraus set out to answer in her book Of Sound Mind. In this interview with ... Show More

What are psychedelics? How have these substances influenced human minds and culture? What exactly do they invoke in the brain and how could a renaissance of scientific study into their properties improve our lives? In this series of Stuff to Blow Your Mind episodes, Robert and Jo ... Show More

Arts therapies appear to ease a host of brain disorders from Parkinson's to PTSD. But these treatments that rely on music, poetry or visual arts haven't been backed by rigorous scientific testing. Now, artists and brain scientists have launched a program to change that. NPR's bra ... Show More