Jeff and Paul offer a short introduction on what to expect from their upcoming podcast, Brainy Days. Touching on the basics of neuroscience in a way that’s attractive for the general public to absorb, these current PhD students aim to instill interest in neuroscience in a way that will not only educate us about the brain, but will also teach us more about our own behavior and mental states. A podcast created for a general audience — including some episodes specifically tailored to the life of graduate students — that goes above and beyond what is expected of the average young scholar of science.

Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Each a type of social media. Is social media good? Is it bad? Is there any science behind it? The neuroscience of social media is very much lacking due to complications in replicating experiments in controlled and meaningful ways, and there isn’t much hard scientific evidence regarding social media (yet). All we know is that every like we receive on a post we make publicly makes our hearts flutter a bit. Tune in to episode 15 to hear Jeff and Paul discuss the pros and the cons of social media on our mental health.

The debut episode of Brainy Bits by the Brainy Days podcast –⁠ this is the first installation of a side-concept Jeff and Paul are mixing in with their regular-length podcast episodes: Each Brainy Bits episode will be about 15-20mins in length, during which Jeff and Paul will chat about the brain (or mental health, or both) in a more dense, swift way. Quick facts and short discussions, these episodes are for listeners who may want to dive a bit more deeply into a topic. This episode is about Navigating the Brain –⁠ Jeff and Paul go over some general terminology commonly used in neuroscience and other sciences in order to better understand the origin of some complicatedly-labeled brain regions' names.

Jeff and Paul come back from another short break due to a lack of... time... to record this episode. This episode's topic is about time; Jeff and Paul each describe their respective "nows", some of the neuroscience behind the perception of of time (and how much time it takes for us to experience things), and a quick debrief on how improving our time management can contribute to our mental health.

This week, Jeff and Paul chat about nonverbal communication; the ability to communicate without using verbal language. Crossed arms, rolled eyes, pointed feet, licked lips — all forms of communication we each knowingly (or unknowingly) engage in daily in order to communicate with others within (or outside of) our own species. Whether someone uses nonverbal communication to get a message across consciously or unconsciously, we can each learn a lot by focusing on the physical cues that others provide us. In some instances, we can even recognize positive or negative emotions a person may be feeling in real time, whether or not we know them personally — all without a single word from the individual displaying them.

After thinking they lost episode 12 to the abyss of Jeff’s newly empty hard drive, Brainy Days co-hosts Jeff and Paul recovered some audio from an interview they had just prior to Thanksgiving. Paul brings his friend Heather from high school onto the podcast as our first Brainy Days guest to talk about language and linguistics. Have you heard of prescriptivism and descriptivism? You probably know someone who has corrected you for saying “I’m good” instead of “I’m well” after being asked how you are… And it’s usually pretty annoying. In this episode Jeff and Paul ask Heather a little about what made her want to study linguistics, along with other interesting topics regarding language, such as different types of aphasias that people can experience – language disorders that affect someone’s ability to communicate fluently.

Jeff and Paul return with the relatable topic of how the idea and concept of money impacts our mental health and behavior. Starting with general chat about money and human behavior, Brainy Days cohosts later go into detail regarding a few mechanisms in the brain that may contribute to the way we perceive money — and more specifically — how we perceive value.

Paul is back this week, and takes the lead on part two with describing two papers he came across which both utilize optogenetics and a technique Brainy Days hosts haven’t yet discussed, called calcium imaging. Balancing a conversation between optogenetics and how to comprehend sensory perception, Jeff and Paul break down some experiments that use light to activate genetically modified cells in specific regions of the brain in order to alter an animal’s perception of its surrounding environment.

This week Jeff introduces us to three prerequisite concepts that will help make understanding biology and neuroscience at a deeper level much easier. Transcription, translation, and transgenic animal models are discussed before being connected to the idea of optogenetics: genetically modifying parts of the brain to react to light. This is part one of a two-part episode duo.

This week things are a bit different, including Paul being half absent and Jeff trying out annoying new sound effects since he's been left alone. Today Brainy Days co-hosts provide their personal descriptions of jealousy and what they think it really is, then include how scientists would define it specifically. Jeff breaks down a publication regarding jealousy studied in titi monkeys in order to learn more about it in humans, and wraps up by chatting about how we can utilize jealousy in positive ways we may not always think obvious at first. Who woulda thunk it could be such a deeply reflective experience to look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself the ultimate question of: “You Jelly??”

Last week was kind of heavy with the topic of stress in graduate school, so this time Jeff and Paul decided to record a more positive episode. Today Brainy Days co-hosts discuss positive psychology, the science of happiness, and how to use mindfulness as a step toward achieving happiness. Jeff also tells us more about the many critters in his backyard.