Lab Notes Podcast
1) Lab Notes | The neuroscience of addiction and possible paths to a cure
Science is supporting the battle against addiction and drug abuse. Neuroscientists around the world are working to better understand the mechanisms of addictive drug use and how to alleviate the debil...Show More
2) RERELEASE – Lab Notes | Why don’t we understand the brain?
This episode originally aired on March 14, 2022. Why is the brain harder to understand than other organs? What can we learn about our brains from studying octopus arms? Is the human brain even capable...Show More
3) Lab Notes | The Digital Brain : Unlocking the Mind's Virtual Twin
How does the brain work? Scientists are closer to answering this enigma with the largest wiring diagram and functional map of a mammalian brain to date. In April 2025, the Allen Institute, as part of ...Show More
4) Cells in Space!
Reaching new heights, stem cells from the Allen Institute for Cell Science were flown into space for the first time ever. In 2023, astronauts from Axiom Space studied genetically engineered cells, der...Show More
5) The mystery of long COVID
Where are we with long COVID? Researchers at the Allen Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center are working to understand the science behind this new chronic disease. Behind every science headline,...Show More
6) Cracking the code of addiction
Reward is essential for life. Our brains flood with feel-good chemicals when we learn, eat, have sex. But these essential brain circuits are hijacked in drug addiction. Neuroscientists at the Allen In...Show More
7) Bees suffer from social isolation too
It is no secret that social isolation has major developmental consequences on humans, but what about other social creatures like bumblebees? Neuroscientist Z Yan Wang investigated how social isolation...Show More
8) Building a consciousness meter with Christof Koch
Can we put a number on human consciousness? Neuroscientist Christof Koch is leading an effort to build a consciousness meter that could have real-world applications to determine whether coma patients ...Show More
9) Why don't we understand the brain?
Scientists have known for centuries that the brain is the seat of human thought, but we’re still in the dark about how it works. For Brain Awareness Week 2022, Lab Notes asked four neuroscientists to ...Show More
10) Fire Inside: The quest to understand & prevent rheumatoid arthritis
In the early '80s, Linda Sloate was a 30-year old mom raising three little kids when she became one of an estimated 20 million people worldwide living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been ...Show More