TWiN explains research showing that interaction between glioma cells and neurons in the brain shares mechanistic features with synaptic plasticity that contributes to memory and learning in the healthy brain. 

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, and Timothy Cheung

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Download TWiN 046 (37 MB .mp3, 51 min)
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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiN discusses research showing that sciatic nerve activation with electroacupuncture at the sciatic nerve controls systemic inflammation and rescues mice from polymicrobial peritonitis, by inducing vagal activation of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase, leading to the production of dopamine in the adrenal medulla. 

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, and Timothy Cheung

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Download TWiN 045 (38 MB .mp3, 52 min)
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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiN reviews a mouse model of ADHD to characterize hypersensitivity to pain, and that sensitization is further amplified in a pathological inflammatory state.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, and Timothy Cheung

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Download TWiN 044 (44 MB .mp3, 61 min)
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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiN discusses a study of on the pathways that control opioid analgesic tolerance, a root cause of opioid overdose and misuse, which can develop through an associative learning.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, and Timothy Cheung

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Download TWiN 043 (45 MB .mp3, 63 min)
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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiN explains how psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, and MDMA, which are being explored for treating a wide range of neuropsychiatric diseases, reopen the social reward period for critical learning.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, and Timothy Cheung

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Download TWiN 042 (34 MB .mp3, 57 min)
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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Vivianne explains how early in Alzheimer’s disease, the brain attempts to counteract the increased excitatory drive caused by amyloid deposition, and that melanin-concentrating hormone, produced during sleep, is involved in this protective response.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, Timothy Cheung, and Vivianne Morrison

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Download TWiN 041 (39 MB .mp3, 64 min)
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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Tim takes TWiN through two studies on the role of dopamine: that syllables are natural units of spontaneous behavior used by the brain to structure action, and that mesolimbic dopamine release conveys causal associations but not reward prediction errors, thereby challenging the dominant theory of reward learning.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, Timothy Cheung, and Vivianne Morrison

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Download TWiN 040 (39 MB .mp3, 64 min)
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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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Junjie from Jason’s lab joins TWiN to discuss the observation that the cell gene PNMA2 encodes non-enveloped virus-like capsids that induce autoantibodies which underlie paraneoplastic syndrome.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, Timothy Cheung, and Junjie Xu

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Download TWiN 039 (39 MB .mp3, 65 min)
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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiN explains the finding that immunity to commensal bacteria promotes sensory neuron regeneration via the cytokine interleukin-17A.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Ori Lieberman, Timothy Cheung, and Vivianne Morrison

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Download TWiN 038 (39 MB .mp3, 65 min)
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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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TWiN reviews the field of microgial research, which has advanced in recent decades but is constrained by nomenclature that is necessary but often implies specific functions.

Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Jason Shepherd, Timothy Cheung, and Vivianne Morrison

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Download TWiN 036 (45 MB .mp3, 75 min)
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Music is by Ronald Jenkees

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