We all have a story about who we are. But where does that story come from?

In this episode of the Smooth Brain Society, Sahir and Beth sit down with developmental psychologist Dr. Sean Marshall, of the University of Melbourne, to explore narrative identity, which are the stories we build around the experiences that shape our lives.

We discuss how narrative identity develops from childhood, how our memories and interpretations of significant events can change over time, and why the meaning we give to our experiences may be linked to mental health and wellbeing.

Sean also shares insights from the Growing Memories Project, a longitudinal study exploring how the ways parents talk with their children about the past can influence language, memory and later autobiographical storytelling.

So, how much of who we are is contained in the stories we tell about ourselves?

In this episode:
🧠 Narrative identity
💭 Autobiographical reasoning
🕰️ Memory and mental time travel
🔄 Turning points and redemption narratives
👨‍👩‍👧 Childhood, parenting and storytelling
❤️ Narrative identity and mental health

Listen now and start thinking about your own life story a little differently.

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What if playing a mobile game could help scientists understand how our brains navigate? and potentially identify early signs of Alzhiemer's Disease?

In this episode, we sit down with computational neuroscientist Dr Emre Yavuz to explore the fascinating science of spatial navigation and its links to cognitive health.

Emre discusses how Sea Hero Quest, a mobile navigation game played by millions of people, has created an enormous dataset for researchers studying how humans find their way around the world. We explore what navigation performance can tell us about cognitive differences, including research looking at Alzheimer's-related risk factors, and why navigation may eventually become a useful behavioural marker for cognitive decline.

We also dive into the everyday things that might shape our navigation abilities. How does video gaming relate to navigation? Does relying on GPS actually make us worse at finding our way? What can driving independently at a young age tell us? And why might sleep duration affect navigation differently across men and women?

Then things get even more futuristic. Emre talks us through his research using mobile brain imaging to record two people's brains simultaneously while they collaborate in a virtual Minecraft environment. We discuss brain-to-brain synchrony, the role of the prefrontal cortex, social navigation, and what studying two brains at once could reveal about how we interact with other people.

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https://smoothbrainsociety.com
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Instagram: @thesmoothbrainsociety
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Facebook: @thesmoothbrainsociety
Merch and all other links: Linktree
email: thesmoothbrainsociety@gmail.com

In this short episode, newly titled Dr. Bethany Facer shares insights from her PhD research on Parkinson's disease. Sahir and Bethany also discuss their upcoming podcast series on cross-cultural research funded by the International Association of Cross Cultural Psychology (IACCP).

Support the show

Support us and reach out!
https://smoothbrainsociety.com
https://www.patreon.com/SmoothBrainSociety

Instagram: @thesmoothbrainsociety
TikTok: @thesmoothbrainsociety
Twitter/X: @SmoothBrainSoc
Facebook: @thesmoothbrainsociety
Merch and all other links: Linktree
email: thesmoothbrainsociety@gmail.com