How does the brain build memory — and why does reward reshape what we remember?

In this episode, I sit down with Marielena Sosa to discuss her postdoctoral research at Stanford University, where she studied how the hippocampus encodes space, context, and reward to construct cognitive maps of experience.

Dr. Sosa is now a Principal Investigator at University of Colorado Boulder, leading a lab focused on the neural mechanisms of memory and prediction.

We explore:

– Why memory is not passive storage but active prediction

– How reward reorganizes neural representations

– The relationship between spatial coding and value

– What deteriorates in aging and Alzheimer’s disease

– Whether music and dance can engage compensatory circuits in Parkinson’s disease

This conversation moves from fundamental systems neuroscience to broader questions about neurodegeneration, plasticity, and how the brain continuously updates its internal model of the world.

In complex fields like biotech and health, technical brilliance isn’t enough.

Judgment, psychological flexibility, and the ability to operate under uncertainty often determine who adapts — and who collapses.

In this episode, Dr. Alexandra Ilieva, philosopher and Teaching Associate in Buddhist Studies at the University of Cambridge, joins The Vitality Lab to explore how ideas from Madhyamaka Buddhism and contemporary pragmatism can function as practical tools for thinking clearly under pressure.

We examine:

• Why attaching identity to outcomes distorts judgment
• How the “voice in your head” shapes perception and decision-making
• Why over-identifying with views makes disagreement feel existential
• The difference between discovering yourself and constructing yourself
• How loosening attachment to labels can restore agency

This conversation isn’t therapy. It’s about internal architecture.

If innovation requires navigating ambiguity, failure, and disagreement, then how we relate to identity, language, and ego becomes part of the translational process itself.

Because before ideas move from lab to world, they move through a mind.

Professor Pooja Saini is a UK-based academic and practitioner specialising in mental health, suicide prevention, and community-based support, with years of experience working at the intersection of research, healthcare, and real-world services.

In this conversation, we explore why mental health is still so hard to talk about, why people often struggle in silence, and how misunderstanding, stigma, and system design shape the way we respond to distress. Rather than slogans or motivation, this episode focuses on understanding — what actually helps people cope, recover, and feel supported before things reach crisis.

This episode is for anyone who wants to better understand mental health — whether for themselves, for someone they care about, or simply to have more compassionate and informed conversations.

In this episode, we’re joined by Dr Emily Hird, a cognitive neuroscientist and research fellow at University College London’s Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, whose research focuses on the brain mechanisms underlying depression and other mental health conditions.

Dr Hird’s work examines how changes in reward processing, motivation, and effort-based decision-making contribute to symptoms such as anhedonia and apathy. Her research also explores how dopamine signalling, inflammation, and stress interact in depression — and why physical activity may help by reshaping these brain circuits over time.

Together, we unpack why depression isn’t just a change in mood, why everyday tasks can feel disproportionately effortful, and why exercise can be as effective as antidepressants for some people. Rather than focusing on willpower or “pushing through,” this conversation looks at the neuroscience of effort, small wins, and how understanding the brain can make recovery feel more possible.

Topics covered

• How depression changes brain function
• Anhedonia, apathy, and effort sensitivity
• Dopamine, reward circuits, and motivation
• Inflammation and mental health
• Why exercise helps depression (neuroscience explained)
• Why starting small matters

This episode is for education and discussion, not medical advice. If you’re struggling, consider speaking to a healthcare professional.

In this episode, we go beyond genetic and molecular narratives of Parkinson’s disease to explore a bold new frontier: the role of the microbiome as a biomarker, bystander, or therapeutic target in cognitive decline. My guest today is Dr Frederick Clasen, Research Associate at the Centre for Host-Microbiome Interactions, Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, King’s College London. Dr Clasen completed his undergraduate and master’s work in Bioinformatics and Biotechnology at the University of Pretoria before earning his PhD across the Francis Crick Institute and King’s College London, where he developed mathematical and genome-scale models of host and microbial metabolism.

Dr Clasen is first author on a landmark 2025 study published in Gut Microbes that used shotgun metagenomics and machine learning to map both oral and gut microbiome changes across healthy controls and Parkinson’s patients with varying degrees of cognitive impairment. Their work reveals that microbes — and specifically oral microbes translocating to the gut with enriched virulence factors — may be linked to Parkinson’s cognitive decline via an oral-gut-brain axis, offering not just associations but mechanistic hypotheses and potential biomarkers.

In this conversation we unpack:

• Why the microbiome may be more than a bystander in Parkinson’s disease
• What makes a microbial biomarker credible vs. noise
• How virulence factors and host metabolism may influence brain function
• What it takes to move from correlation to testable mechanism
• The real hurdles — and opportunities — for translating microbiome science into diagnostics and therapies

If you’re a scientist, clinician, founder, or investor curious about where biology meets translation, this episode will sharpen how you think about mechanism, de-risking, and what truly counts as a target in complex human disease.

Professor Clare Bryant is a Professor of Innate Immunity at the University of Cambridge and one of the world’s leading experts on inflammation, inflammasomes, and immune signalling. Her work focuses on how the immune system detects danger — from infections to misfolded proteins — and how chronic inflammation contributes to ageing and neurodegenerative disease. Her research has helped shape our understanding of the NLRP3 inflammasome, a key inflammatory pathway now implicated in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and atherosclerosis.

In this episode, we explore what inflammation actually is, why we need it to survive — and when it quietly turns from protector to problem.

We unpack:

• Why chronic inflammation (“inflammaging”) rises with age
• How inflammatory pathways are linked to brain health and neurodegeneration
• What the NLRP3 inflammasome is — explained simply
• Why fasting produces surprising changes in inflammatory markers
• How a lipid called arachidonic acid can switch off inflammasome activity
• Why common drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen may have anti-inflammatory effects beyond pain relief
• Whether fasting could realistically play a role in managing chronic inflammation
• The difference between mouse studies and human biology, and why it matters
• Why biomarkers like ASC “specks” may be more useful than lifestyle hype

This is a deep but accessible conversation about fasting, inflammation, and brain health, grounded in human data and real biology — not wellness trends. We also discuss the limits of fasting, potential risks, and why personalised approaches to diet and inflammation will likely define the future.

If you’re interested in longevity, neuroscience, immune biology, or how lifestyle intersects with disease risk, this episode will change how you think about inflammation.

What role do pets really play in mental health?

In this episode, I’m joined by Helen Brooks, Professor of Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing and Mental Health Research Group Lead at the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work. Helen is also Programme Director for the MSc in Clinical Research and has spent years studying how people manage mental and physical illness in everyday life.

We explore her research on pets and companion animals as emotional anchors — not as therapy tools, but as sources of presence, routine, purpose, and non-judgemental support.

We talk about:

• Why animals provide emotional safety when humans sometimes can’t
• How pets reduce isolation, intrusive thoughts, and despair
• Purpose, responsibility, and behavioural activation
• Identity, continuity, and dignity after a mental health diagnosis
• Why grief after losing a pet is often misunderstood
• The risks, limits, and ethical realities of pet-based support
• What healthcare systems still fail to recognise about human–animal bonds

This is a conversation about co-regulation, trust, silence, and presence — and what animals quietly teach us about how to support one another when words fail.

Whether you’re a pet owner, struggling with your mental health, or simply curious about how connection really works, this episode will change how you think about companionship.

Professor Harry Sumnall is a Professor in Substance Use at the Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, and a member of the UK Government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).

In this conversation we break down the drug policy terms people constantly confuse — and why that confusion matters in real life.

We cover:

• What decriminalization actually means (and what it doesn’t)
• Decriminalization vs depenalization vs legalization
• Why illegal markets create unique harms (potency, adulteration, organized crime)
• The “continuum” approach: prevention → harm reduction → treatment → recovery
• Why education alone rarely changes behaviour — and what does
• Stigma and dehumanization: how they block help-seeking and worsen outcomes
• Why policy is rarely purely “evidence-based” — values and politics always play a role

If you’ve ever heard someone say “decriminalization = legalization,” this episode will fix that.