From Our Neurons to Yours

• How we learn to read (and why some struggle): what neuroscience teaches us about a transformative human technology | Bruce McCandliss

  In this episode, we explore the fascinating neuroscience behind how children learn to read with Bruce McCandliss, director of the Stanford Educational Neuroscience Initiative.Key topics include:• How our brains "recycle" visual and language circuits to create reading expertise• The crucial threshold when reading shifts from effortful to automatic• Why some children struggle more than others to develop reading fluency• How teachers can tailor instruction to help struggling readers• The profound ways literacy reshapes our brains and cognitionJoin us  for a mind-expanding look at one of humanity's most transformative technologies - written language - and how mastering it quite literally changes our brains.Learn MoreLearn about the Stanford Educational Neuroscience Initiative at Stanford's Graduate School of EducationLearn about the "brainwave learning center" at Menlo Park's Synapse School.Watch McCandliss present his work at Wu Tsai Neuro's 10th anniversary SymposiumRecent Academic Articles & News CoverageTan LH, Perfetti CA, Ziegler JC, McCandliss B. "Editorial: Neural bases of reading acquisition and reading disability." Frontiers in Neuroscience (2023).This editorial highlights advances in the neuroscience of reading, focusing on the brain mechanisms underlying reading development and disabilities. The authors summarize key themes across international research, including neuroimaging insights and educational applications.Stanford News. "Stanford-led study links school environment to brain development" (2024) Researchers found that children who attend higher-performing schools have accelerated white matter development, including in an area of the brain closely associated with reading skills.Stanford News. "Stanford study on brain waves shows how different teaching methods affect reading development" (2015)Stanford Professor Bruce McCandliss found that beginning readers who focus on letter-sound relationships, or phonics, increase activity in the area of their brains best wired for reading.We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at [email protected] us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience. Learn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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• Why voices light us up—but leave the autistic brain in the dark | Dan Abrams

  Recognizing a familiar voice is one of the brain’s earliest social feats. But what are the brain circuits that let a newborn pick out mom in a crowded nursery? How do they change as kids turn toward friends and the wider world? And what are we learning about why this instinct fails to develop in the autistic brain?This week, host Nicholas Weiler joins Stanford neuroscientist Dan Abrams on the quest to understand the neural “hub” that links our brains' hearing centers to the networks that tag voices as rewarding, social, and worth our attention. The findings could reshape early-intervention strategies for kids on the spectrum.Learn MoreStanford Speech and Social Neuroscience LabParticipate in a StudyCommunity Support ResourcesPublicationsUnderconnectivity between voice-selective cortex and reward circuitry in children with autism (PNAS, 2013) Neural circuits underlying mother’s voice perception predict social communication abilities in children (PNAS, 2016) Impaired voice processing in reward and salience circuits predicts social communication in children with autism (eLife, 2019)  A Neurodevelopmental Shift in Reward Circuitry from Mother's to Nonfamilial Voices in Adolescence (Journal of Neuroscience, 2022)Stanford Coverage"The teen brain tunes in less to Mom's voice, more to unfamiliar voices, study finds" (Stanford Medicine, 2022)"Brain wiring explains why autism hinders grasp of vocal emotion, says Stanford Medicine study" (Stanford Medicine, 2023)We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at [email protected] us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience. Learn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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• Famous & Gravy: Cosmic Marketer and the Meaning of Life | Stephen Hawking

  In this special crossover episode, we’re doing something a little different. From Our Neurons to Yours host Nicholas joins producer Michael Osborne to co-host his podcast Famous and Gravy for a lively conversation about the extraordinary life and mind of Stephen Hawking.Hawking, one of the most renowned scientists of our time, lived with ALS for more than 50 years—defying medical expectations while also reshaping how we understand black holes, the universe, and our place within it. While Hawking wasn’t a neuroscientist, his neurological condition and his remarkable communication of complex ideas make his story especially relevant to From Our Neurons to Yours.In this episode, we explore:How Hawking’s life with ALS shaped his outlook and scientific driveHis talent for making theoretical physics accessible (and entertaining)Big philosophical questions about the universe and the nature of existenceThe intersection of science, celebrity, and personal legacyWe hope you enjoy this crossover conversation.We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at [email protected] us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience. Learn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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• Can brain science save addiction policy? | Keith Humphreys

  If addiction is a disease of the brain, what does that mean for how we treat people—and how we write policy? In this wide-ranging conversation, Stanford addiction expert and policy advisor Keith Humphreys returns to the show to walk us through what neuroscience has taught us about substance use disorders and how that science intersects with law, public health, and politics.From the biology of craving to the limits of autonomy, we explore the tension between compassion and accountability, and what truly effective treatment and prevention might look like.Episode HighlightsWhy addiction isn’t just a moral failure—and how brain science explains drug-seeking behaviorThe biological pathways affected by opioids, alcohol, and stimulants—and why some drugs are harder to treatWhat makes some people more vulnerable to addiction than othersWhy effective addiction policy must account for impaired decision-makingHow policy can—and can’t—respond to the scienceThe promise and limitations of brain stimulation, psychedelics, and medications like naloxoneWhy prevention—especially for teens—is key to long-term changeWhat a more human, effective, and science-based future could look likeResources & LinksLearn more about Keith HumphreysLearn about the Stanford Network on Addiction PolicyRead about the NeuroChoice Initiative at Stanford's Wu Tsai Neurosciences InstituteNIH resources on addiction science and treatmentRead Humphreys' 2024 report on "The rise and fall of Pacific Northwest drug policy reform, 2020–2024" (Brookings Institution, 2024)Read about CARE Courts ( "New California Court for the Mentally Ill Tests a State’s Liberal Values", New York Times, 2024)Read Humphreys' 2025 Op-Ed: "Does harm reduction still have a future in San Francisco?" (SF Chronicle, 2025)Read a policy summary, "Blue states change course on mental health policies" (Axios, 2025)We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at [email protected] us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience. Learn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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• How basic science transformed stroke care

  A generation ago, a big clot in the brain meant paralysis or worse. Today, doctors can diagnose clots on AI-enabled brain scans; provide life-saving, targeted medications; or snake a catheter from a patient’s groin into the brain to vacuum out the clot. If they intervene in time, they can watch speech and movement return before the sedatives wear off. How did that happen—and what’s still missing?In this episode of From Our Neurons to Yours, Stanford neuroscientist and neurocritical care specialist Marion Buckwalter, MD, PhD retraces the 70-year chain of curiosity-driven research—biochemistry, imaging, materials science, AI—behind today’s remarkable improvements in stroke care. She also warns what future breakthroughs are at stake if support for basic science stalls.Learn MoreBuckwalter Lab siteHistory of Stroke Care:Tissue Plasminogen Activator for Acute Ischemic Stroke (NINDS) On the development of the first-gen clot-busting drug, tPA Optimizing endovascular therapy for ischemic stroke (NINDS) On the development of mechanical clot clearance using thrombectomy.Mechanical Thrombectomy for Large Ischemic Stroke (Neurology, 2023) A literature meta-analysis shows that thrombectomy improves stroke outcomes by 2.5X, on top of 2X improvements from clot-busting drugsThe uncertain future of federal support for scienceThe Gutting of America’s Medical Research: Here Is Every Canceled or Delayed N.I.H. Grant (New York Times, 2025)Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades (New York Times, 2025)We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at [email protected] or... Send us a text!Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience. Learn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

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