Interviews with Anthropologists about their New Books Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology
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Similar to Mind & Matter
Flash Forward is a show about possible (and not so possible) future scenarios. What would the warranty on a sex robot look like? How would diplomacy work if we couldn’t lie? Could there ever be a fecal transplant black market? (Complicated, it wouldn’t, and yes, respectively, in case you’re curious.) Hosted and produced by award winning science journalist Rose Eveleth, each episode combines audio drama and journalism to go deep on potential tomorrows, and uncovers what those futures might re ...
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Synapse Energetics & Fat Metabolism in the Brain | Timothy Ryan | 241
Manage episode 496073769 series 2846067
Content provided by Nick Jikomes. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Nick Jikomes or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
How brain synapses work and fuel themselves with fat.
Episode Summary: Dr. Timothy Ryan talks about the high energy costs of synapses, the role of mitochondria and glycolysis, and challenge the long-held view that the brain relies solely on glucose by discussing new evidence that neurons burn fats from lipid droplets for fuel, especially during activity. The talk touches on metabolic flexibility, links to epilepsy treatments like ketogenic diets, neurodegenerative diseases, and future research on brain energy sources.
About the guest: Timothy Ryan, PhD is a professor of biochemistry at Cornell University. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of synaptic transmission, particularly vesicle recycling and the bioenergetics that power neural communication.
Discussion Points:
- Synapses are tiny structures with ~100 vesicles per site (on average), converting electrical signals to chemical ones.
- Brain tissue is energy-hungry due to trillions of synapses (in humans), relying on local mitochondria (present in only ~half of synapses) and glycolysis.
- Vesicles use proton pumps and transporters to concentrate neurotransmitters, requiring ATP to maintain gradients.
- Neurons are metabolically fragile; cutting fuel supply quickly impairs synapses.
- Dogma held brains don't burn fats, but new work shows neurons form lipid droplets (fat stores) that are invisible because constantly used for energy via beta-oxidation.
- Silencing neurons builds lipid droplets like resting muscle; activity speeds their breakdown, indicating demand-driven fat use.
- Inhibiting neuron-specific fat-processing enzymes accumulates droplets and induces torpor (hibernation-like state) in animals, signaling metabolic stress.
- Ketogenic diets aid epilepsy by shifting to ketones; fats may explain this, with potential ties to aging and neurodegeneration like Alzheimer's.
- Brain may be a "hybrid" fuel user (glucose + fats), with open questions on fat sources and roles in cognition or disease protection.
Related episode:
- M&M 158: Ketosis & Ketogenic Diet: Brain & Mental Health, Metabolism, Diet & Exercise, Cancer, Diabetes | Dominic D'Agostino
*Not medical advice.
Affiliates:
- Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.
- KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
- Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Code MIND for 10% off
- SiPhox Health—Affordable at-home blood testing. Key health markers, visualized & explained. Code TRIKOMES for a 20% discount.
For all the ways you can support my efforts
251 episodes
Share
Manage episode 496073769 series 2846067
Content provided by Nick Jikomes. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Nick Jikomes or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.
How brain synapses work and fuel themselves with fat.
Episode Summary: Dr. Timothy Ryan talks about the high energy costs of synapses, the role of mitochondria and glycolysis, and challenge the long-held view that the brain relies solely on glucose by discussing new evidence that neurons burn fats from lipid droplets for fuel, especially during activity. The talk touches on metabolic flexibility, links to epilepsy treatments like ketogenic diets, neurodegenerative diseases, and future research on brain energy sources.
About the guest: Timothy Ryan, PhD is a professor of biochemistry at Cornell University. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of synaptic transmission, particularly vesicle recycling and the bioenergetics that power neural communication.
Discussion Points:
- Synapses are tiny structures with ~100 vesicles per site (on average), converting electrical signals to chemical ones.
- Brain tissue is energy-hungry due to trillions of synapses (in humans), relying on local mitochondria (present in only ~half of synapses) and glycolysis.
- Vesicles use proton pumps and transporters to concentrate neurotransmitters, requiring ATP to maintain gradients.
- Neurons are metabolically fragile; cutting fuel supply quickly impairs synapses.
- Dogma held brains don't burn fats, but new work shows neurons form lipid droplets (fat stores) that are invisible because constantly used for energy via beta-oxidation.
- Silencing neurons builds lipid droplets like resting muscle; activity speeds their breakdown, indicating demand-driven fat use.
- Inhibiting neuron-specific fat-processing enzymes accumulates droplets and induces torpor (hibernation-like state) in animals, signaling metabolic stress.
- Ketogenic diets aid epilepsy by shifting to ketones; fats may explain this, with potential ties to aging and neurodegeneration like Alzheimer's.
- Brain may be a "hybrid" fuel user (glucose + fats), with open questions on fat sources and roles in cognition or disease protection.
Related episode:
- M&M 158: Ketosis & Ketogenic Diet: Brain & Mental Health, Metabolism, Diet & Exercise, Cancer, Diabetes | Dominic D'Agostino
*Not medical advice.
Affiliates:
- Seed Oil Scout: Find restaurants with seed oil-free options, scan food products to see what they’re hiding, with this easy-to-use mobile app.
- KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + electrolytes formulated for kidney health. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime)
- Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Code MIND for 10% off
- SiPhox Health—Affordable at-home blood testing. Key health markers, visualized & explained. Code TRIKOMES for a 20% discount.
For all the ways you can support my efforts
251 episodes
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Similar to Mind & Matter
Interviews with Anthropologists about their New Books Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology
…
continue reading
Flash Forward is a show about possible (and not so possible) future scenarios. What would the warranty on a sex robot look like? How would diplomacy work if we couldn’t lie? Could there ever be a fecal transplant black market? (Complicated, it wouldn’t, and yes, respectively, in case you’re curious.) Hosted and produced by award winning science journalist Rose Eveleth, each episode combines audio drama and journalism to go deep on potential tomorrows, and uncovers what those futures might re ...
…
continue reading
A myriad of AI, science, and technology experts explore the real challenges and enormous opportunities facing entrepreneurs who are building the future of health. Raising Health, a podcast by a16z Bio + Health and hosted by Kris Tatiossian and Olivia Webb, dives deep into the heart of biotechnology and healthcare innovation. Join veteran company builders, operators, and investors Vijay Pande, Julie Yoo, Vineeta Agarwala, and Jorge Conde, along with distinguished guests like Mark Cuban, Greg ...
…
continue reading
You Are Not So Smart is a show about psychology that celebrates science and self delusion. In each episode, we explore what we've learned so far about reasoning, biases, judgments, and decision-making.
…
continue reading
As She Rises brings together local poets and activists from throughout North America to depict the effects of climate change on their home and their people. Each episode carries the listener to a new place through a collection of voices, local recordings and soundscapes. Stories span from the Louisiana Bayou, to the tundras of Alaska to the drying bed of the Colorado River. Centering the voices of native women and women of color, As She Rises personalizes the elusive magnitude of climate cha ...
…
continue reading
In each episode, we talk with inspiring scientists, thinkers, and other self-actualized individuals who will give you a greater understanding of yourself, others, and the world we live in. Scott Barry Kaufman explores the depths of human potential and tries to get a glimpse into human possibility in every episode.
…
continue reading
Going Wild with Dr. Rae Wynn Grant is a different kind of nature show about the human drama of saving animals. From a paleoanthropologist who hunts fossils in conflict zones to someone who helped save an endangered species while in prison, in season four we will hear from real-life heroes and nature advocates with widely different expertise and life experiences that led them to be champions for the natural world. Wildlife biologist and host Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant has been studying wild animals i ...
…
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There are a lot of fads, blogs and strong opinions, but then there’s SCIENCE. Science Vs is the show from Spotify Studios that finds out what’s fact, what’s not, and what’s somewhere in between. We do the hard work of sifting through all the science so you don't have to and cover everything from 5G and ADHD, to Fluoride and Fasting Diets.
…
continue reading
Whether the topic is popcorn or particle physics, you can count on BrainStuff to explore -- and explain -- the everyday science in the world around us.
…
continue reading
The news you know, the science you don’t. Unexpected Elements looks beyond everyday narratives to discover a goldmine of scientific stories and connections from around the globe. From Afronauts, to why we argue, to a deep dive on animal lifespans: see the world in a new way.
…
continue reading
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