What is Happiness? Is happiness more than just feeling good? What do different people mean when they use the word happiness? What did ancient philosophers like Aristotle mean when they used the word happiness? Joar Vittersø is a professor in Psychology and have spent many years studying and researching the ancient concept of Eudaimonia. He is also …

Too much demand? Too little recovery? Stress is something that affects all of us to some degree. But what is Stress? How could a scenario look like from healthy to clinically burned out? Perhaps most importantly, what can you do about it? Giorgio Grossi is a licensed Psychotherapist and Head of Research at the special stress clinic Stressmottagning…

How do we sense if we have eaten or not and how is that linked to how long an organism lives? In today’s interesting episode David tells us about the mechanistic target of rapamycin, mTOR for short. Professor David Sabatini is a member of the Whitehead Institute at MIT and perhaps more importantly the person who discovered mTOR. Friends I really ho…

How does our Microbiome affect our health and how long we live? How does drugs like Metformin and others affect us through the Microbiome? In today's conversation Filipe shares his views on this and a lot more. Filipe Cabreiro is the Principal Investigator of the Cabreiro Lab which focus on how the Microbiome regulates the effect of Drugs and Diet …

Mitochondria are often referred to as the powerhouse of the cell. They are important as they create energy which enables us to live our daily lives. Mitochondria also seem to affect our health, aging, diabetes and more. How can we affect our Mitochondria? Exercise. Professor David Bishop is a world leader in muscle exercise physiology with more 250…

Making and maintaining a change can be hard. Thankfully something exists called Motivational Interviewing which is a powerful approach to facilitate change. In today’s episode me and Dawn talk about what Motivational Interviewing is and why it works. We also talk about dawns book: Motivational Interviewing in Nutrition and Fitness. Dawn Clifford, P…

How does our beliefs affect us and our lives? Does it matter if we believe we can or can’t learn and grow? In today’s episode me and Kali talk about The Growth Mindset. What it is; how it affects us; tips on where to learn more about it and suggestions of how to internalizing it. Kali Trzesniewski have a Ph.D. in Psychology from UC Davis. She is a …

What role does Music play when it comes to Exercise? According to new fascinating research, music seems to be one important element of a good workout. Making it more enjoyable and can improve performance. Matthew Stork PhD have done several studies of how music affects exercise and have also worked as a strength and condition coach at McMaster Univ…

Can what we believe affect the outcome of a drug and change the neurochemistry of our brain? What happens when we connect with and believe in our doctors? The Placebo Effect is a powerful real thing which can have a big impact in treatments and everyday life. Today Karin explains what the placebo effect is, the biology of the placebo effect, the me…

How does our Life affect our genes and in turn our health? Can our wellbeing make us more resilient? How does threat and uncertainty affect our Health? In today’s episode Steve provides his thoughts on these questions and more. Steve Cole is a Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences in the UCLA School of Medicine. He studies…

How ought one to live? Epicureanism is a Philosophy created by Epicurus who lived 341-270 BC. It is famous for it’s thoughts about the meaning of life/how you should live your life. Epicureanism focus on reducing your mental and emotional pain and satisfying your basic needs such as food, shelter and connection with others. This is believed to crea…

Is it possible to affect how long we live and our long term health? Can you live until you become 100 with the health of a 60 year old? Luigi Fontana have a science based broad approach to both longevity and long term health(healthspan). He also shares his great thoughts about the good life and how we can affect the state of our planet. I highly en…

Can the adult brain change for the better? In todays episode the friendly and knowledgeable Michael Merzenich tells us all about Neuroplasticity (the brains ability to change), the physical underpinnings of the changing brain, what happens to the brain as it gets older, brain training and a lot more. Professor Emeritus Michael Merzenich have publis…

How does a week of exercise optimized for health and longevity look like? How does a one minute workout at high intensity compare to a 50 minute workout at moderate intensity? What is interval training and why is it important? Answers to these and many other questions will be given in todays episode by the pedagogical expert Martin Gibala. Martin G…

What are emotions? What problems can one get from emotions? How can you handle your emotions in a better way? These questions and other will be answered today by the Swedish clinician Kristoffer Pettersson. Kristoffers have specialized in experience-based methods, such as Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Affect Focused Therapy. He is the c…

How does calorie restriction, intermittent fasting, exercise, stress, drugs and supplements affect our ageing and health? You’ll learn all about it in todays episode with professor Brian Kennedy. It is highly important to focus on ageing as it is a big risk factor when it comes to many chronic diseases such as Heart Disease, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes a…

Can we live longer due to a healthy microbiome? Dario have done some fascinating work when it comes to how fish age due to it’s microbiome. How much longer do they live and why? You’ll get the answers in todays episode. Dario Valenzano is a group leader at the Max Planck institute. He is interested in ageing, the microbiome, evolution and a lot mor…

Health really begins at the cellular level according to professor Terry Wahls. Terry is a patient with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, which confined her to a tilt-recline wheelchair for four years. Although Dr. Wahls restored her health using a diet and lifestyle program she designed specifically for her brain and is now able to pedals h…

Interested in improving your life? In todays Episode Massimo tells us about how to practice stoicism, a practical philosophy of life; how to improve upon yourself; How to Exercise the Dichotomy of Control which is the main concept in Stoicism; How to start our practice and a lot more. Professor Massimo Pigliucci is known for popularizing Stoicism w…

Does brain training work? What can you do to improve your cognition and why do we have consciousness? In todays episode we get into all of this good stuff. Adjunct Research Professor Bobby Stojanoski is highly interested in both how the brain works and our experience and studies things like memory, attention and perception. He use advanced techniqu…

Learn a ton about Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) for children and adults. What it is, how you know if you or someone else have the diagnosis, what treatment options exist, how to get an evaluation, the stigma around it and so much more. Dr. Roberto Olivardia is a Clinical Psychologist, Lecturer in Psychology in the Department of Psyc…

Only Tuesdays, no more Fridays. Once a week, not twice a week. The golden days of two episodes per week is up, at least for now. It was lovely, nice and fantastic, but some times some good things must come to an end, and that time is now for two episodes per week. From now on Health Psychology and Human Nature will only be released once a week on T…

How do species change over time and why are we attracted to certain things? Today I and Professor Richard Prum get into Natural Selection, Sexual Selection and the Evolution of Beauty. We also get into sexual stuff like why the penis is the way it is and orgasms. Richard is an evolutionary ornithologist, meaning he really know his birds and evoluti…

How did we get our brain and how is it different from other brains? The answer to those questions are given in todays episode by Associate Professor Suzana Herculano-Houzel. We also get into how many neurons we have, how many neurons we have in our cerebral cortex, how our brain compares to other brains, how we got our brain and how much energy our…

How does videogames affect our wellbeing? In todays episode Rachel Ph.D. tells us about how Video Games (on computer, console, phone etc.) affect our wellbeing and mental health; how it teaches us a variety of skills; how it gives us a pause from our problems and so much more. We also get into addiction; playing as a child and if if playing makes u…

Is breakfast the most important meal of the day? Not so according to Professor Mark Mattson who is a leading expert when it comes to intermittent fasting. In todays episode you will learn what intermittent fasting is, what processes it starts within us and how it affects health and disease. Mark Mattson is one of the foremost experts in the world w…

Gentle touch is fundamental to human development and have a great effect on health according to Professor Francis McGlone. In today's episode discuss the underlying c-fibres that transmits the signal from gentle touch into our brain and awareness. Professor Francis McGlone is the head of the Somatosensory & Affective Neuroscience Group at the Schoo…

How should you live your life? Stoicism is a practically oriented philosophy which focus on how to live a good life and how to improve upon yourself. In today’s conversation Professor Massimo talks about what Stoicism is, the importance in what we can and can’t control, how to improve your character and tips for those that want to learn more. Profe…

A very interesting conversation about stress appraisals and mindsets. It is highly interesting how what we think and how we evaluate a situation can affect both our mind and body. It is also very interesting how our beliefs seem to be malleable, especially if we are motivated to change our beliefs. Jeremy Jamieson is an associate Professor in Psych…

Today we have an interesting conversation about personalised integrative therapy which is a holistic individualized approach to mental health. Including: Lifestyle, diet & nutrition, psychology, relationships and more. Dr. Adrian Lopresti is a Clinical Psychologist in a private practice, senior researcher at Murdoch University, Western Australia, a…

In todays episode you will learn a lot about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and the most effective treatment named Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). Doing what you fear without the compulsion is the hallmark of ERP. We also get into toxifying and detoxifying ways to relate to thoughts. Dr. David A. Clark is a professor emeritus and a cli…

Do you lie often? Everything you need to know about lies and lie detection. How often we lie, why we lie, how good we are at telling if someone else is lying as well as technologies and techniques to find out if someone is lying or not. Erik Mac Giolla is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He h…

Friends. In todays episode Professor Vittorio Galese explains why we like to go to the movies, what happens with us when we look at a movie, what the differences are between the absorption of a movie and experiencing the real world and a lot more. Check out Vittorio’s book The Empathic Screen by clicking the link: http://bit.ly/theempathicscreen Vi…

Omega-3 seems to be one of most important supplements when it comes to health. It is also one of the most studied supplements. In todays episode we discuss how omega-3 affect the heart, mental health, babies and even sperm. We also discuss how much Omega-3 you need, supplements and dietary sources and how to measure your omega-3 levels. Today I tal…

What is physical intelligence? Sometimes, you need to do it to know it. Your hands have to be on the steering wheel to learn the feel of slipping tires. You need to be watching the traffic to judge the best moment to cross the road. Everything we do, from changing a lightbulb to navigating unknown terrain relies on physical intelligence, our oldest…

Does DNA affect who we become? If you have siblings or children you can probably tell that we as humans are both similar and dissimilar. In todays episode Robert Plomin tell us about how DNA affects who we become and stress the importance of both DNA and the environment. We also discuss the importance of DNA for preventing health problems and for h…

In today's interesting episode me and the great storyteller, professor emeritus Brian Fagan, do a deep dive into our history. We talked about the first modern Europeans, the Cro-Magnon. Who they were, how they lived, how they differed from the Neanderthals and us, their culture, what they ate and much more. A great conversation to better understand…

Looking at your smartphone too much? It is time to outsmart your smartphone. In todays episode Tchiki Davis Ph.D. tells us about how to decrease our screen time and increase the quality of our lives when we are not looking at out screens. We also get into gratitude interventions and talk about other interventions to increase wellbeing. Check out he…

Do you know someone who does not like how they look? Both women and men have thoughts about their looks which can go to the extreme. In Muscle Dysmorphia, sometimes referred to as reversed Anorexia, the individual have the perception of looking small even though being muscular. In today's episode we get into the Adonix Complex, a book which details…

Science of the Wim Hof Method. Everything you need to know about the science of the Wim Hof Method. Who Wim is, how his method of the breathing, cold and meditation work. Also how it affects you, your body, brain and mind. In today's episode I have a conversation with Pierre Capel, professor emeritus in experimental immunology at the Utrecht Univer…

How ought one to live? What is human nature? Why are habits important? Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas was thinking about these topics thousands of years ago. In this episode Professor Thomas Spalding teach us about the Aristotelian-Thomistic view about the human person and its view of the good life, human growth and development. To learn more, read t…

In today's episode Professor Bobby Duffy explains why we are wrong about a lot of things like murder rate and the number of teenage moms. We talk about fascinating concepts like: emotional innumeracy, confirmation bias, rosy retrospection and other biases. We also get into the dangers of not having a balanced view of the current state of our countr…

Are we born with an intuitive understanding of numbers or is it something we learn later in life? In today's fascinating episode we discuss the number instinct, what it is, how it’s traced back evolutionarily, the biological underpinnings and more. To learn more read Andreas book: A brain for numbers. Andreas Nieder is a professor of animal physiol…

Can you influence how long you live and is there any molecules that extend lifespan? In today's episode Professor Matt Kaeberlein teach us about aging, how to affect aging and the interesting molecule Rapamycin. He also tells us about the dog aging project which focuses on understanding aging with the help of man's best friend. Please read more at:…

Have you ever wondered why we do what we do? E.g. Why we crave unhealthy food or tend for our young? In today's interesting episode we discussed what evolutionary psychology is. Evolutionary Psychology have a lot to do with why questions: Why we like what we like and do what we do. We also talk about related subjects such as Evolution, Psychology, …

Friends. Friendships are essential and more important than we think. In today's episode Science Journalist Lydia explains how friendships affect our brainwaves, genomes, cardiovascular system, immune system, longevity and a lot more. It is also very important in evolutionary terms; it increase how long we live and the health of our offspring. To le…

Everything you need to know about Vitamin D: What it is, what to measure, various effects on: health, mental health, cognition, autoimmune disease, the brain, our genes etc. The optimal range of Vitamin D and instructions for getting your vitamin D from the sun and supplements. Professor Michael F. Holick is an internationally recognized expert in …

Why are we nice to each other? Why do we show appreciation when someone is nice to us in evolutionary terms? A very interesting conversation about what gratitude is and an evolutionary explanation as to why it exists. We also get into discussing emotions, gratitude interventions and a lot of other things. Dr. Debra Lieberman is an Associate Profess…

Who are you? What is your personality? Over 100 years of research have been summarized in a model called the five factor model aka Big Five Personality. Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism are the five factors that help us better understand ourselves as human beings. In this episode we discuss all …