Wonderful to chat with Paul on Brain Inspired, where we discuss many things. Among them: What are we brain researchers trying to do here (wrt causality)? I also stick my neck out to predict the next big breakthrough in emotion research.

0:00 – Intro
6:12 – Nicole’s path
19:25 – The grand plan
25:18 – Robustness and fragility
39:15 – Mood
49:25 – Model everything!
56:26 – Epistemic iteration
1:06:50 – Can we standardize mood?
1:10:36 – Perspective neuroscience
1:20:12 – William Wimsatt
1:25:40 – Consciousness

Thanks for having me!

https://braininspired.co/podcast/214/

It's publication day for 📘Elusive Cures. What a moment!

This is my 1st book & my 1st time on Mindscape (one of my favorite podcasts).

Here, @seanmcarroll and I have a wide-ranging conversation about the brain, including: Why are brain and mental disorders so hard to understand and treat?

The podcast: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/06/09/317-nicole-rust-on-why-neuroscience-hasnt-solved-brain-disorders/

The book: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691243054/elusive-cures

My new piece in Nature Human Behavior: "We need to fight for the next generation of US researchers"

All trainees need 3 things to thrive. In the US, those things have been ripped away. Let's brainstorm and fight to get them back.

(share link): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-025-02246-x.epdf?sharing_token=hcXev4a-31TU_a-OJK6ZMtRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0MYALIXurixdPyNhiHwMhlzGSYzTbCgk8k-LvtRgSz04GX7xmjDu30cxJslQ-hufZZA8Li3FllJdSC3Le0yVRFBhJDn4VkC9QTpwrJeB0iXHDc0lY-LY-dngmlCZxfZYjE%3D

My hope is that Elusive Cures will help shift the current narrative (from scientists as selfish & corrupt data falsifiers). Most scientists I know are impassioned individuals throwing their best at complicated challenges that matter for society; this is how Elusive Cures describes them.

I'm humbled by this review.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780691243054

I hope Senator John Fetterman and his team enjoy nonfiction books (or at least this one).

Nearly everyone is either themselves afflicted with a brain or mental condition, or knows someone who is. We must do better for those individuals! To achieve that, we need federal support of science.

Day 25 (a need): Psychiatric conditions are diagnosed based on symptoms rather than biological tests like brain scans or blood tests.

We do not yet know enough about what's happening in the brain of someone experiencing a depressive episode or psychosis to create such a test.

#ElusiveCures30

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691243054/elusive-cures

Day 28 (breakthrough): The brain's memory "engram" - a tremendous cumultative brain research accomplishment that unfolded across a century, including multiple Nobel prizes.

Also a terrific test case for the question: How does progress in (neuro)science happen?

#ElusiveCures30

ALSO: AWARD BRENDA MILNER THE NOBEL PRIZE (for work with H.M. and the discovery that the hippocampus the structure that stores memories) - SHE'S 106!
https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=25635

Day 29: This is a taste of what Parkinson's is like from the advocate Ben Stecher's blog. Not just motor; depression too. We can treat but not slow it. It's heartbreaking.

I admire Ben a lot - he's feisty & reminds researchers about the stakes.

https://tmrwedition.com/2024/01/19/on-depression-and-dbs/

#ElusiveCures30

The cautionary words of Thomas Insel MD in his book Healing and elsewhere were part of what inspired me to write Elusive Cures - to answer questions like: What's been holding us back from an impactful understanding of the brain? I'm honored to have his endorsement.

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691243054/elusive-cures

As our community increasingly shifts toward embracing the complexity of the brain, this new book by Xiao-Jing Wang will be an essential go-to.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.1201/9781003459361/theoretical-neuroscience-xiao-jing-wang

He is among a small, prescient group that embraced important ideas before the rest of us. Here he unpacks them.

I'm always excited to see where he's looking next. On that - bingo! - read this quote from his book.

If you want to jump on this train and be a part of where it's heading, Wang's book is an excellent place to start.