The Vitality Lab Podcast | Podcast in RSS.com

The Vitality Lab Podcast

The Vitality Lab Podcast

di Aaran Vijayakumaran

Salute mentale Scienza della vita

What Actually Helps When You’re Struggling | Professor Pooja Saini

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.

Why Exercise Helps Depression — Why Starting Is So Hard | Dr Emily Hird

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.

From Legal Highs to VR Therapy: Prof. Paolo Deluca on the Changing Science of Addiction

Professor Paolo Deluca (King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience) has spent over 25 years researching addiction — from the emergence of unregulated synthetic substances sold online, to his current work developing VR-based treatment tools paired with wearable sensors that can help identify craving episodes in real time. In this conversation, we explore how classical conditioning (think Pavlov's dogs) explains why certain environments and cues trigger cravings, how his team is using virtual reality to help people build resistance to those triggers in a controlled, supportive setting, and how wearable technology could one day give clinicians earlier warning signs during recovery. We also discuss the current landscape of addiction treatment in the UK, the importance of treating addiction as a long-term, multi-factor condition rather than a short-term fix, and what gives Professor Deluca hope for the field going forward. This episode is an academic and research-focused discussion. It does not provide medical advice, and nothing discussed should be used as guidance for personal drug use. If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, please reach out to a licensed healthcare provider or a support service such as SAMHSA's National Helpline (1-800-662-4357, US) or FRANK (0300 123 6600, UK). Topics covered: How craving works, psychologically and physiologically Virtual reality as a tool in addiction treatment research Wearable technology and real-time monitoring in recovery support Why addiction treatment requires a long-term, holistic approach The current state of addiction research and where it's headed

David Shaikh: Using AI to Diagnose Neglected Tropical Diseases in Africa

Serial entrepreneur David Shaikh — co-founder of Sherwood Sciences — joins the show to talk about building "impact startups," the €5.7M EU-funded app he's developing to diagnose skin neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) like leprosy and Buruli ulcer across Africa, and two decades of lessons learned from ticketing marketplaces to healthcare tech. We dig into how deep convolutional neural networks are being trained on dermatologist-labeled images to help frontline health workers catch these diseases early, the challenges of building a bias-free, skin-tone-inclusive dataset across five African countries, and why the project will be fully open source and eventually handed to the WHO. David also opens up candidly about rejection, bootstrapping before chasing VC money, and how to find your "life mission" without burning out in your 20s. Topics covered: What makes a startup an "impact startup" vs. a traditional one Inside the SkinNTD app: how AI-assisted diagnosis works for frontline health workers Building a diverse, unbiased medical imaging dataset in Senegal, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria & DRC Why the app enhances doctors rather than replacing them Raising non-dilutive funding through Horizon Europe and the WHO Handling rejection, bootstrapping vs. VCs, and finding purpose in your 20s

Decoding the Brain's Memory System: Insights from the Hippocampus | Dr Marielena Sosa

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.

Microbiome in Parkinson’s: Biomarker, Bystander, or Therapeutic Target? | Dr. Frederick Clasen

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.

Can Fasting Reduce Inflammation? | Professor Clare Bryant

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.

How Pets Protect Mental Health | Professor Helen Brooks

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.

Anxiety & Intrusive Thoughts: How To Break the Loop | Dr Blake Stobie

Dr Blake Stobie is the Lead Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Director at the Centre for Anxiety Disorders and Trauma (CADAT) in London. With over 25 years of experience treating anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, PTSD and related conditions, Dr Stobie blends deep clinical insight with a warm, evidence-based approach to understanding the mind. We dive into the surprising truth about intrusive thoughts, what they really tell us about how our mind works, and why nearly everyone experiences them — even if they feel bizarre or upsetting. Dr Stobie reframes these thoughts not as flaws or warnings, but as a normal part of human cognition, and shows how anxiety and rumination can take over when we give too much weight to the stories we tell ourselves. If you’ve ever felt pulled into a spiral of worry or wondered why your brain seems to “spam” you with distressing ideas, this conversation offers clarity, compassion, and a path toward breaking the loop.

GLP-1 Drugs, the Brain, and Mental Health | Dr Riccardo De Giorgi

Dr Riccardo De Giorgi, MD, DPhil, MRCPsych, is a Clinical Lecturer in Psychiatry at the University of Oxford and an Honorary Consultant in General Adult Psychiatry at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust. He teaches psychiatry and psychopharmacology, leads experimental medicine research, and focuses on repurposing immuno-metabolic drugs — including GLP-1 receptor agonists — for cognitive and mental disorders. In this episode, we explore GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) — medications originally developed for diabetes and obesity — and their emerging relevance to psychiatry and brain health. Recent analyses, including work led by Dr De Giorgi, review preclinical and clinical evidence suggesting these drugs may influence cognitive processes, reward pathways, mood regulation, and inflammatory mechanisms implicated in conditions such as depression, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, and other psychiatric or neurocognitive disorders. We discuss: How GLP-1 signalling works in the body and the brain Why psychiatrists are increasingly interested in GLP-1RAs beyond metabolic effects The current evidence for psychiatric and cognitive benefits (and limitations) Mechanistic challenges in translating animal findings to humans The importance of stratifying patients and integrating biomarkers in future research This episode strips away hype to uncover what science currently supports — and what remains an open question — about the psychiatric potential of GLP-1 receptor agonists.

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