Playing With Marbles
Vocal Fry Studios, Brain Canada
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Top 10 Playing With Marbles Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Playing With Marbles episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Playing With Marbles for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Playing With Marbles episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Nature's hard drive
Playing With Marbles
09/28/21 • 33 min
Memories are fickle. They’re so important, but so ineffable.. So how do we make memories? And what types of memory are there? We’re finding out what actually happens when we upload something to our squishy storage system, and if there are any ways to hack our memories to be better. We might even be close to implanting new memories, or editing out old ones.
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- Twitter: @marblespod
- Instagram: @marblespod
2 Listeners
ADHD: When your brain can't sit still
Playing With Marbles
02/28/24 • 38 min
The definition of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has gone through many changes over the years. Interestingly, the criteria used to diagnose ADHD has actually become broader, encompassing a wider range of ages and a variety of different clinical presentations and symptoms. One thing that’s stayed the same since the release of the DSM-III in the 1980’s is the focus on problems with attention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. While it was once thought of as a disorder of childhood, the prevalence of ADHD has seen a consistent rise in more recent years, in both children and adults.
With changing trends in diagnosis for ADHD comes a change in our understanding of how the condition affects those that have it. This episode’s guest, McKenna, discusses how having ADHD impacts her memory, explaining that she exerts quite a bit of effort to work around her forgetfulness. McKenna isn’t exaggerating when she says ADHD makes her forgetful: one study has shown that ADHD is associated with impairments in working memory, an executive function that plays a big role in how we process, use and remember information on a daily basis. This same study suggested that abilities in working memory may be related to the severity of ADHD inattentive and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms. What’s more, these impairments in memory, as well as the symptoms of hyperactivity/ impulsivity but not inattentiveness, can have direct effects on emotional regulation and dysregulation in children with ADHD.
Many options exist for treatment and maintenance of ADHD symptoms. The use of stimulant medication can improve symptoms of attention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. Stimulants have been shown to help improve symptoms in 70% of children with ADHD. Other forms of non-prescription interventions, like education and skills training, classroom management strategies, and more can be used to support children manage their symptoms. There are even less conventional forms of treatment, like neurofeedback therapy, that are being investigated!
Fast Facts
- Globally, ADHD occurs among 3.1% of 10- to 14-year-olds and 2.4% of 15- to 19-year-olds.
- While there is no consensus on the exact cause of ADHD, there is likely a genetic link. Children born into families where there is a history of the disorder are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than children where there is no family history of ADHD.
- Eighty percent of children diagnosed with ADHD continue to qualify for a diagnosis in adolescence and at least 65% continue to be effected by symptoms in adulthood.
Learn More about This Episode’s Cool Researchers
As more is uncovered about the links between ADHD, memory and emotional regulation, there is a need to have emotional dysregulation recognized as a core, diagnostic feature of ADHD alongside impulsivity, inattention, and hyperactivity. This potential fourth core symptom might be the key to why folks with ADHD tend to make use of non-adaptive emotional regulation strategies like blaming themselves, catastrophizing, and ruminating. It also presents a new and exciting avenue for treating symptoms of ADHD, including emotional dysregulation, by implementing strategies used to regulate emotions with the goal of improving one’s emotional response. At the forefront of the inquiry into better understanding the difficulties with emotion dysregulation among young adults and adults with ADHD is this episode’s expert guest, Elizabeth Bodalski – a doctoral student at the University of South Carolina.
Among other areas of research, Elizabeth is interested in how ADHD-related emotional dysregulation may affect someone’s educational experience in college. In o...
1 Listener
Brains in the wild
Playing With Marbles
09/28/21 • 29 min
Sometimes to really find out how brains work you have to get too close for comfort, so we’re looking for brains that have escaped their warm, cozy skulls and made their way into jars and freezers. We even meet something that is very like a brain, but was never inside a skull in the first place. Not AI, but tissue, grown in a lab, for science.
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- Twitter: @marblespod
- Instagram: @marblespod
1 Listener
One woman's brain
Playing With Marbles
06/20/22 • 27 min
For decades researchers used male bodies as the “default”, and this has led to huge research gaps in our understanding of womens’ brains. This lack of knowledge has real, sometimes deadly consequences when it comes to things like medication doses. So, we’re spending this season following one woman’s brain from birth to death and diving into what we do and don’t know about female brains.
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- Twitter: @marblespod
- Instagram: @marblespod
1 Listener
How much do you know about the difference between male and female brains?
Playing With Marbles
06/17/22 • 1 min
Season 2 of Playing with Marbles is coming Monday June 20th, and this time we’re focusing on the female brain, and what we do and don’t know about it. Scientists have been using male bodies as their “default” research subjects for a long time, so we’re going to take a long look at one woman’s brain, and figure out what we do and don’t know about it.
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- Twitter: @marblespod
- Instagram: @marblespod
1 Listener
Click here to start loving your brain!
Playing With Marbles
02/14/24 • 13 min
Strap in for another exciting season of Playing With Marbles, brought to you by Brain Canada. In past seasons, we learned about all of the cool brain science research coming out of labs in Canada, from mini-brain organoids in petri dishes to women’s health beyond the bikini. We’ve taken a look at the brain at a microscopic level and learned how each part of your marble functions to help you encode, process, and remember the world around you.
This season, we’re going a step further to understand all parts of the brain, and this one’s a little more difficult to see with a microscope. Now that we know the brain’s inner workings, we want to understand how those inner workings might affect how someone thinks, feels, and behaves. In simpler terms, we’re going to explore the intricacies of mental health, and mental illness.
Just as we focused on women’s brain health last season, we want to make sure we’re zeroing in on those who have been forgotten or who need the most support. As heard in this episode, mental illness is the leading cause of disability for people in Canada between the ages of 15 and 29 - that’s why we’re centering this season on youth mental health! There’s tons of information out there for young people about mental health, but much of it falls into the category of pop science at best, and misinformation at worst. To combat the junk science out there, we’re talking to real scientists about what goes on in the brain when someone is experiencing mental illness.
To make sure we’re getting all sides of this complicated topic, we’re doing something we’ve never done before on Playing With Marbles. This season, we talk to real young people who struggle with their mental health. Our guests range in age, gender, and diagnosis. You’ll get to hear what it’s like living with obsessive-compulsive disorder, the day-to-day struggles of ADHD, and what it’s like to seek treatment for an eating disorder. We hope pairing the real, lived experiences with the science behind these disorders will provide a nuanced look at the long-maligned topic of mental health and mental illness.
This episode serves as a primer for all to come on this season of Playing With Marbles. Hop on in and listen to what’s in store.
Fast Facts
- Globally, one in seven 10- to 19-year-olds experiences a mental health disorder.
- By the time people in Canada reach 40 years of age, 1 in 2 have, or will have had, mental illness. Importantly, young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental illness than any other age group.
- Up to 70 percent of mental health challenges begin during childhood or teenage years.
- The COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected the mental health of young people in Canada. Only 42 percent of youth in Canada aged 15 to 24 years old reported having excellent or very good mental health in late March and early April of 2020, compared to 62 percent in 2018—the largest drop of any age group.
- Less than 20 percent of youth struggling with their mental health receive appropriate treatment.
Learn More about This Episode’s Cool Research
The focus of this season of Playing With Marbles is all about youth mental health. As heard in this episode, one in every four young people are in need of mental health services every year. That’s why Brain Canada has partnered with RBC Future Launch and Power Corporation to support the Canadian Youth Mental Health Insight Platform, led by Dr. Sean Hill from the Centre for Addition and Mental Health (CAMH). The platform seeks to provide a state-of-the-art informatics platform that can serve as a foundation to optimize mental health for youth across Canada. It will support knowledge and data integration, open data, machine learning and improved communication between key networks, research databases and stakeholders in the youth mental health community. Read more about the platform through Brain Canada’s website here.
Support
If you’re struggling with your mental health, you’re not alone.
If you are in immediate danger of harming yourself or others, call 9-1-1, or head to your nearest emergency room. You can also call or text
1 Listener
When brains go wrong
Playing With Marbles
09/28/21 • 34 min
When something goes wrong with a brain we can’t just get under the hood and poke around. So how do we figure out what’s going wrong? Well sometimes the answer to that question involves watching monkeys watch TV, so we’re taking a trip to a monkey cinema, and along the way learning about the different ways to see inside your head and find faulty wiring.
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- Twitter: @marblespod
- Instagram: @marblespod
Brains, the final frontier
Playing With Marbles
07/20/21 • 1 min
Every day we are learning more about the brain, but the challenges are complex and answers can’t come quickly enough. We are on a global quest to understand the brain and we believe that new ideas, tested through research and leading to innovation and discovery, will reduce the burden on our health care system and help us live happier, healthier lives. Join us and come on a journey to the real last frontier – the brain.
Follow the show:
- Twitter: @marblespod
- Instagram: @marblespod
Borderline Personality Disorder: The Jukebox of Self Doubt
Playing With Marbles
03/06/24 • 37 min
Diagnosis of personality disorders in youth is relatively new. Before the release of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, version 5 (DSM-V), nobody under the age of 18 could receive a diagnosis of a personality disorder, mainly due to the transitional nature of personality in youth, and the degree of stigmatization attached to such a diagnosis. Researchers have since stressed the importance of early detection and treatment for the outcomes of these disorders. In fact, almost all personality disorders diagnosed in adulthood can also be diagnosed in children under the age of 18 who have presented with symptoms for at least one year. The one exception to this rule is related to the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder in adulthood, which must be preceded by a history of childhood conduct disorder.
This episode’s guest, Sophie, mentions different ways her symptoms of borderline personality disorder (or BPD) influence her relationships and ability to trust. We hear that having BPD has instilled in her a tendency towards hyper-attunement to others. This means that Sophie connects to and takes on the emotions of others, in such a way that impacts her behavior and relationships – sometimes in good ways, and sometimes in not-so-good ways. Sophie shares with us that she often identifies and latches on to a “favorite person”, which can sometimes introduce problematic coping mechanisms when things go awry. We also learn about Sophie’s difficult struggles with trust and distrust towards other people and situations.
Often common in those afflicted with BPD, researchers have been prompted to explore the link between impairments in trust processes and the disorder. One study suggests that developmental factors, like experiences of emotional neglect or a lack of trust in parents during childhood, may influence certain behaviors in interpersonal exchanges and ultimately be a risk factor for trust issues in adults with BPD. With the involvement of trust processes being so salient in those with BPD, special attention needs to be attributed to ensuring a safe and trustworthy therapeutic alliance can be established between the therapist and person that is seeking treatment for BPD. Folks with BPD have expressed that therapy simply doesn’t work for them when they are made to feel unsafe. Because of this, care providers are encouraged to consider difficulties with trust in individual treatment plans and emphasize interpersonal trust between themselves and the person seeking treatment for BPD with the goal of developing a favorable therapeutic alliance.
Fast Facts
- Common traits of BPD include having extreme fears of being rejected or abandoned, feeling easily rejected by others, an excessive need for reassurance from others, and more. Studies suggest that 1 to 3% of youth under 18 may have traits of borderline personality disorder.
- BPD is usually diagnosed in teens and young adults, though it may also be diagnosed later in life.
- Most youth who receive appropriate supports and services will benefit and show improvement. Youth who don’t get treatment are at higher risk for aggression, criminal behaviour, ongoing mental health problems, suicide, homelessness and problems in their relationships.
Learn More about This Episode’s Cool Researchers
As men...
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: When Fear Hijacks Your Brain
Playing With Marbles
05/10/24 • 38 min
Support
If you’re struggling with your mental health, you’re not alone.
If you are in immediate danger of harming yourself or others, call 9-1-1, or head to your nearest emergency room. You can also call or text 9-8-8 to reach the Suicide Crisis Helpline. Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Young people can chat anytime with Kids Help Phone by calling 1-800-668-6868. Services are available in English and French.
Wellness Together Canada provides one-on-one counselling, self-guided courses and programs, and peer support and coaching. Youth can contact this service by calling 1-888-668-6810 or texting WELLNESS to 686868. Adults can contact this service by calling 1-866-585-0445 or texting WELLNESS to 741741. You can also find credible articles and information on their website.
The Canadian Mental Health Association can help you find resources, programs, or support for yourself or others. Find a CMHA branch in your area here.
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health provides Mental Health 101 tutorials and online courses on their website.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Playing With Marbles have?
Playing With Marbles currently has 15 episodes available.
What topics does Playing With Marbles cover?
The podcast is about Health & Fitness, Cerebral, Neuroscience, Psychology, Canada, Alzheimer'S, Educational, Research, Mental Health, Community, Mental, Development, Medicine, Therapy, Aging, Podcasts, Adhd, Brain, Resources, Science, Autism, Health, Canadian, Psychiatry, Government and Ocd.
What is the most popular episode on Playing With Marbles?
The episode title 'Nature's hard drive' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Playing With Marbles?
The average episode length on Playing With Marbles is 28 minutes.
How often are episodes of Playing With Marbles released?
Episodes of Playing With Marbles are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Playing With Marbles?
The first episode of Playing With Marbles was released on Jul 20, 2021.
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