Podcast episode: Cracking the MND code

In this episode, Dr Margreet Ridder — whose project was ranked the top FightMND-funded study in 2024 — reflects on her journey to becoming a researche...

Podcast: Getting inside bipolar

Please note that this episode contains discussions about suicidal ideation, which some listeners may find distressing. If you or someone you know is a...

Podcast: The science of staying young

While countless supplements and products promise to reverse aging without scientific proof, the real secret to defying age may be found in the study o...

How memories shape us

Dr Matt Kenna is fascinated by the science of memory. As a researcher at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, Matt is tasked with challenging prominent th...

Podcast: Redefining mental health

Professor John McGrath, a distinguished clinician and researcher at UQ's Queensland Brain Institute, is at the forefront of global mental health resea...

Podcast: When comedy meets science

Mr Mehershad Wadia has written numerous scripts for short comedies screened at international film festivals like Mumbai and San Francisco, joined the...

Testing Stroke Recovery

Professor Gail Robinson has developed a new diagnostic tool to assess cognitive function in post-stroke patients called The Brief Executive Language S...

Train your brain

We know exercise is beneficial for our body and mind. Research has shown that neurogenesis – the production of neurons in the brain – continues throug...

Meals matter for child brain development

Dr Bonnie Searle is passionate about getting children to eat. In her past life as a paediatric dietitian for children with food aversions, she experie...

Tackling concussion

What do Wally Lewis AM and Nic Berry have in common? Quite a lot, it turns out. Wally started playing rugby union before switching codes to rugby leag...

Memory enhancing mushrooms

A neuroengineered future

Last year, neuroengineer Dr Clarissa Whitmire joined the Queensland Brain Institute as a senior research fellow and is the Institute’s newest group le...

The business of neuroscience

As a Research Fellow in Neuroeconomics, Dr Dragan Rangelov investigates human sensory perception, decision-making and memory. His work explores how th...

Remembering to give

Robyn Hilton and Allison Scifleet may never have become firm friends had it not been for their involvement in fundraising for dementia research. Both...

Reflecting on 20 years of brain research excellence

What inspired the creation of the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI)? And how did QBI become one of the leading neuroscience research centres in the wor...

Hijacking the brain’s intrinsic recovery mechanisms to improve stroke therapies

Stroke is one of Australia’s biggest killers, with more than 445,000 Australians living with its impacts. Stroke is common, is not always preventable...

Understanding epilepsy's electrical storm in the brain

QBI researcher Dr Nela Durisic is fascinated with how the brain coordinates electrical activity and how faulty electrical communication can lead to br...

What we can see inside our brain cells with super-resolution microscopy

QBI researcher Professor Frederic Meunier is passionate about using highly innovative technology to discover how our brain cells communicate. His lab...

In the fight to find a cure for motor neurone disease

Boots, beanies and all, QBI researcher Dr Adam Walker is in the fight to find a cure for motor neurone disease (MND). His team uses genetic editing te...

How does a teenager’s brain assess risk in decision-making?

How do we make choices? And what happens in our brain when we do? Cognitive Neuroscientist Professor Jason Mattingley and his team study human brain a...

What interneurons and their connections can teach us about autism

Dr Nathalie Dehorter and her team study interneurons (the neurons controlling the excitation-inhibition balance in the central nervous system) during...

The many factors that impact how our memory works

Professor Peter Nestor is a clinician-researcher interested in memory and cognition. As a doctor, he diagnoses people living with neurodegenerative di...

How you can build new brain cells even as you age

Exercise has many benefits for our bodies, including our brains. So, can we replicate the positive effects of exercise to boost new neurons in the adu...

Perception is a balance between prediction and surprise

QBI researcher Dr Margaret Moore discusses the fascinating and dynamic process of paying attention. Amidst the sensory overload around us, the brain t...

Exploring new territory in RNA and neuroscience

QBI researcher Professor Tim Bredy believes his team are on the verge of something big. They are studying the role of ribonucleic acid (RNA), which is...

How sleep helps us learn and respond to the world

Ever wondered what’s happening in your brain while you sleep and why you need sleep?  
 QBI researchers Professor Bruno van Swinderen and Dr Sal...

Looking back on 10 years with Sallyanne Atkinson AO and Professor Perry Bartlett AO

This episode features an insightful conversation between Sallyanne Atkinson AO, former Lord Mayor of Brisbane and current member of the QBI advisory,...

Podcast: Deep brain stimulation - a pacemaker for the brain?

You probably have heard of a pacemaker – a small device which is implanted in the chest to help control the heartbeat for people living with heart con...

Concussion and the long-term effects

In recent years, we’ve seen a growing number of sportspeople speak out about their experiences of head injuries, and concussions are forcing more and...

The link between sleep apnoea and dementia

People living with dementia often have disturbed sleep – even years prior to experiencing any other symptoms.  Unfortunately, as is the case with many...

How the developing brain adapts

The development of the brain is a fascinating process, with complex brain connections being made rapidly as a foetus grows inside its mother’s womb.Da...

Mini brains and the potential of organoids

How can you study the human brain at the cell level, when you can't get inside to see these tiny processes in action? Well, you build your own brain i...

The conscious brain

In this episode, we examine consciousness – what is it, when does it begin, and how might sleep and dreams be the key to answering these questions. Pr...

When neuroscience meets conservation science

Queensland Chief Scientist, Professor Hugh Possingham and Queensland Brain Institute Director, Professor Pankaj Sah talk about the lessons we can lear...

Pay attention! How your brain decides what to focus on

When we pay attention to something, our minds are selectively concentrating on a discrete piece of information, while choosing to ignore other perceiv...

The cutting edge of dementia research

Almost 500,000 Australians have some kind of dementia, the most common form of which is Alzheimer’s disease. Currently, there is no cure, and only one...

Art meets science meets AI

Artist Sam Leach’s work focuses on a connection between science and art, in a more modern twist. He uses AI to compose art that he then paints. It’s a...

Where psychology and neuroscience collide

How do you make sure clinical treatment of people with brain injury, diseases and disorders is best informed by neuroscience? This is where the worlds...

Why our brain is smarter than a machine

Paralysed people walking again and direct brain to brain communication aren’t just ideas in the realm of science fiction. We hear from Dr Lilach Avita...

What did one brain cell say to the other?

The brain is one of the most complex things that scientists study, with trillions of connections between brain cells responsible for our thoughts and...