The electric pill: non-invasive brain stimulation with Prof. Andrea Antal

In this episode, we talk to Prof. Andrea Antal, an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Göttingen and a group leader at the Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Laboratory in the Department of Neurology at the Medical University Göttingen. Prof. Antal has many years of experience developing treatments for patients suffering from chronic pain, depression, and mild cognitive impairment. The focus of this conversation is on non-invasive brain stimulation techniques, namely transcranial electric and magnetic stimulation. You will learn about the practical aspects and the underlying science of such therapies and how they can be combined with meditation. We also talk about the problems women face in academia. At the end, Prof. Antal shares some great advice for PhD students.

Our channel is supported by International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Neurosciences as well as Cluster of Excellence Multiscale Bioimaging (MBExC) in Göttingen, Germany. The views presented on this channel are not representative of IMPRS or MBExC.

Timestamps:
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:55 Early career and motivation for doing science
00:06:02 Why Göttingen?
00:08:02 Research interest: transcranial electric stimulation in treatment
00:12:18 The course of a treatment with non-invasive brain stimulation and its effectiveness
00:21:26 What is brain plasticity?
00:23:35 Phosphene perception
00:24:47 Clinical trials and evaluating the success of the treatment
00:36:15 What is cognition? Should we strive to enhance it?
00:43:53 Meditation in treatment of mild cognitive impairment
00:54:48 Problems in academia: gender inequality
01:00:20 Work-life balance in research
01:03:56 Advice for PhD students
01:08:20 Problems in academia: publishing system and granting money for research

Intro music by penguinmusic from Pixabay

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Neuroscience and Beyond team:
Svilen Georgiev
Kristina Jevdokimenko
Sabina Nowakowska