Episode #111
Mr. Robin's Hood Podcast, Episode 111 (AUDIO ONLY) - Your Brain on Astrocytes (Ingrid Wickelgren)
In Episode 111 of Mr. Robin's Hood Podcast, Mr. Robin (Robin Hohweiler) and Mikey (Mikel Mauree Robinson) sit down with science journalist Ingrid Wickelgren to explore the growing evidence that astrocytes—star-shaped glial cells once dismissed as support cells—may play a central role in cognition, emotion, sleep, and behavior. They review landmark findings and experiments, from calcium waves first observed in the 1980s to recent zebrafish, fruit-fly and mouse studies showing astrocytes modulate neural activity across broader timescales and influence state changes like giving up, arousal, and mood. The hosts and guest discuss the implications for psychiatric disorders, future treatments, neuroscience research priorities, and how adding astrocytes to our models could change how we understand and treat the brain. There is also a quick diversion to explore Ingrid's six-degree-separation from William Shatner.
