My BrainWise Coach

My BrainWise Coach

Welcome to My BrainWise Coach — a podcast exploring the intersection of neuroscience, behavioral science, and psychology to help you live and lead better lives. Hosted by Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon, each episode connects brain science to everyday life, leadership, and relationships. You’ll gain practical insights into emotional intelligence, habits, trust, change, growth, and many other topics — all grounded in research and real human experience. 🧠 Stay curious. Stay compassionate. Stay BrainWise.

  1. Willpower Neuroscience: Why Self-Control Fails and How to Fix It (S2E24)

    1 天前

    Willpower Neuroscience: Why Self-Control Fails and How to Fix It (S2E24)

    Your willpower does not vanish at four o'clock because you are weak. It runs down because it is a biological function with real limits, and most of what you were taught about self-control is quietly making the problem worse. Learn what willpower actually is, why guilt backfires, and the eight things that genuinely work. You will learn: How Kelly McGonigal defines willpower and her three powers: I will, I won't, and I wantWhy the prefrontal cortex and limbic system compete, and how heart rate variability tracks your self-control capacityRoy Baumeister's willpower-as-a-muscle model, the radish experiment, and the 2016 ego depletion replication crisis led by Martin Hagger across 23 labsWhy the glucose hypothesis collapsed, and how motivation rather than fuel explains depletionVeronica Job and Carol Dweck's finding that your beliefs about willpower shape whether it runs outHow Robert Sapolsky's work on cortisol links chronic stress to a weaker prefrontal cortexWhy guilt and the what-the-heck effect make self-control worse, not betterThe dopamine science of wanting versus liking, plus Daniel Wegner's white bear problemEight strategies that work, including Peter Gollwitzer's implementation intentions, Kristin Neff's self-compassion research, urge surfing, and James Clear's identity-based habitsHow your Personal Threat Profile reveals where your willpower fails firstIf this reframes how you approach self-control, leave a five-star rating and review wherever you listen, then follow @mybrainwisecoach for the next episode. 00:00 The Four O'Clock Cookie Problem 02:00 Welcome And Today's Willpower Topic 03:00 Defining Willpower Neurologically 04:00 Prefrontal Cortex Versus Limbic System 05:00 The Three Powers Of Willpower 07:00 The Physiology Of Self-Control 08:00 Baumeister's Willpower Muscle Model 09:00 The Famous Radish Experiment 10:00 The Ego Depletion Replication Crisis 12:00 The Motivation Account Of Depletion 13:00 Your Beliefs Shape Your Willpower 15:00 How Chronic Stress Damages Willpower 16:00 Why Guilt Makes Self-Control Worse 18:00 The What-The-Heck Effect Explained 19:00 Anticipatory Stress And Future Threats 20:00 The Neuroscience Of Temptation 22:00 Wanting Versus Liking Dopamine 25:00 The White Bear Suppression Problem 27:00 Eight Evidence-Based Willpower Strategies 28:00 Exercise The Willpower Wonder Drug 29:00 Designing Your Environment For Success 30:00 Implementation Intentions And Pre-Planning 31:00 The Pause And Plan Response 32:00 Connecting To Your Identity 33:00 Self-Compassion After You Fail 34:00 Urge Surfing The Craving Wave 35:00 Your Personal Threat Profile 38:00 What This Means For Leaders 39:00 Willpower Is Biology Not Virtue 41:00 The Cookie Is A Symptom

    42 分鐘
  2. Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Neuroscience of Worry (ND2E23)

    4 天前 ·  附贈內容

    Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Neuroscience of Worry (ND2E23)

    The thing you are dreading has not happened yet, and it may never happen, but your body is already responding as if a lion is in the room. Your brain runs a survival program built for short, physical emergencies, and it cannot tell the difference between a real predator and an imagined one. This episode explains what that constant false alarm costs your body, and how you take back control. You will learn: Robert Sapolsky's Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers and what the acute stress response was actually designed to doHow cortisol, the adrenal glands, and the HPA axis mobilize you for a three-minute crisisWhy chronic activation damages the hippocampus, the immune system, and the cardiovascular systemAnticipatory stress at work, and why uncertainty does more harm than the bad news itselfHow leaders cut team stress by communicating early and handing people genuine controlAnticipatory stress in parenting, and why the parental brain never declares the child safe and stands downProductive versus unproductive worry, scheduled worry, and discharging cortisol through vigorous exerciseThe worry is not a defect. It is your prefrontal cortex doing exactly what evolution built it to do. The skill is noticing when the lion response fires at something that is not a lion, and redirecting it before it runs for months. If this reframes how you handle worry, leave a five-star rating and review wherever you listen, then follow @mybrainwisecoach across your platforms for more applied neuroscience. 00:00 The Worry That Hasn't Happened 02:00 Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers 04:00 A Short-Term Emergency System 05:00 When Humans Imagine the Threat 06:00 How Chronic Stress Harms the Body 07:00 Cortisol and the HPA Axis 08:00 Chronic Stress and the Hippocampus 10:00 Anticipatory Stress at Work 11:00 Uncertainty Is the Real Driver 12:00 How Leaders Communicate Through Uncertainty 13:00 Control as the Antidote 14:00 Anticipatory Stress in Parenting 17:00 Productive Versus Unproductive Worry 18:00 Scheduled Worry and Worry Postponement 19:00 Discharge Stress Through Exercise 20:00 Put Your Oxygen Mask On First 21:00 You're Not Broken, You're Human 22:00 Further Reading and Final Takeaways

    23 分鐘
  3. You Are Not One Self: The Science of Inner Multiplicity (S2E23)

    5月31日

    You Are Not One Self: The Science of Inner Multiplicity (S2E23)

    You walk into Monday morning as one person and leave Friday afternoon as someone almost unrecognizable. You have been taught to treat that as inconsistency, weakness, or failure. The science says you have it backwards. Cole and Phil unpack the idea that you are not one cohesive personality but a cast of subpersonalities, each one real, each one useful in the right context. They trace the idea from a 19th-century philosopher through a century of clinical observation and modern cognitive neuroscience, then hand you a practical field guide for working with the cast you already have. In this conversation you will hear: William James and the social selves argument from The Principles of PsychologyRoberto Assagioli's psychosynthesis and the original case for subpersonalitiesRita Carter's Multiplicity and the claim that no single self is more authentic than the othersWalter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda's cognitive-affective processing system and if-then behavioral signaturesState-dependent memory and why the angry version of you holds different beliefs than the calm oneRichard Schwartz's Internal Family Systems and the observer SelfThe four moves: recognition, disidentification, dialogue, and delegationThree experiments for the week: the cast list, the daily check-in, and the casting decisionIf this episode helped you see yourself a little differently, leave a five-star rating and review, then follow @mybrainwisecoach across every platform so you never miss what's coming next. 00:00 The Monday Morning Friday Afternoon Problem 02:00 Welcome And Today's Argument 03:00 William James And The Social Selves 04:00 Assagioli's Subpersonalities 06:00 Rita Carter And Multiplicity 07:00 No Self Is More Authentic 08:00 Brain Networks And Context 09:00 Mischel Shoda And If-Then Signatures 12:00 State-Dependent Memory And Belief 13:00 Reframing Conflict With Loved Ones 14:00 How To Identify Your Cast 15:00 Why Naming The Parts Works 17:00 Critic Pleaser Striver Avoider Caretaker 18:00 The Bodyguard That Overstayed 19:00 Cooperation Versus Internal Warfare 21:00 Move One Recognition 21:30 Move Two Disidentification 22:00 The Observer Self And IFS 23:00 Move Three Dialogue With Parts 24:00 Acknowledge The Part Don't Argue 25:00 Move Four Delegation And Casting 26:00 From Conductor To Jazz Leader 27:00 Experiment One The Cast List 28:00 Experiment Two Daily Check-In 29:00 Experiment Three The Casting Decision 30:00 Close A Part Of Me Is

    28 分鐘
  4. The Encoding-Retrieval Gap: Why Learning Doesn't Transfer (ND2S22)

    5月28日 ·  附贈內容

    The Encoding-Retrieval Gap: Why Learning Doesn't Transfer (ND2S22)

    You finish a great training, take careful notes, feel like you've learned something real, and three months later the details are gone. That isn't a memory problem. It's a structural mismatch between how learning is usually designed and how memory actually works, and once you see it, you can fix it. In this conversation, Cole and Phil unpack the encoding-retrieval gap and the research that explains why so much professional development quietly fails to change behavior: Endel Tulving and Donald Thompson's encoding specificity principle (1973) and why memory is stored as a web of contextual associations, not free-floating factsGodden and Baddeley's 1975 underwater scuba diver study, where cross-context recall dropped by 40%Hermann Ebbinghaus and the forgetting curve, first mapped in the 1880sRobert Bjork's distinction between storage strength and retrieval strength, and why fluency is a poor signal of durable learningRoediger and Karpicke's 2006 testing effect study in Psychological Science, and why retrieval practice beats restudyingBjork's desirable difficulties, including spacing, interleaving, and retrieval practiceThe explain-to-encode principle and why teaching what you just learned closes the gap faster than almost anything elseA practical field guide for self-directed learners: shift from rereading to retrieval, replace massed study with spaced review, and practice in the context where you'll actually use the knowledgeIf this episode helps you think differently about how your brain works, leave a five-star rating and review wherever you listen, and follow @mybrainwisecoach on every platform for more. 00:00 The Training You Already Forgot 01:00 A Gap We Keep Ignoring 01:30 Welcome to Neuroscience Digest 02:30 Encoding Specificity and Context 03:30 The Underwater Scuba Diver Study 05:00 Storage Strength Versus Retrieval Strength 06:30 The Testing Effect Explained 07:30 Desirable Difficulties and Spaced Practice 09:30 Varied Context and Teaching to Encode 10:00 Field Guide for Self-Directed Learners 13:30 What Stays With Us 14:30 Stay Curious, Stay BrainWise

    16 分鐘
  5. The Otrovert: A New Personality Type Beyond Introversion (S2E22)

    5月24日

    The Otrovert: A New Personality Type Beyond Introversion (S2E22)

    You've been told you're either an introvert or an extrovert your whole life, and neither label has ever quite fit. There's a reason for that. Jung's original 1921 framework has been distorted by a century of pop psychology, and a new concept from psychiatrist Rami Kaminski may finally name the experience you've been living without language for. In this conversation, Phil and Cole trace the full hundred-year arc from Carl Jung to the neuroscience of 2025: Why Jung's original introvert/extravert distinction is almost unrecognizable in today's usageThe Myers-Briggs problem: two million tests a year, and what the science actually says about its validityEysenck's cortical arousal theory and why introverts and extroverts seek the same destination by opposite routesThe dopamine vs acetylcholine reward systems that drive social behaviorAdam Grant's Wharton research on ambiverts and sales performanceRichard Robins on why "omnivert" probably isn't a real personality typeRami Kaminski's The Gift of Not Belonging and the otrovert conceptThe "Bluetooth phenomenon" and why some brains don't auto-pair with groupsColin DeYoung on continuous personality dimensions vs categorical typesHow the 5P model (pleasure, prediction, participation) maps the introvert, extrovert, and otrovert onto distinct neurochemistryIf this episode helped you put language to something you've felt your whole life, leave a five-star rating and review wherever you listen, and follow @mybrainwisecoach across every platform. 00:00 Phil's Confession About Belonging 00:01 Introducing The Otrovert Concept 00:02 Tracing A Hundred-Year Arc 00:03 What Jung Actually Meant In 1921 00:05 The Myers-Briggs Validity Problem 00:06 The Big Five And Continuous Dimensions 00:07 Eysenck's Cortical Arousal Theory 00:09 Dopamine Versus Acetylcholine Reward Systems 00:11 Brain Imaging Of Introverts And Extroverts 00:13 The Ambivert Advantage In Sales 00:15 Omniverts And Why Skeptics Push Back 00:17 Rami Kaminski And The Otrovert 00:18 The Bluetooth Phenomenon Explained 00:20 Otroversion Is Not Pathology 00:23 Category Errors And The Big Five 00:25 The Recognition And Permission Functions 00:28 Mapping Onto Pleasure Prediction Participation 00:31 Why Coaching Interventions Must Differ 00:32 Close And Stay BrainWise

    34 分鐘
  6. The Hidden Senses: How Your Body Reads the World Beyond Sight (ND2E21)

    5月21日 ·  附贈內容

    The Hidden Senses: How Your Body Reads the World Beyond Sight (ND2E21)

    Last week the count stopped at 11. This week it goes further. Phil and Cole make the case that some of what you call intuition, attunement, or "a feel for the room" is closer to sensing than to thinking, and that you have been systematically underusing it. If you have ever driven home and not remembered the drive, this episode is about what you are missing and how to get it back. Topics, research, and frameworks covered in this episode: Esther Perel's work on eroticism as aliveness and sensory engagementThe default mode network versus the salience and attentional networksWhy distracted experience arrives at "low resolution" and how to restore itDavid Livermore's four-factor cultural intelligence (CQ) modelThe psychometric research of Soon Ang and Linn Van DyneCQ as perception rather than knowledge, and the limits of classroom trainingBud Craig's research on the anterior insula and interoceptionRizzolatti's 1992 mirror neuron discovery, plus the Hickok and Kilner critiques of overclaimingEmotional contagion, nervous system co-regulation, and why the self is the signal You have more sensing equipment than you were taught, and most of it is recoverable through attention alone. If this show helps you think differently about how your brain works, rate, review, and follow @mybrainwisecoach wherever you listen. 00:00 Beyond The Eleven Sensory Systems 00:02 Going Past The Standard Count 00:03 Reframing Eroticism As Aliveness 00:04 Esther Perel On Sensory Engagement 00:05 The Default Mode Network Explained 00:06 Training High-Resolution Sensory Attention 00:08 David Livermore's Cultural Intelligence Model 00:11 Cultural Attunement As Bodily Perception 00:12 Why Cultural Knowledge Alone Fails 00:14 Reading A Room As Perception 00:14 Mirror Neurons And Their Critics 00:16 Emotional Contagion And Nervous System Resonance 00:18 The Practical Field Guide Summary 00:20 Recovering Your Underused Senses 00:20 Animal Senses And Closing Thoughts

    22 分鐘
  7. The Hidden Senses Your Brain Uses to Make Every Decision (S2E21)

    5月17日

    The Hidden Senses Your Brain Uses to Make Every Decision (S2E21)

    You were taught you have five senses. You don't. Neuroscience now recognizes at least twelve distinct sensory systems, and the ones Aristotle missed are the ones quietly running your emotional life, your decisions, and your sense of who you are. In this conversation, Phil Dixon and Cole Bastian take apart the five-sense model and rebuild it with what the research actually shows. You'll learn why "touch" isn't one sense, why your gut feelings are sensory data, and why interoception, the sense of your own internal state, is the foundation of emotional intelligence and good judgment. Covered in this episode: The history of the five-sense model from Aristotle's De Anima to modern neuroscienceCharles Bell and Charles Sherrington on the discovery of proprioceptionThe vestibular system, thermoception, and nociception explainedWhy interoception is the neurological foundation of emotion, drawing on Lisa Feldman Barrett's constructed emotion theoryAntonio Damasio's somatic marker hypothesis and what it means for decision-makingC tactile afferents, the receptors tuned specifically to caring touchWilder Penfield's cortical homunculus and what your brain's body map really looks likeChronoception, magnetoreception, and the edges of human sensingHow interoceptive awareness connects to the Personal Threat Profile (PTP)Practical ways to train interoception for better self-regulation and leadership Follow @mybrainwisecoach across all platforms and leave a five-star rating and review wherever you listen. It helps the BrainWise community grow. 00:00 The Sense You Were Never Taught 00:02 Aristotle and the Five-Sense Model 00:03 Charles Bell Discovers Proprioception 00:06 The Vestibular System and Balance 00:08 Thermoception and Temperature Sensing 00:09 Nociception Is Not Just Touch 00:11 Interoception and the Body's Internal State 00:13 Lisa Feldman Barrett on Constructed Emotion 00:14 Connecting Interoception to the PTP 00:15 Chronoception and the Sense of Time 00:17 Magnetoreception and Speculative Senses 00:18 Why Touch Is Not One Sense 00:19 C Tactile Afferents and Caring Touch 00:20 The Cortical Homunculus Body Map 00:22 Damasio's Somatic Marker Hypothesis 00:25 How to Train Interoceptive Awareness 00:26 Closing the BrainWise Field Guide

    29 分鐘
  8. The Slot Machine in Your Pocket: How Apps Hijack Your Brain (ND2E20)

    5月14日 ·  附贈內容

    The Slot Machine in Your Pocket: How Apps Hijack Your Brain (ND2E20)

    Every time you pull to refresh, swipe on a dating app, or scroll a feed that never ends, your brain is running the same circuit B.F. Skinner discovered in pigeons in the 1950s. The variable ratio reinforcement schedule is the most powerful behavioral conditioning mechanism psychology has ever identified, and it has been quietly engineered into the technology you carry in your pocket. In this conversation, you'll learn exactly how the mechanism works, why willpower is the wrong tool to fight it, and how the same neurological principle shows up in the people closest to you. Topics covered: B.F. Skinner's schedules of reinforcement and the variable ratio discoveryWolfram Schultz's dopamine research at Cambridge and why uncertain rewards trigger a larger response than certain onesThe neuroscience of the near miss in slot machine designAza Raskin on infinite scroll and the 200,000 hours of daily attention it costsFormer Facebook VP Chamath Palihapitiya's admission about dopamine-driven feedback loopsWhy dating app swipe mechanics optimize for engagement, not connectionTeasing as the oldest variable ratio schedule, and the line between play and manipulationThe dopamine deficit state, prefrontal cortex bypass, and the case for pre-commitment over willpower2025 research on social media addiction patterns in Generation Z Rate and review the show with five stars wherever you listen, and follow @mybrainwisecoach on every platform for more. 00:00 The Pigeon and the Lever 00:01 Welcome to Neuroscience Digest 00:02 Skinner's Schedules of Reinforcement 00:03 The Dopamine Anticipation Circuit 00:05 Why Uncertainty Amplifies Wanting 00:06 Inside the Slot Machine 00:07 The Near Miss as Accelerant 00:08 Your Phone Is the Lever 00:09 Infinite Scroll and Pull to Refresh 00:10 The Swipe and Dating App Design 00:11 Teasing as Variable Ratio Schedule 00:12 Playful Teasing Versus Manipulation 00:14 When Resolution Never Comes 00:15 The Positive Side of Anticipation 00:16 The Dopamine Deficit Problem 00:17 The Prefrontal Cortex Bypass 00:18 Exploitation of the Vulnerable 00:19 Field Guide: Recognize the Mechanism 00:20 Field Guide: Pre-Commit, Don't Willpower 00:21 Field Guide: Audit Your Own Behavior 00:21 Skinner's Pigeons in Our Pockets 00:22 Close and Call to Action

    23 分鐘

評分與評論

5
(滿分 5 顆星)
2 則評分

簡介

Welcome to My BrainWise Coach — a podcast exploring the intersection of neuroscience, behavioral science, and psychology to help you live and lead better lives. Hosted by Cole Bastian and Phil Dixon, each episode connects brain science to everyday life, leadership, and relationships. You’ll gain practical insights into emotional intelligence, habits, trust, change, growth, and many other topics — all grounded in research and real human experience. 🧠 Stay curious. Stay compassionate. Stay BrainWise.