The uptick in adults receiving medical help for mental health and neurological conditions is largely due to increased awareness.

An AI programme has apparently made a podcast out of my PhD thesis, in what seems to be a Guinness World Record attempt for 'most pointless endeavour ever'.

Excruciatingly early starts, back-breaking workouts and bizarre wellness practices seldom lead to fame and fortune.

Welcome to episode 209 with Dr Dean Burnett, who is a neuroscientist, lecturer and author. Dean is currently an honorary research fellow at Cardiff Psychology School and has also worked as a psychiatry tutor and lecturer at the Cardiff University Centre for Medical Education. He is the author of several acclaimed books about brains, neuroscience, emotions and mental health. And this episode is a little bit different. I wanted to do an episode about mental health and mental illness from the perspective of the human brain. I often focus on society and the things around us that impact our mental health, so for this conversation I wanted get some understanding of what’s actually happening to our brains when our experiences, circumstances or environment are affecting us mentally. I thought a lot about common themes and threads from this show over the years and I asked Dean things like What is happening in the brain when we get lonely and why is isolation so harmful to us? Why do brains like nature so much? How does sitting with our emotions actually help our brains to process them? Why do our brains choose to feel anxious even, when we know that there is nothing to be anxious about? And loads of other stuff too. Dean was incredible to chat to! It was absolutely fascinating to be able to explore his extensive, brain related knowledge and we had a lot of fun too. Connect with Dean on social media @garwboy and learn more at www.deanburnett.com You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

Human evolution has led to us naturally believe statements delivered in a more assured manner.

Relatively speaking, neuroscience and psychology are young fields of scientific research that only really got going over the last hundred years or so. However, during this time, several stubborn myths have arisen that, zombie-like, just don’t seem to go away. In this episode, we speak to neuroscien

It seems that Meta is 'learning' a lot of Shambles authors books and papers and it's made Dean Burnett very mad.

The claim that, if you're under 25, your brain isn't fully developed, so you can't be trusted to make mature decisions, or held responsible for actions, is very common. But also very wrong.

Given how varied and ridiculous dreams tend to be, countless people experiencing stress dreams about their teeth falling out should be virtually impossible. But there is a brain-based explanation...

Dean talked about how he started his writing career, how his first book came about, how he came to meet Whoopi Goldberg, and more!

Your brain uses a lot of energy to think. So, if you think more, or harder, you'll burn more calories, and logically end up losing weight, right? Unfortunately, it's not that simple.

Insults can sting and cut deep but thankfully science has some tips on how to swerve them. Here's how to comeback with whit and class.

... so get a round in, yeah?

Our sleeping brains weave a patchwork out of our memories in complex, baffling ways.