Skip to main content
Top of the NOGN

Top of the NOGN

By Ethan McCurdy & Carla Golden

A homegrown podcast exploring cutting-edge neuroscience, technology, and culture. Seriously, what could be better?
Available on
Google Podcasts Logo
Overcast Logo
Pocket Casts Logo
RadioPublic Logo
Spotify Logo
Currently playing episode

Failing Forward

Top of the NOGNMay 29, 2020

00:00
43:00
Rerouting... (feat. Isabel Low)
Apr 29, 202237:46
Shrimp vision (feat. Dr. Alice Chou)

Shrimp vision (feat. Dr. Alice Chou)

Few neuroscientists conduct research that requires them to go to sunny beaches. In an episode that was originally recorded in June 2021, Carla and Ethan talk with Dr. Alice Chou about her research at the unique and historical intersection of neuroscience and marine biology. Now a postdoc in Dr. Eve Marder's group at Brandeis University, at the time we interviewed Alice she was wrapping up her thesis in the Cronin lab at UMBC.


If you like this episode, be sure to follow Alice on Twitter via her handle @overbrainbows

Mar 21, 202224:16
Ride the dopamine wave (feat. Dr. Arif Hamid)
Oct 12, 202142:15
War and sex (feat. Dr. Takashi Yamaguchi)
Sep 13, 202117:25
To pee or not to pee (feat. Dr. Kara Marshall)
Aug 30, 202130:48
Graduate School Apps: Where Do I Even Begin??? (Pt. 4 Decisions, Decisions, Decisions)

Graduate School Apps: Where Do I Even Begin??? (Pt. 4 Decisions, Decisions, Decisions)

In the final episode of our graduate school application series, Naoko Tanese, PhD, Associate Dean for Biomedical Sciences and Director of the Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at NYU Langone Health, Gariel Grant (lab of Richard Tsien), and Heejae Jang (lab of Christine Constantinople), all weigh in on how to select the right graduate program.
Mar 05, 202153:49
Graduate School Apps: Where Do I Even Begin??? (Pt. 3 Interviews)
Feb 04, 202140:17
Call Your Motha (feat. Dr. Jennifer Schiavo)

Call Your Motha (feat. Dr. Jennifer Schiavo)

This week we’re back in action with Jennifer Schiavo, PhD, a current postdoc in the lab of Vikram Gadagkar, PhD, at Columbia University. In this episode, we discuss Jennifer’s 2020 Nature paper, “Innate and plastic mechanisms for maternal behaviour in auditory cortex,” which she published as part of her doctoral research in the laboratory of Robert Froemke, PhD, at NYU Langone Health.
Note: the sampling of adult rat ultrasonic vocalizations comes from a separate eLife paper, “Vocalization–whisking coordination and multisensory integration of social signals in rat auditory cortex.”
Jan 08, 202138:05
Panel Discussion: COVID-19 and Mental Health Pt 2, Managing Holiday Stress

Panel Discussion: COVID-19 and Mental Health Pt 2, Managing Holiday Stress

The Neuroscience Outreach Group at NYU recently hosted a town hall on everyone's favorite virtual platform featuring Helen Egger, MD, Alan Schlechter, MD, and Stephanie Rogers, PhD, as part of an ongoing series on COVID-19 and Mental Health. The recording from that event is presented in full here. Our thanks to Aaron Reliford, MD, who joined the first iteration of this event, which unfortunately was not recorded.

Dec 23, 202057:33
Don't Get Too Excited, It's Just Microglia! (feat. Dr. Ana Badimon)
Dec 04, 202027:18
Graduate School Apps: Where Do I Even Begin??? (Pt. 2 Applications)

Graduate School Apps: Where Do I Even Begin??? (Pt. 2 Applications)

Carla and Ethan are back with another helping of unvarnished pro tips for a successful grad school application. Joining the podcast again are Professor David Schoppik, NYU PhD student Maya Hopkins, Basu Lab Research Associate Rodrigo De La Torre, and the Executive Director of the NYU Neuroscience Institute, Heather McKellar, PhD.

This episode is part of an ongoing series on graduate school applications, so join us again in a few months (~early January) for an episode chock full of advice for crushing your interviews.

Nov 10, 202033:16
Is Science Political? (feat. Lucky Tran, Tiara Ahmad, Ingrid Joylyn Paredes, and Alyssa Shearer)
Oct 23, 202058:31
Graduate School Apps: Where Do I Even Begin??? (Pt. 1 Finding the Right Program)

Graduate School Apps: Where Do I Even Begin??? (Pt. 1 Finding the Right Program)

In the first episode of this series, Carla and Ethan talk with applicants, current students, and the great forces who review grad school applications, to make sense of the whole application process. Starting with finding the right program, we hope this series is a helpful resource for anyone who is planning to or thinking about applying to grad programs. A special thanks to Emily Arsenault, Yuki Fujishima, Rodrigo De La Torre, Shannon Schiereck, Maya Hopkins, Rachel Weintraub-Brevda, and Professor David Schoppik for their time and for appearing in this episode.

Oct 09, 202039:59
Panel Discussion: COVID-19 & Mental Health

Panel Discussion: COVID-19 & Mental Health

Tanya Sippy, MD, PhD, Katlyn Nemani, MD, and Alexandra Mellis, PhD, discuss the ongoing effects on mental health caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in a live panel event. This panel was sponsored by NYU Langone's Neuroscience Institute and NOGN, and organized by Sloka Iyengar, PhD, and Ethan McCurdy, PhD.

Oct 09, 202052:16
Panel Discussion: The Neuroscience of Brain Injury

Panel Discussion: The Neuroscience of Brain Injury

Dr. William Barr of NYU Langone's Concussion Center moderates a panel on concussion and brain injury with Samantha Larsen, PhD, Daniel Torres, MD, and David Jevotovsky, a medical student who sustained a significant TBI during his training. This event was co-organized by NOGN and hosted by NYU Langone's Neuroscience Institute and Concussion Center.

Sep 28, 202001:05:52
LIVE from the Touch Dome! (feat. Dr. Blair Jenkins)
Sep 18, 202042:37
I Kant Even (feat. Asha Caslin)

I Kant Even (feat. Asha Caslin)

NYU neuroscience doctoral student Asha Caslin joins Ethan McCurdy in a wide-ranging discussion about oxytocin, the controversial legacy of Immanuel Kant, and artificial intelligence. We also talk about skateboards and bridges. Give us a listen, why don't ya?

Sep 11, 202032:42
The Odeurs of Perception (feat. Drs Edmund Chong & Monica Moroni)

The Odeurs of Perception (feat. Drs Edmund Chong & Monica Moroni)

It's all about the coding logic of olfactory perception ya'll! Drs. Edmund Chong and Monica Moroni join Priyanka and Ethan to discuss their recent article published in Science Mag (https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6497/eaba2357). It's a feast for the senses (mostly the ears).
Aug 17, 202031:47
The Social Brain

The Social Brain

Priyanka Ramesh rejoins Top of the NOGN for a discussion about community in science, how to set goals, and some hot takes on neuroscientists in pop culture. It's real fun. Give us a listen!

Aug 11, 202026:34
Gut Reaction (feat. Dr. Aaron Burberry)

Gut Reaction (feat. Dr. Aaron Burberry)

Special guest Dr. Aaron Burberry of Harvard University joins Carla and Ethan for a fascinating discussion of how changing the gut microbiome improves outcomes in models of ALS. Be sure to read the full May 2020 Nature paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2288-7?platform=oscar&draft=collection

Jul 25, 202044:30
Against Our Best Interest (feat. Dr. Shelley Warlow)
Jul 13, 202041:26
Supporting Black Lives in Neuroscience (feat. Sade Abiodun)
Jul 03, 202045:13
Gained in Translation (feat. Dr. Prerana Shrestha)
Jun 26, 202042:11
You Are What You Eat (feat. Dr. Daniel Wilinski)

You Are What You Eat (feat. Dr. Daniel Wilinski)

In this episode, we review "Rapid metabolic shifts occur during the transition between hunger and satiety in Drosophila melanogaster" and talk with first author Dr. Daniel Wilinski. The full Nature Communications article can be accessed at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-11933-z

Jun 12, 202030:27
Failing Forward

Failing Forward

In this episode, Carla Golden and Ethan McCurdy freestyle about pitfalls, fickle machines, and failing in science (and whether or not that's really failing at all!). Check it.
May 29, 202043:00
Biting Remarks (feat. Dr. Annegret Falkner)
May 22, 202030:25
Socialize Them Young! (feat. Lucy Bicks)

Socialize Them Young! (feat. Lucy Bicks)

In this episode we discuss Bicks et al. 2020, published at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14740-z

May 15, 202033:10
A Zipcode to Nowhere (feat. Dr. José Martínez)

A Zipcode to Nowhere (feat. Dr. José Martínez)

In this episode we discuss Martínez et al. 2019, which can be accessed via https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31606248

May 08, 202025:37
The Dawning of Dopaminylation (feat. Dr. Ashley Lepack)
May 01, 202027:03