The NeuromanticsSeason 2Episode 3

This atmospheric episode of The Neuromantics is brought to you from London Zoo. Neuroscientist Professor Sophie Scott and writer Will Eaves – once they’ve stopped to admire the grooming macaques – discuss the plasticity of the human brain, in particular when it comes to the ageing process. Given that we're all born with the brain cells we’ll need for the rest of our lives – 85bn of them to be precise – how do these cells change and grow as we move from childhood, through the challenges of adolescence, and into the altered landscape of old age? Basing their discussion on a scientific paper on the ageing brain, and moving on to Alice Munro's short story, The Bear Came Over the Mountain, they stop to consider risk-taking teenagers, dementia, the nature of romantic love and why going out into the world is the best exercise for your brain.

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Podcast copyright Will Eaves & Sophie Scott; articles and texts discussed copyright authors