00:00 Dr. David Linden discusses the cerebellum, the sense of touch, individual perception, nature versus nurture, the mind-body connection, and his personal experience with a cancer diagnosis.

06:45 Scientists have discovered the nerve endings responsible for sexual sensation in the genitals, known as the Krauss corpuscles, which has opened up new avenues of research into individual variation in sexual preferences and the effects of aging on sexual sensation.

15:04 The activation and potential effects of Krauss corpuscles in female mice, including changes in mating behavior and structural plasticity, are still being explored, and while it is technically challenging to monitor these nerve endings in humans, studies have shown that peripheral neurons can regenerate and remodel extensively, suggesting that sexual sensation may be experience-dependent.

24:12 Our perception of smells and tastes is influenced by genetic variation, cultural context, and learned associations, and there are only a few innate odor and taste aversions that we are born with.

32:52 Early life experiences, such as exposure to light, can have long-term effects on visual development, while examples such as heat tolerance in Japanese soldiers and fur density in field mice demonstrate the influence of early life experiences on traits that may not be solely genetic.

41:34 The heritability of traits such as perfect pitch and speech accent vary, with perfect pitch having a low heritability but the chance of developing it can improve with ear training, while speech accent is 0 percent heritable and entirely dependent on childhood speech experiences.

51:02 The heritability of traits can be estimated by comparing identical and fraternal twins, but the assumption of equal environment can be violated, and a more accurate estimate can be obtained by looking at twins reared apart, which has shown that personality traits are about 50% heritable and have little to do with family upbringing, instead being influenced by the random nature of body and neural development.

01:00:12 Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, or the idea that traits can be passed down through generations via modifications to DNA, is currently lacking strong evidence in mammals, although it has been observed in worms and plants.

01:08:36 Maternal stress during pregnancy, particularly in the first trimester, can impact brain development in a way that increases the likelihood of schizophrenia or autism in the child, potentially due to an immune neural interaction involving the cytokine interleukin 17.

01:17:41 The cerebellum is involved in motor coordination, but it also plays a role in predicting the immediate future and is implicated in non-motor behaviors such as social interaction and decision making.

01:27:06 The interaction between genes and experience is not a matter of nature versus nurture, but rather heritability interacting with experience filtered through the randomness of development, which can be referred to as the Linden hypothesis.

01:36:20 The interaction between the mind and body can occur through neural signals and hormonal or diffusible immune signals, such as cytokines, which may play a role in conditions like depression and could potentially be targeted for treatment.

01:45:10 The relief of any neuropsychiatric condition ultimately comes from neuroplasticity, which involves changes in synapses, ion channels, and even literal wiring in the brain, with microglial cells playing a key role in synaptic plasticity and inflammation potentially hindering neuroplasticity.

01:53:30 The potential for mental processes, such as meditative practice, to affect cancer progression through mind-body signaling pathways is a speculative but exciting area of investigation that has received little attention until now.

02:02:53 Biomedical researchers need to conduct rigorous scientific tests to understand how mental processes influence the body and reclaim this area of study from the realm of nonsense.

02:12:02 The speaker reflects on his experience of being diagnosed with a rare form of heart cancer, feeling both angry and grateful, finding agency in curiosity, and struggling to engage with the idea of his own mortality.

02:21:03 The brain is constantly trying to predict the future, which may explain why religions across cultures have stories of an afterlife, and the speaker's perception of time has slowed down since being diagnosed with cancer.

02:30:53 The speaker expresses gratitude for the guest's contributions to scientific and human knowledge, and thanks them for their presence and the conversation.