As we grow up, there are little windows of time when we can learn very, very fast, and very, very deeply. Scientists call these moments, critical periods. Real, neurological, biological states when our brain can soak up information like a sponge. Then, these windows of learning close. Locking us in to certain behaviors and skills for the rest of our lives. But … what if we could reopen them? Today, we consider a series of discoveries that are reshaping our understanding of when and how we can learn. And what that could mean for things like PTSD, brain disease, or strokes. And cuddle puddles. It’s a mind-bending discussion. Literally and figuratively.This is the second episode in an ongoing series hosted by Molly Webster, in conversation with scientists and science-y people, doing work at the furthest edges of what we know. More to come! Previous episodes in the series:Up in Smoke (https://zpr.io/zrN5fgZwiWiR)Special thanks to Gül Dölen, at the University of California, Berkeley, along with researcher Romain Nardou. Plus, Charles Philipp and David Herman.We have some exciting news! In the “Zoozve” episode, Radiolab named its first-ever quasi-moon, and now it's your turn! Radiolab has teamed up with The International Astronomical Union to launch a global naming contest for one of Earth’s quasi-moons. This is your chance to make your mark on the heavens. Vote on your favorites starting in November: https://radiolab.org/moonEPISODE CREDITS: Hosted by - Molly WebsterReported by - Molly WebsterProduced by -Sindhu Gnanasambandan with help from - Timmy Broderick and Molly WebsterOriginal music and sound design contributed by - Dylan Keefewith mixing help from - Jeremy BloomFact-checking by - Emily Kriegerand Edited by - Soren WheelerEPISODE CITATIONS:Science Articles -Gul’s 2019 paper: Oxytocin-dependent reopening of a social reward learning critical period with MDMA (https://zpr.io/wfQjeA6PGCBv) on the feel-good brain chemical oxytocin, and how it reopens social reward learning when combined with MDMA.Gul’s 2023 paper: Psychedelics reopen the social reward learning critical period (https://zpr.io/TKDKEwiLwGRN) on the role of psychedelics in social reward learning. Sign-up for our newsletter. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing [email protected] support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Full Episode
Not available in all states. Hey, it's Latif here with a quick note. Today, we have the second installment in the series where we just sort of let ourselves fall into a conversation between our own senior correspondent, Molly Webster, and a scientist who's working on the front edge of something, if not exactly news, something deeply and delightfully new. So here we go. Wait, you're listening?
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I don't know about you, but I found being a teenager and, you know, going into puberty very difficult. You know, I was bullied by the mean girls, the popular girls at school and had to eat lunch by myself. And I remember having a tearful conversation with my mother and she was like, don't worry. It'll pass. You think that this is the whole world right now.
But in a few years, you'll be off in the bigger world and you'll see that there are a lot more people and you'll fit in better and it'll be fine.
I'm Molly Webster. This is Radiolab. And that was Ghul Dolan, a neuroscientist and former teen. But unlike maybe the rest of us former teens, Ghul's very familiar teenage struggle would end up at the center of her scientific work and lead to new ways of seeing the moments in our lives when our most basic habits and behaviors emerge. And then get locked in.
And it all starts with something called critical periods. Okay. So for like us, you know, yokels over here, like what is a critical learning period?
Yeah. So critical periods are windows of time when the brain is especially sensitive to its environment and it can learn really well and really strong from that environment. Probably the best way to understand that is to think about the first critical period that was described. I think a lot of people have heard of it. It's imprinting behavior in geese. So this is so cute.
We did an episode on it at one point. Yeah.
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