Show notes
Episode 6: Demystifying the Female Brain - From Genes to Behavior (Guest: Dr. Marija Kundakovic) Our DNA expression controls nearly if not everything that we are. It informs how we look, the diseases we are susceptible to, and shapes our personality. It even sets the bar for our risk of developing anxiety and depression. Females are twice as likely as males to develop these symptoms, and we have yet to find why. In today’s episode, we speak with Dr. Marija Kundakovic, assistant professor in Neuroscience at Fordham University where she studies the epigenetic basis of behavior. Her work focuses on the hormonal and environmental factors that mediate sex differences in depression, anxiety and drug abuse. Her findings can open the door to development of new diagnostic tools, and new preventative and therapeutic approaches addressing female mental health. She offers a multidisciplinary insight that gets right down to the question that keeps all of us scientists up at night: how does it work?
Marija Kundakovic
Guest
Tori Lovallo
Co-host
Claire Ward
Co-host
You can download the transcript of this episode at https://neuronair.org/ep6transcript Time Stamps:00:00 – Intro02:30 – Dr. Kundakovic’s research questions at a broad level03:16 – Epigenetic regulation in the Brain06:03 – Current projects in Dr. Kundakovic’s lab10:48 – Techniques in neuroepigenetics13:53 – Dr. Kundakovic’s path to research 16:35 – Menarche to menopause: Increased female risk for anxiety and depression19:31 – An underrepresented majority: females as research subjects23:03 – Changes in the female brain: genes to synapses24:50 – Epigenetic priming: increased susceptibility for psychopathology27:04 – Susceptibility and strength: females overcoming obstacles31:08 – Lessons for the next generation: Inclusivity33:03 – Outro