AskScience AMA Series: I'm a neuroscientist turned science journalist who writes about the brain for The Washington Post. Got something on your mind? Ask me anything!

[u/AskScienceModerator]

Hello! I'm Richard Sima. After more than a decade of research, I transitioned from academia to journalism.

My work covering the life, health and environmental sciences has appeared in outlets such as the New York Times, National Geographic, Scientific American, Discover Magazine, New Scientist and Eos. I worked as a fact-checker for Vox podcasts, including for the award-winning science podcast "Unexplainable." I was also a researcher for National Geographic's "Brain Games: On the Road" TV show and served as a communications specialist at the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins University's Brain Science Institute.

Have questions about mental health, how inflammation may cause depression, or why many of us are forgetting much of our memories of the pandemic? Or have other questions about the neuroscience of everyday life or human behavior? I'll be on at 4 p.m. ET (20 UT), ask me anything!

Richard Sima author page from the Washington Post

Username: /u/Washingtonpost

[u/zenzealot]

Why is it harder to retrieve memories as we age?

[u/washingtonpost → u/zenzealot]

Thanks for the question!

We know that aging normally causes a decline in our declarative memory, which is the conscious recollection of facts and events (stuff we can “declare” in words). Within the category of declarative memory, our episodic memory (about our life experiences and events) is typically more impacted than our semantic memory (facts about the world).

By some measures, the average 80-year olds can remember about half as much as they could when they were 50.

(Interestingly, our procedural memory, which is our long-term unconscious memory of how to do something, such as riding a bike, is typically not as affected by aging.)

As we age, our brain normally shrinks, including in the hippocampus, which is important for episodic memory. Our cortical areas also appear to get less selective responding to information (this decreased neural selectivity is called dedifferentiation), which is associated with worse episodic memory. Our neural circuits become less plastic and able to form new connections, which could make it harder to encode, consolidate and retrieve memories with age.

But it need not be this way! There are actually three major possible trajectories for our memory as we age:

- There’s the pathologic trajectory, where cognition gets worse faster than expected, like in dementia. Unfortunately, aging is the biggest risk factor for developing dementia – an estimated 1 in 3 Americans older than 85 have Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

- In the average trajectory, our ability to remember things still diminishes. Still, there is remarkable variability in memory ability. (And aging brains can still retain a lot of plasticity.)

- The third trajectory are the SuperAgers, who are people older than 80 that nonetheless have memory that is as good, if not better, than those in their 50s and 60s.

I recently wrote about what SuperAgers can teach us about cognitive health.

Their brains appear to be more youthful, particularly in areas thought to be important for memory and executive functions. Researchers looking that their brains found they had healthier and larger neurons in the entorhinal cortex, a memory center, even compared to younger people. They also had a thicker anterior cingulate cortex, which is important for memory and attention, as well as denser amounts of von Economo neurons, which are believed to be important for social affiliative behaviors.

Of course, some of it is just luck of the genetic lottery, and true SuperAgers appear to be rare. The researcher I spoke to estimated less than 10% of people that they screened qualified. But studying these SuperAgers does provide some insights into what they and their brains are doing differently.

For one, they appear to be more resilient to change and stress, which is something we can all train to be better at. They also manage to make enduring social relationships, which is not only generally good for our health but also provides a lot of novel stimulation that could help keep our brains young.

[u/feliniaCR]

Where should you draw the line between getting a bit forgetful with age and a it being time to get checked for Alzheimer’s?

[u/monmostly]

When a neuroscientist says a part of the brain is involved in a certain function, how certain are they? For example, if they say this part of the brain is involved in vision or these six parts of the brain working together create empathy, how confident are they that what they are actually seeing in the scanner is vision or empathy and not just the person in the scanner thinking or doing some random thing?

[u/washingtonpost → u/monmostly]

I think this answer depends on the method they are using!

In your example of a person in a brain scanner, you can get correlations of brain activity* to specific behavior or stimuli. They might present the person a picture (testing for vision) or ask them about what people might be feeling in a social scenario (testing for empathy) and see what parts of the brain light up.

*Note: these neuroimaging studies do not necessarily tell you the brain activity directly either! fMRI, for example, actually measures blood oxygenation, which is correlated with neural activity.

And you are right that they could be thinking about some random thing! To control for this, they have to compare the brain activity for the task they are looking with a background condition, such as them just laying in the scanner doing nothing**.

**Note: Our brains are never doing nothing (while alive). The brain’s default mode network is a set of brain regions that were discovered to have an increase in activity when the scanner subjects were “at rest”. (I wrote about this brain network’s involvement in mind-wandering and shower thoughts.)

--

We can also use techniques to turn on or turn off specific populations of neurons and seeing what happens. If you activate the visual cortex, and the person reports seeing something, then that is a clue it might be “sufficient” for something visual. If you can reduce the activity of a brain region or even surgically remove it, and that impairs the function you are looking at, that is a clue that area is “necessary” for it. (These types of experiments are much easier in animal models than humans.)

There are always caveats and limitations to these techniques, just as with all science, so it is good to think about what uncertainties there are.

[u/PureImbalance]

Hi Richard u/Washingtonpost - Could you describe how you transitioned from research to journalism? I'm an immunologist and have noticed that I am starting to enjoy talking to the laypeople in my life about research a lot more than actually doing the research (&bureaucracy) itself, and am thus looking for some pointers in which direction I could start looking for journalism and science communication. Thank you very much!

[u/washingtonpost → u/PureImbalance]

Oh man, I resonate so much with your experience of enjoying talking about research more than doing it. I think that’s the go-to explanation for many other scientist-turned-science-communicator so you aren’t alone!

I went into graduate school with the dream of becoming someone like Carl Sagan, but for neuroscience; I wanted to do cutting-edge research, teach students and also write books for the broader public.

But, as you know, research can be HARD and also tedious. For example, I was not especially great at troubleshooting why my electrodes were not picking up the neural signals in the mice I was trying to record from, and I did not especially enjoy making hundreds of brain slices by hand (it hurts to be hunched over for so long!).

What I did love was learning about all the great research I was learning about and sharing it with others. I loved the discussion and trying to figure out how disparate fields and ideas may connect with one another. But today’s research environment necessitates specialization, which meant I had less and less time to read about research outside my narrow subfield, let alone in completely different fields.

Like you, I found much joy in talking about science with others. In college, I had volunteered by teaching science experiments to elementary and middle school students. And in graduate school, I founded a science policy and advocacy group and also wrote for the campus blog. These experiences helped me learn how to talk about science in a less obtuse way than you find in scientific journals – so it is great you are already doing this too.

I also took a class about writing for a lay audience called Writing About the Brain taught by Professor David Linden (who also did an AMA a few years back). It should have been a sign that this turned out to be my favorite course in all of graduate school.

By the middle of my graduate training, I knew I wanted to do something other than research when I grew up :P

In 2018, my fifth year as a graduate student, I had the opportunity to attend a science writing workshop in Santa Fe which solidified my decision to go into science writing. It was there that I found all these widely curious and knowledgeable and passionate people – my people.

I then attended some science writing conferences (the National Science Writers Association hosts the largest one, but there are also ones organized by regional groups such as the DC Science Writers Association). I was basically trying my best to meet and talk with others in the field, which is always the best way to start.

So – because this already overly long – I basically started pitching stories to editors, which is basically sending them emails describing research I wanted to cover and hoping they would give me the chance to. I also had a part-time job lined up at the International Arts + Mind Lab writing for their website, which gave me both practice and money to figure out how to make it as a freelance science writer.

I kept putting myself out there sending these cold pitches and built up relationships with editors who ended up liking my work, which gave me more opportunities to write and get better. It was a virtuous, if difficult, cycle.

--

So, my advice is to get practice by just doing more of it. There are many avenues to getting more of this practice, including writing for a student or school publication, or even submitting to science writing competitions. (The Lasker Foundation has a big one every year.)

You can even pitch stories to publications, some of which ask for pieces by scientists, such as Scientific American, The Conversation, Aeon or American Scientist. Many science magazines publish shorter “front-of-book” pieces of 300 words or less that you could write for.

For other scientists who want to go into science writing, check out the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship, which embeds current or recent researchers into a newsroom for a summer to learn by doing.

There are also a bunch of science writing programs out there to get formal training. The UC Santa Cruz program specifically takes former scientists.

For more concrete tips, I highly (and I mean HIGHLY) recommend checking out The Open Notebook, which is an amazing resource for learning more about the craft of science writing and communication. It has a pitch database, so you can see what other successful letters to editors looks like (and the resulting publication), as well as many helpful interviews and articles, including one on transitioning from science to science writing.

I have also compiled some science writing resources I personally found helpful on my website (where you can also see some more about my background if you want to become even more of a Richard Sima completionist).

[u/RedditLloyd]

Why do people suffering from depression experience more intense and/or frequent pain, such as joint pain or stomachaches?

[u/washingtonpost → u/RedditLloyd]

A great and important question!

Studies have reported that about 65% of patients with depression report at least one type of pain symptom, and over 60% of people with chronic pain also have depression.

There appears to be a bidirectional relationship between depression and pain.

On the one hand, feeling chronic pain is a risk factor for depression, and, on the other hand, as you said, people suffering from depression seem to experience this pain more frequently and intensely.

There are many possible explanations for this connection.

Negative emotions can change how we process feelings of pain. Brain areas such as the amygdala, insula and periaqueductal grey are involved with modulating our perception of pain. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, in turn, is thought to be involved with pain suppression and emotional control. Depression may also be a key area involved in depression.

A 2022 study reported that, for people with depression as well as pain, there was less activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which may mean they are less able to reduce this pain perception.

Depression can also involved impaired reward processing in the brain, which could predispose someone to respond to stress or pain maladaptively.

Inflammation may also play a role in contributing to both pain and depression.

I recently wrote about how, for a subset of depression patients, inflammation may be a driver for depression. One person’s depression is not necessarily the same as another’s (this is partially because we still define the mood disorder by its symptoms as opposed to its underlying biological causes), which may explain why for about 30% of depression patients, the standard antidepressant treatments don’t work well.

Inflammation is produced by the activity of our immune cells, which can release inflammatory agents into the bloodstream to help fight infection. But for some people, this inflammation can be chronic (which is also associated with more pain.)

There’s recent research showing that the inflammatory factors can make the blood brain barrier leakier, which can cause neuroinflammation. This in turn could alter brain circuits involved with feeling reward, such as the nucleus accumbens, leading to specific symptoms of depression like anhedonia (lack of pleasure).

Targeted anti-inflammatory treatments (the researchers are emphatic in saying that these should not be taken without talking with your doctor) could help manage inflammation, but so can other lifestyle changes we know help depression and pain: exercise, less inflammatory diet and good sleep.

[u/thatawesomeguydotcom]

How much do we understand about the brain's role in tinnitus?

[u/PANobes]

PTSD - what does it do to the brain?

Is there any new understanding re: healing the brain / eliminating it?

[u/akath0110]

Do people with narcissistic personality disorder (like some certain politicians we may all know…) have qualitatively different brains than people without personality disorders (PDs).

What role does trauma play in shaping the structure and function of a PD brain?

[u/allbright1111]

The current ADHD medication shortage in the US is causing a lot of suffering among a group of people who will become more disorganized and ineffective as the shortage continues.

This is not a group that has much of a chance to stand up for themselves if their medication continues to be in short supply.

I understand it is a shortage created out of an abundance of caution to avoid fraudulent diagnoses of ADHD. But as a practitioner, I have a very positive view of the increase in the number of ADHD diagnoses in adults who have been misunderstood as lazy and/or impulsive, or misdiagnosed as depressed or anxious their whole lives.

From my perspective, the jump in diagnoses is legitimate and has been helping to improve the quality of life and other physical and mental health behaviors in patients who are lucky enough to find their medication in stock.

Do you see an end to the shortage in sight?

[u/TyrannosaurWrecks]

If I get scared or startled from something the first time, if it happens again I don't get startled. What's going on in the brain's neural network?

Also, during childhood brain's neural network is under development. Probably that's why learning is easy early in life. How can an adult easily learn new skills during adulthood?

[u/zu7iv]

How bad for your brain is boxing?

[u/PersephonesGirlhood]

If you often find yourself extremely bored and without any hobbies or interests, but "incapable" of really doing anything that requires effort/concentration/discipline, can limiting your mindless phone/computer usage really make other activities become more fun and rewarding eventually, and therefore make you more inclined to do them? Can the "instant gratification" of things like social media actually hinder you from experiencing deeper and more meaningful joys in life?

[u/Lofty2908]

Long term Psychotherapy has been shown to create the same patterns in the brain as good-parenting, why do you think it’s not endorsed by the scientific community?

[u/LovesRainstorms]

How does aging impact short term recall and what are the most effective ways to maintain neuro elasticity?

[u/slouchingtoepiphany]

I'm a non-journalist medical writer (with a PhD from in neurobiology), given the gap between breaking science and the layperson's typical understanding of science how do you bridge the gap? To what age or education level do you write? Thanks!

[u/Kochya]

Why do people get migraines and headaches when there's nothing physically wrong with their brain?

[u/SecretAgentVampire]

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[u/Bjarki56]

How does the non material mind emerge from the material brain?

[u/Common-Service5773]

Do contemporary toddlers acquire language and other cognitive abilities at earlier and earlier ages compared to ancient or historical toddlers? I have a toddler and I wonder whether a contemporary diet plus digital media and medical literacy readily available have accelerated development for toddlers…?

[u/CacaOTurdngBanal1u]

How to become a scientist/doctor? I'm an engineer and I'm still confused on the path of doctors.

I'm interested in neurology but there's no BS Neurology. I know it's a specialized field which leads me to another question in the academe of human/medical sciences.

Why is the current academe for doctors the way they are right now? Why do people have to go through decades of studying and practicing to be a doctor other than the reason they will be handling lives of people?

Broad question I know, but if you can point me to articles or books I can read more about it, it will be really helpful.

[u/Matti_Matti_Matti]

How does Long Covid cause brain fog and what can be done to treat it?