Lab Notes

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Latest Episodes:

Lab Notes | The neuroscience of addiction and possible paths to a cure Sep 04, 2025

Science is supporting the battle against addiction and substance use disorder. Neuroscientists around the world are working to better understand the mechanisms of addictive drug use and how to alleviate the debilitating withdrawal symptoms that cause people to suffer. In this episode of Lab Notes, we meet two social service providers who work directly with people in treatment and recovery on the complex nature of of substance use disorder and a leading neuroscientist working to unravel its mysteries.

Behind every science headline, there is a human story. Hear about the scientific advancements aiming to shape the cures of tomorrow with Lab Notes: A podcast from the Allen Institute. Streaming everywhere.

RERELEASE – Lab Notes | Why don’t we understand the brain? Aug 18, 2025

This episode originally aired on March 14, 2022.

Why is the brain harder to understand than other organs? What can we learn about our brains from studying octopus arms? Is the human brain even capable of understanding itself?

We are revisiting a past episode about the challenges still facing scientists as they work to better understand our brains. Tune in to learn how far we've come, and how far we have to go. Listen on our site or wherever you find podcasts.

Lab Notes | The Digital Brain: Unlocking the Mind's Virtual Twin Jul 16, 2025

How does the brain work? Scientists are closer to answering this enigma with the largest wiring diagram and functional map of a mammalian brain to date. In April 2025, the Allen Institute, as part of a global team, unveiled what was once thought impossible: a high-resolution functional map of a cubic millimeter of brain, revealing both form and function. In this Lab Notes episode, the Allen Institute’s Clay Reid, M.D., Ph.D., Nuno da Costa, Ph.D., and Forrest Colman, Ph.D., and scientific collaborator, Andreas Tolias, Ph.D., explain how they created a "digital twin" of a portion of the mouse brain the size of a grain of sand and how they used artificial intelligence to digitally reconstruct a labyrinth of brain cells and wiring from 95 million high resolution images – stitching together the elaborate architecture that underpins the "language of the brain."

Cells in Space! May 29, 2024

Reaching new heights, stem cells from the Allen Institute for Cell Science were flown into space for the first time ever. In 2023, astronauts from Axiom Space studied genetically engineered cells, derived from human skin cells, in microgravity aboard the International Space Station. Axiom Space’s astronaut Peggy A. Whitson and Chief Scientist, Dr. Lucie Low; along with Professor Arun Sharma from Cedars-Sinai share the experience and science behind the out-of-this-world mission.

The mystery of long COVID Aug 16, 2023

Where are we with long COVID? Researchers at the Allen Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center are working to understand the science behind this new chronic disease.

Cracking the code of addiction Oct 12, 2022

Reward is essential for life. Our brains flood with feel-good chemicals when we learn, eat, have sex. But these essential brain circuits are hijacked in drug addiction. Neuroscientists at the Allen Institute and the University of North Carolina are working to crack the biology of reward and addiction. Hear about their work and their hopes for the future of treating addiction in this episode of Lab Notes.

Bees suffer from social isolation too Aug 24, 2022

It is no secret that social isolation has major developmental consequences on humans, but what about other social creatures like bumblebees? Neuroscientist Z Yan Wang investigated how social isolation impacted young bumblebees, and it looks like they grow up to be a little ‘socially awkward.’ Dr. Wang joins Lab Notes to talk about one of her favorite social insects.

Building a consciousness meter with Christof Koch May 25, 2022

Can we put a number on human consciousness? Neuroscientist Christof Koch is leading an effort to build a consciousness meter that could have real-world applications to determine whether coma patients are in a true vegetative state. Christof joined Lab Notes to talk about the science of consciousness, what psychedelic drugs have to do with consciousness, and how this new project could one day have applications in hospitals and clinics.

Why don't we understand the brain? Mar 14, 2022

Scientists have known for centuries that the brain is the seat of human thought, but we’re still in the dark about how it works. For Brain Awareness Week 2022, Lab Notes asked four neuroscientists to get into the weeds with us about why the brain is so complicated and hard to understand. Do we have any hope of understanding our own brains?

Fire Inside: The quest to understand & prevent rheumatoid arthritis May 17, 2021

In the early '80s, Linda Sloate was a 30-year old mom raising three little kids when she became one of an estimated 20 million people worldwide living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been a 40-year struggle filled with dozens of treatments and surgeries. Today there is new hope for patients as researchers have come together for a collaborative project to uncover how RA begins – and how to stop it in its tracks.

The novelist and the scientist Mar 01, 2021

When neuroscientist Christina Kim published an important research study, her close friend, novelist Yaa Gyasi, wanted to understand more about her friend’s work, so she asked to shadow her in the lab. That experience eventually formed the basis for Gyasi’s moving novel about addiction and mental illness, Transcendent Kingdom.

Starved but unable to eat: Life with Crohn's Dec 21, 2020

Aldan Beaubien was in high school when a smorgasbord of bagels, cream cheese and apple juice left him in agony. Months later, doctors diagnosed him with Crohn's disease. Now an IT engineer at a research institute studying the disease, Aldan has new hope for better treatments or even a cure.

SCANning for coronavirus Sep 22, 2020

In the winter of 2019, a series of storms dubbed “Snowpocalypse” dumped more than 20 inches of snow on the Seattle area, forcing the closure of schools and businesses. This weather-induced social-distancing caused flu cases to plummet. What researchers learned from these snowstorms helped prepare them for the coronavirus pandemic and find what, at the time, were the earliest known cases of community spread. Their work has gone on to provide invaluable data that social distancing works to slow down deadly viruses.

Taming the Beast Aug 04, 2020

When the first U.S. COVID-19 cases began arriving at the hospital, doctors nicknamed the illness "The Beast" because of the way it attacked the body. Dr. Ryan Padgett treated several patients before he himself became infected and nearly died. How can this beast be tamed? A team of researchers in Ohio believes they have identified a set of tools that could help save lives and speed recovery times for patients like Dr. Padgett.

A face mask that detects coronavirus Apr 27, 2020

What if there were a face mask that could tell you you're infected with coronavirus before you ever show symptoms? In this episode we chat with Allen Distinguished Investigator Jim Collins from MIT and the Wyss Institute, about a wearable diagnostic that could help in the fight to trace and contain COVID-19 infections.

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