Episode Details

Today, you’ll learn about an effort to create palm oil without burning down millions of acres of forest, the surprising way polyglots’ brains approach their own native language, and new research on how the powerful psychedelic drug ayahuasca extinguishes fear. 

Palm-Less Oil 

• “They Want to Make Palm Oil in a Lab. Without Palm Trees.” by Dionne Searcey. 2024.  
• “Things To Know About Palm Oil.” WWF. n.d. 

Polyglot Brain 

• “For people who speak many languages, there’s something special about their native tongue.” by Anne Trafton. 2024.  
• “Functional characterization of the language network of polyglots and hyperpolyglots with precision fMRI.” by Saima Malik-Moraleda, et al. 2024.  

Ayahuasca & Fear  

• “Ayahuasca accelerates fear extinction via its effect on serotonin receptors.” by Eric. W. Dolan. 2024.  
• “Ayahuasca-enhanced extinction of fear behaviour: Role of infralimbic cortex 5-HT2a and 5-HT1a receptors.” by Isabel Werle, et al. 2024.  
• “The Therapeutic Potentials of Ayahuasca: Possible Effects against Various Diseases of Civilization.” by Ede Frecska, et al. 2016.  

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