Understanding how our brain works can better explain our actions

? EARS TO THE GROUND-

Hidden Brain is a sneak peek into the unconscious patterns that drive our behavior, inform our choices, and impact our relationships. Host Shankar Vedantam is an American writer and journalist with a focus on social sciences. In 2010, Vedantam wrote a book under the same title discussing the latest discoveries in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral science to study the choices we make both as individuals and as a society. One of the episodes, entitled The Paradox of Pleasure, discusses addiction, and how our misunderstanding — or mis-definition — of the condition can explain why so many of us are anxious and depressed. He invites psychiatrist Anna Lembke to examine how we are programmed both biologically and sociologically to pursue pleasure. Perhaps a broader understanding of addiction can help us resist the temptations that drive these behaviors and help us lead healthier lives. You can find Hidden Brain on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.