Recognizing a familiar voice is one of the brain’s earliest social feats. But what are the brain circuits that let a newborn pick out mom in a crowded nursery? How do they change as kids turn toward friends and the wider world? And what are we learning about why this instinct fails to develop in the autistic brain?

This week, host Nicholas Weiler joins Stanford neuroscientist Dan Abrams on the quest to understand the neural “hub” that links our brains' hearing centers to the networks that tag voices as rewarding, social, and worth our attention. The findings could reshape early-intervention strategies for kids on the spectrum.

Learn More

• Stanford Speech and Social Neuroscience Lab
  • Participate in a Study
  • Community Support Resources
• Publications
  • Underconnectivity between voice-selective cortex and reward circuitry in children with autism (PNAS, 2013)
  • Neural circuits underlying mother’s voice perception predict social communication abilities in children (PNAS, 2016)
  • Impaired voice processing in reward and salience circuits predicts social communication in children with autism (eLife, 2019)
  • A Neurodevelopmental Shift in Reward Circuitry from Mother's to Nonfamilial Voices in Adolescence (Journal of Neuroscience, 2022)
• Stanford Coverage
  • "The teen brain tunes in less to Mom's voice, more to unfamiliar voices, study finds" (Stanford Medicine, 2022)
  • "Brain wiring explains why autism hinders grasp of vocal emotion, says Stanford Medicine study" (Stanford Medicine, 2023)

We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at neuronspodcast@stanford.edu

Send us a text!

Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience.

Learn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

In this special crossover episode, we’re doing something a little different. From Our Neurons to Yours host Nicholas joins producer Michael Osborne to co-host his podcast Famous and Gravy for a lively conversation about the extraordinary life and mind of Stephen Hawking.

Hawking, one of the most renowned scientists of our time, lived with ALS for more than 50 years—defying medical expectations while also reshaping how we understand black holes, the universe, and our place within it. While Hawking wasn’t a neuroscientist, his neurological condition and his remarkable communication of complex ideas make his story especially relevant to From Our Neurons to Yours.

In this episode, we explore:

• How Hawking’s life with ALS shaped his outlook and scientific drive
• His talent for making theoretical physics accessible (and entertaining)
• Big philosophical questions about the universe and the nature of existence
• The intersection of science, celebrity, and personal legacy

We hope you enjoy this crossover conversation.

We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at neuronspodcast@stanford.edu

Send us a text!

Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience.

Learn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

If addiction is a disease of the brain, what does that mean for how we treat people—and how we write policy? In this wide-ranging conversation, Stanford addiction expert and policy advisor Keith Humphreys returns to the show to walk us through what neuroscience has taught us about substance use disorders and how that science intersects with law, public health, and politics.

From the biology of craving to the limits of autonomy, we explore the tension between compassion and accountability, and what truly effective treatment and prevention might look like.

Episode Highlights

• Why addiction isn’t just a moral failure—and how brain science explains drug-seeking behavior
• The biological pathways affected by opioids, alcohol, and stimulants—and why some drugs are harder to treat
• What makes some people more vulnerable to addiction than others
• Why effective addiction policy must account for impaired decision-making
• How policy can—and can’t—respond to the science
• The promise and limitations of brain stimulation, psychedelics, and medications like naloxone
• Why prevention—especially for teens—is key to long-term change
• What a more human, effective, and science-based future could look like

Resources & Links

• Learn more about Keith Humphreys
• Learn about the Stanford Network on Addiction Policy
• Read about the NeuroChoice Initiative at Stanford's Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute
• NIH resources on addiction science and treatment
• Read Humphreys' 2024 report on "The rise and fall of Pacific Northwest drug policy reform, 2020–2024" (Brookings Institution, 2024)
• Read about CARE Courts ( "New California Court for the Mentally Ill Tests a State’s Liberal Values", New York Times, 2024)
• Read Humphreys' 2025 Op-Ed: "Does harm reduction still have a future in San Francisco?" (SF Chronicle, 2025)
• Read a policy summary, "Blue states change course on mental health policies" (Axios, 2025)

We want to hear from your neurons! Email us at at neuronspodcast@stanford.edu

Send us a text!

Thanks for listening! If you're enjoying our show, please take a moment to give us a review on your podcast app of choice and share this episode with your friends. That's how we grow as a show and bring the stories of the frontiers of neuroscience to a wider audience.

Learn more about the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at Stanford and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.