In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Audrey Duarte, a cognitive neuroscientist and Professor of Psychology at UT Austin. Dr. Duarte leads the Memory and Aging Lab, where she studies how memory changes with age - and why some people maintain better memory and brain health than others. Her research also examines how factors like sleep, mood, and social stress influence memory across the adult lifespan, with a particular focus on racial and ethnically diverse populations. We talk about the importance of sleep in cognitive aging, how consistent rest supports memory, and how environmental and psychosocial factors, like discrimination and depression, can impact memory and brain health. Join us as we explore the neural and social factors that shape our memory.

In this episode we meet with Dr. Charan Ranganath, a Professor at UC Davis, director of the Dynamic Memory Lab, and author of the New York Times’ best-seller “Why We Remember”. His research focuses on how memory is affected by emotion, stress, aging and neurological disorders. Dr. Ranganath explains why our brains are designed to forget and shares strategies to improve memory retention. Join us as we uncover the science behind memory and learn practical tips to enhance our cognitive health.

Dr. Daniel Marson is a clinical neuropsychologist, licensed attorney, and Emeritus Professor of Neurology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he directed the Division of Neuropsychology (1995–2016) and the Alzheimer’s Disease Center (2005–2015). He has published extensively and led numerous NIH-funded studies on decisional and functional capacity in aging and neurocognitive disorders, with his work on financial capacity in older adults receiving national media attention. A past president of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, Dr. Marson is also an expert witness and ethics committee member, and he enjoys playing blues and jazz harmonica in his personal time. This episode explores the decline in financial capacity associated with cognitive aging and dementia, highlighting its clinical, legal, and ethical implications.