Today on the show, we explore the complex biology underlying a seemingly straightforward question: How do our brains stay healthy – or not – as we age?

There seems to be a constant flow of new secrets to healthy brain aging – inflammation, estrogen levels, how the brain clears out its waste. We've talked about many of these explanations on the show, and it can be easy to think that whatever the latest one is, that's the one. At least until the next one comes along.

In reality, each of those things is probably part of a larger complex system that guides brain aging. But if that's the case, how do the parts fit together, and how do scientists figure out interventions that could slow or prevent neurodegeneration?  

That's a tricky challenge to be sure, but it's that challenge we're going to dive into with today's guest, neurobiologist Tom Clandinin. 

Learn more

• Clandinin Lab
• Qiu Lab
• Allen Lab
• Big Ideas in Neuroscience tackle brain science of everyday life and more (Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, 2026)
• Convergence of biological and artificial networks (Current Biology, 2021)
• Coupling of activity, metabolism and behaviour across the Drosophila brain (Nature, 2021)
• Drosophila Connectomics: Mapping the Larval Eye’s Mind (Current Biology, 2017)
• Flies and humans share a motion estimation strategy that exploits natural scene statistics (Nature Neuroscience, 2014)

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