Panacea has the goal of initiating open conversations and reducing stigma surrounding mental health and mental illness. To do so, Michelle teaches 'mental health 101' and shares some of her own experiences living with mental illness.

The positive impact that mental health literacy can have in your own life, and for the people around you, is what drives her. If her words can inspire empathy and change at least one person's perspective or make someone feel less alone, then she has done her job. Join us for some fun tunes and vulnerable conversations!

Every 4th and 5th Thursday of the month, 2 - 3pm (EDT)

March 26, 2026: Affective Neuroscience: Emotions- Definitions, Theory, Research

In this segment, Maïa and Michelle breakdown the scientific literature on emotions. We talk about emotions a LOT colloquially, and in our vocabulary, we often interchangeably use the words "emotions", "feelings:, and "moods"… buut we have to make distinctions in research.

There are many theories out there on how to understand and interpret emotions, and many different brain areas and neural pathways that underlie emotion, making the field of affective neuroscience a tricky one to navigate. So, you need to pay attention to a researchers' definition of emotion when reading literature because there's multiple ways of looking at emotions!

In the second part of the show, we talk about the practical/real-world implications of studying emotions and why this is important. There are clinical implications in terms of therapy/treatment, emotional regulation, and understanding causal relationships. There are also implications in the way we should think about and structure criminal justice efforts, and community programs.

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