[calamity]

That's the Sapolsky course.  He's brilliant.  I think he's a source for Susan Anderson when she explains the physiology of abandonment etc.


There's another video of him talking about depression--on youtube somewhere.

[Ready2Transform]

If midlife crisis had rock stars, this guy would be the locker poster of the month in Tiger Beat (Psychology Today)?    Love him! 

[Anjae]

I still think this guy is a genius.

I don't know if he is a genius. But he is very good at explaining human biology easily and at engaging people.

Genius, to be, would have to be someone who has solved and/or discovered a certain issue, or issues, not just someone who is explaining human physiology and how it affects the brain.

One think that I learned from today;s lesson(albeit is was recorded 5 years ag0) is that depression causes a lack of sexual desire.

This one does not require Sapolsky. Anyone who has been depressed knows it. But MLCers tend to be more like bipolar people. They can have hyper sexuality during the manic phase.

Whether he believes in MLC or not I believe is irrelevant because the biology of it all is basically explained in a lot of these hours of this course, IMHO.

It is. As it is also in several other biology or neurobiology courses. The problem is none of those courses tell us how to solve the problem. Since MLC, at least for me, comes from biologic issues that impact the brain, it must have a solution. Yet, no one seems to be able to provide it.

[calamity]

Okay I'm a fan of Sapolsky--not only because he makes incredibly complex matters understandable but, he's really funny.


Wikipedia:  [yeah not a very academic reference but shorter...]

Sapolsky is currently the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor at Stanford University, holding joint appointments in several departments, including Biological Sciences, Neurology & Neurological Sciences, and Neurosurgery.[9]
As a neuroendocrinologist, he has focused his research on issues of stress and neuronal degeneration, as well as on the possibilities of gene therapy strategies for protecting susceptible neurons from disease. Currently, he is working on gene transfer techniques to strengthen neurons against the disabling effects of glucocorticoids. Each year Sapolsky spends time in Kenya studying a population of wild baboons in order to identify the sources of stress in their environment, and the relationship between personality and patterns of stress-related disease in these animals. More specifically, Sapolsky studies the cortisol levels between the alpha male and female and the subordinates to determine stress level. An early but still relevant example of his studies of olive baboons is to be found in his 1990 Scientific American article, "Stress in the Wild".[10] He has also written about neurological impairment and the insanity defense within the American legal system.[11][12]
Sapolsky's work has been featured widely in the press, most notably in the National Geographic special Stress:Portrait of a Killer,[13] several articles in The New York Times,[14][15]Wired Magazine[16] and the Stanford University Magazine.[17] He has also written a number of popular science articles about his work (listed below).

Here's the depression lecture:  http://www.openculture.com/2014/08/stanfords-robert-sapolsky-demystifies-depression.html
There are other on-line lectures if not courses on this website.
Also:  http://www.robertsapolskyrocks.com/

[HeyJude]

Hi all
Thought I'd throw this into the mix....
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201792483/nurture-vs-nature-british-psychologist-oliver-james

"Oliver James is a British clinical psychologist, author and broadcaster. He is the author of several books including They F*** You Up, Affluenza, Contented Dementia, Love Bombing and Office Politics.

His latest book is called Not in your genes: the real reason children are like their parents.

In it he argues that when it comes to psychological traits, including mental illness, smartness or shyness, genes passed down have little or nothing to do with it."