podcast
Chasing Life
All over the world, there are people who are living extraordinary lives, full of happiness and health – and with hardly any heart disease, cancer or diabetes. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been on a decades-long mission to understand how they do it, and how we can all learn from them. Scientists now believe we can even reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer’s dementia, and in fact grow sharper and more resilient as we age. Sanjay is a dad – of three teenage daughters, he is a doctor - who operates on the brain, and he is a reporter with more than two decades of experience - who travels the earth to uncover and bring you the secrets of the happiest and healthiest people on the planet – so that you too, can Chase Life.
Exploring the Brain with 10-Year-Old ‘Sean the Science Kid’
Chasing Life
Aug 22, 2025
At 10 years old, brainiac Sean the Science Kid already has plenty in common with Dr. Sanjay Gupta: He loves to learn and explain science to his million-plus Instagram followers. He's an advocate for positivity. And when he grows up, he wants to be a ("neuro-cardio") surgeon. So, Dr. Gupta passes the mic and lets Sean interview him about the things on his heart and brain.
Our show is produced by Eryn Mathewson, Jennifer Lai, Grace Walker, Lori Galaretta, Jesse Remedios, Sofia Sanchez, Kyra Dahring, and Madeleine Thompson.
Medical Writer: Andrea Kane
Showrunner: Amanda Sealy
Senior Producer: Dan Bloom
Technical Director: Dan Dzula
Episode Transcript
Sean the Science Kid
00:00:02
The pituitary gland is a gland in the brain that releases growth hormones, melatonin, testosterone, and...
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:00:11
'This may surprise you, but the voice you're hearing is 10-year-old Sean Atitsogbe. He's giving an overview of the brain and very much at ease doing so.
Sean the Science Kid
00:00:21
Some of these are like dopamine and serotonin are neurotransmitters, meaning they go only...
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:00:26
Maybe you've heard of him on Instagram. He's got 1.4 million followers. He explains science on his social media show called, appropriately, Learning with Sean the Science Kid.
Sean the Science Kid
00:00:38
Hey guys, Learning with Sean the Science Kid here, and let me show you a little experiment.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:00:44
If you're just hearing him for the first time, you should know this: He is an insatiably curious kid.
Sean the Science Kid
00:00:51
Science governs everything around us. If we do not have an understanding of what brings us to this world, then why even be in the world in the first place?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:01:03
He's also funny.
Sean the Science Kid
00:01:04
She took me to the park, and I'm like, woman, you're wasting my time.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:01:08
He's honest.
Sean the Science Kid
00:01:10
I gotta get real with you for a second.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:01:12
Let's do it.
Sean the Science Kid
00:01:12
The world is in a state of turmoil.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:01:15
And he's exceptionally intelligent. What do I mean by that? Well, before he turned one, he could read.
Sean the Science Kid
00:01:21
Fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetable, aha. Red pepper.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:01:27
At the age of four, he became a member of Mensa. And now at the age 10, he's taking high school and college level courses.
Sean the Science Kid
00:01:35
I bet you've heard of this, I have hyperthymesia. Basically, the second I learn something, I kind of memorize it.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:01:45
I asked him what he wants to be when he grows up, or let's be honest, in the next few years, and he didn't hesitate.
Sean the Science Kid
00:01:52
I want to be a neurocardio surgeon, the combination of a brain and a heart surgeon.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:00
'Now seeing that we have a shared love for the brain, and we have shared love for science -- and for sharing science -- I invited Sean into my podcast studio.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:09
Sean, you ever done the clapper thing for TV?
Sean the Science Kid
00:02:14
Oh my God.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:14
'Now, I got to give you a fair warning. Like any conversation with a 10-year-old, we went everywhere.
Sean the Science Kid
00:02:21
Extremely serious.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:23
No, no, no. We're not that serious.
Sean the Science Kid
00:02:24
Yeah, I'm kidding.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:25
'But here's the difference: this 10- year-old already had an impressive understanding of what I do as a neurosurgeon and a science communicator.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:34
Do a little surgery on that there, Sean.
Sean the Science Kid
00:02:37
Scalpel.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:39
So I decided for part of the podcast today to let Sean interview me.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:44
Just okay, right up to the camera there.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:47
We're learning with Sean the Science Kid.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:49
And then you gotta make sure this camera can see it as well.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:51
I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, and this is Chasing Life.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:02:59
There. That was so good!
Sean the Science Kid
00:03:01
Oh my god, I feel so accomplished.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:03:09
Welcome to the podcast.
Sean the Science Kid
00:03:10
Thank you.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:03:11
How are you doing today?
Sean the Science Kid
00:03:12
Amazing.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:03:13
We just saw this video of you explaining the hippocampus and explaining the pituitary gland and your favorite neurotransmitters. Tell me about this. How old were you when you started watching and learning on your own?
Sean the Science Kid
00:03:29
About zero months old.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:03:31
What do you mean, like when you were in the womb?
Sean the Science Kid
00:03:34
In the womb, I was doing science, like if my mom's belly was emitting kinematic equations.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:03:47
What do you mean?
Sean the Science Kid
00:03:46
So that was really just a way to transition into the fact that, like, how kids enjoy playing video games, I enjoy learning. Like learning was my video game. Basically everything I've done so far is a passion project. I have a sort of gravitational attraction towards learning.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:04:10
When you're thinking about this sort of stuff, are you learning it and then memorizing it, or are you trying to create new information, new knowledge?
Sean the Science Kid
00:04:21
I bet you've heard of this. I have hyperthymesia, which means I have a hippocampus that's on steroids. And basically the second I learned something, I kind of memorize it.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:04:36
You can't forget it.
Sean the Science Kid
00:04:37
Well, my mom likes to call it selective because. I forget, I still forget a lot of things, but it's activated by a trigger. So like, if I watch a video using a certain song, then it's like the neurons, they just start firing in a loop until it brings me back to like three years ago when I heard the same song.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:05:01
But what point did everyone else start noticing this about you?
Sean the Science Kid
00:05:05
At nine months old, we were driving to Carter's to get me some snazzy new baby clothes. And I looked at the sign, and I opened my little baby mouth and said, Carter's. I had read the sign and my mom was amazed. She was like, Sean, did you just read? And I'm like, silence. So when we got home, she showed me some baby flyers she was getting. I read them. She told my dad that I could read and my dad didn't believe her until she showed it to him.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:05:46
What does that look like? What does it feel like for you?
Sean the Science Kid
00:05:48
Um, well, to be honest, I was too young to really comprehend. The only thing that was in my brain was, learning is fun. Let's keep doing it, mommy. And we did keep doing until I started discovering the world of science.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:06:12
So you weren't going to regular schools. Were you learning mostly at home?
Sean the Science Kid
00:06:18
'Yes, actually, I was mostly self-taught, but my mom did buy me these things. They were like flashcards. And one side after another, I had just read all of the flashcards in a relatively short amount of time. This did have some negative repercussions. There is a saying that's like, You can never learn too much. Well, with me. I broke that. She tried to take me to the park because we had gone to a psychologist and she was like, your son is learning too much.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:06:55
"Your son is learning too much."
Sean the Science Kid
00:06:57
Yeah, teach him how to play. And my mom did exactly that. She took me to the park and I'm like, woman, you're wasting my time. She tried to show me Mickey Mouse and stuff. I'm, like, ew, get this monster off my screen. And then eventually she kind of gave up and let me start learning. We went back to the psychologist, and my mom said her plans had failed. So she put me in a school. And not just any school. High achievers. This technically counts as a shout out, so shout out high achievers!
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:07:33
Alright, I hope they're listening.
Sean the Science Kid
00:07:37
But they will let your child progress at their own speed. So if your kid finishes, let's say preschool in a week, which was me, then they move you on to kindergarten and then kindergarten to first grade until I was in second grade at like the age of three.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:07:59
Wow. You know that's pretty incredible. Do you know any other kids like you?
Sean the Science Kid
00:08:05
Um, so I don't know if you've heard of a kid who got accepted into Morehouse at 13.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:08:12
Yes, I just did.
Sean the Science Kid
00:08:13
He's actually in my school. So he is basically an example of what I would like to do.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:08:22
Now, obviously you love to learn, do you miss out on the other part of life, the playing part and other stuff and you didn't really enjoy going to the park, sounds like.
Sean the Science Kid
00:08:33
I do everything too much, I play too much I learn too much. I read too much Annoying I vex every day. And, if you asked my mom, she would list like 30 other things. But I don't want to be too self detrimental.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:08:51
No, definitely you shouldn't. I mean, everyone's really super proud of you. What else? In your own life, do you want to have a certain profession one day or do something specific in terms of your work?
Sean the Science Kid
00:09:02
'Well, I want to be a "neuro-cardio" surgeon, the combination of a brain and a heart surgeon. And I invented this word when I was four years old, because when I was doing research on the human body or anatomy, which was one of my favorite science subjects to study about. I found out that the brain and the heart are connected in a loop where the brain has to tell the heart to pump blood and the heart pumps blood to the brain so the brain can tell the heart to pump blood. So I thought if one is damaged then what's going to happen to this loop. So I decided to specialize my treatment in both of those.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:09:48
Well I do one of those, I do the brain part, so if you ever need any help, I mean, just give me a call. So there's a brain over there by the way, so you're very familiar with the brain?
Sean the Science Kid
00:09:58
I love the brain.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:09:59
'You love the brain, what do you love about the brain? I love the brain too, by the way. I think it's three-and-a-half pounds of the most mysterious tissue in the known universe. Is that how you feel about it?
Sean the Science Kid
00:10:09
Well, technically there's more mysterious stuff in the universe like dark matter, but the most mysterious thing in the body because we do not like understand it.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:10:20
Do you have a favorite part of the brain?
Sean the Science Kid
00:10:22
Let me see if we can get inside it, cause my favorite part of the brain isn't on the outside. The hippocampus.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:10:28
I think you might be able to pull it apart. Let's see here. Do a little surgery on that there, Sean.
Sean the Science Kid
00:10:35
Scalpel.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:10:37
I'm your scrub nurse. Don't cause any catastrophic bleeding.
Sean the Science Kid
00:10:44
I think ripping his brain in half is already enough.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:10:47
That's pretty bad.
Sean the Science Kid
00:10:48
I would not want my brain to have this happen to it.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:10:52
No, although you know they do operations where they remove an entire hemisphere of the brain. Did you know this?
Sean the Science Kid
00:10:57
Yeah, it's used to treat seizures and sometimes they cut the corpus callosum.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:11:05
Gosh.
Sean the Science Kid
00:11:05
And that causes the two hemispheres of the brain to argue, and that's always just kind of been a little freaky for me as a kid.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:11:13
Here, point it out to us.
Sean the Science Kid
00:11:14
Pretty sure it's in the middle, right?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:11:17
So what do you love about the hippocampus so much?
Sean the Science Kid
00:11:20
Memory because memories are something that you can cherish and I think memories are the best thing ever because they allow you to share a special bond with your past that usually animals without those developed brains that we have they can't share that same bond with their past because they wouldn't remember.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:11:44
Right. If you could change something about the brain, what would you change?
Sean the Science Kid
00:11:48
Infinite storage. I would make it so you could remember anything and everything, and you wouldn't forget. That could have its downsides, but I mean, you'd have a pretty sick superpower though.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:12:04
Sounds like you're kind of close to that, aren't you?
Sean the Science Kid
00:12:07
'Yeah, hyperthymesia, but I still forget stuff. Do you? Like, I forget what my mom told me to do when I walk upstairs, and then I just end up like, doom-scrolling for an hour.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:12:18
No you do not. You doomscroll?
Sean the Science Kid
00:12:21
Well...
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:12:22
I would not have guessed that.
Sean the Science Kid
00:12:25
I'm still a kid though. Just because I'm smart I'm still a kid.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:12:31
Yes, you are.
Sean the Science Kid
00:12:32
I can tell this is the size of my brain.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:12:36
It's pretty good. Pretty good. I think your brain might be a little denser in a good way.
Sean the Science Kid
00:12:41
Yup.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:12:41
Yeah. So why do you think it's so important to get science out there?
Sean the Science Kid
00:12:46
'Well, science governs everything around us. From the air we breathe to the words we speak, it is the governor of all human, animal, and non-life. It allows for you to walk, to talk, to move, to live, to experience, to die. And if we do not have an understanding... Of what brings us to this world, then why even be in the world in the first place?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:13:23
So, you're optimistic about yourself. What about the world in general?
Sean the Science Kid
00:13:27
I gotta get real with you for a second.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:13:30
Let's do it.
Sean the Science Kid
00:13:30
The world is in a state of turmoil, like we're doomed.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:13:36
We're doomed?
Sean the Science Kid
00:13:39
Like, everything that's been happening now, it always seems to be negative. In the words of my mom and her prayer group, it's like every single day, a new shooting is happening. Like if you've recently watched the news, then every single time, you're gonna see at least one shooting. It's like there's a state of evil floating around everywhere. People are doing unruly, unholy, horrible, psychotic things, and there's not even a reason. Like, what compelled you to kill some guy? Like, what compelled to hold a shooting at a local Walmart? Like, there's an old grandma trying to shop for some diapers for her grandson there and you're just gonna walk into there and start bang banging the place? What's the point? There's no reason. So, I'm not very optimistic about the world right now.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:14:39
How do we change this, Sean?
Sean the Science Kid
00:14:42
We have to start realizing about what we're doing. The first step is to see all the pain and suffering that's going on and devise a plan. And this plan has to be sent through the news, through every single piece of media we can try to get to say this message, that we have to stop hurting our friends. We have to stop making things on purpose that will impact the world negatively.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:15:19
I think you're gonna be a big part of that, Sean. You're gonna around for a long time. You're going to outlive everybody in this room. So we're counting on you.
Sean the Science Kid
00:15:28
That scares me.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:15:29
That does? Why does that scare you?
Sean the Science Kid
00:15:31
Uh, I'm scared of death.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:15:34
Well, I'm talking about the fact that you're gonna live a lot longer than us.
Sean the Science Kid
00:15:37
Yeah, but what am I going to do without my mom?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:15:41
Aw.
Sean the Science Kid
00:15:42
Stop laughing, Mom, it's serious.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:15:44
That is serious. You love your mom.
Sean the Science Kid
00:15:49
I do.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:15:49
I didn't mean to make you sad.
Sean the Science Kid
00:15:52
Okay, let's lighten the mood with a fun fact.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:15:54
Alright.
Sean the Science Kid
00:15:55
So there's this theory I've made called Graviton Quantum Sponge Theory.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:15:59
Oh my gosh.
Sean the Science Kid
00:16:00
Oh my gosh, indeed.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:16:03
The Graviton Quantum Sponge Theory?
Sean the Science Kid
00:16:05
Yes.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:16:06
Okay.
Sean the Science Kid
00:16:06
It describes the origins of the universe and tries to unify quantum mechanics and relativity. It basically says that the universe has little holes in it. These holes represent dimensions and it's still a work in progress. So any physicists out there don't get any bright ideas.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:16:27
Okay, how you doing? You keeping up with the podcast today? It is a lot. And after the break, Sean the Science Kid has a few questions for me. So when we come back, I'm passing the mic over to Sean, putting myself to the test and letting this 10 year old pick my brain.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:16:50
Let's, let's lighten it up.
Sean the Science Kid
00:16:52
Yes.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:16:53
Because you get to ask me questions now.
Sean the Science Kid
00:16:54
Alright.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:16:55
What you got, Sean the Science Kid?
Sean the Science Kid
00:16:59
Neuroplasticity.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:16:59
One of my favorites.
00:17:00
Huh! Your favorites?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:17:02
Yeah, I mean how do you not like neuroplasticity?
Sean the Science Kid
00:17:04
Exactly.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:17:05
Even the word is fun to say.
Sean the Science Kid
00:17:06
Try saying that three times as fast.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:17:09
'Neuroplasticity, neuroplastic, neuro-plastic-ity.
Sean the Science Kid
00:17:11
'Neuroplasticity, neuroplastic, neuro-plastic-ity. So what do you really think about it? Like, adapting to different environments. We were reading one of your COVID interviews, and when you were talking about how we have to adapt to the new life, one thing popped into my head, neuroplasticity. Now I know that's a little outdated, but did you think anything about neuroplasticity while saying that?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:17:45
The honest answer is not really, because I was thinking more about the fact that our way of life, our phenotype, if you will, the way that we're expressing ourselves in life would have to change. And our behaviors would have to change as a result of the pandemic. But neuroplasticity, which I agree, is an incredible concept. We used to think of the brain as this very sort of, have specific functions for specific areas. And we now know that that's not the case, that different areas of the brain can do different things and they can even take over if one part of the the brain is damaged. There's also something known as neurogenesis. Are you familiar with neurogenosis?
Sean the Science Kid
00:18:26
Well, Genesis is the chapter of creation, so creation of new brain matter?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:18:31
Yeah, new brain cells, exactly. So we now know that's possible as well, so it's crazy, right?
Sean the Science Kid
00:18:38
We can just, we're this close to being Wolverine at this point.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:18:42
Oh, I hadn't. See, you're making me think. I hadn't thought of it that way. Yeah, you're right. We are growing new brain cells, but I do think that we're learning a lot more about the brain, and we're realizing that you can grow new brain cells at any age, which I think that's pretty exciting because people think as you get older...
Sean the Science Kid
00:19:00
'Your brain cells like stop re-growing?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:19:03
Stop regrowing and maybe even starting to deplete. But if you can grow new brain cells at any age, that's pretty optimistic.
Sean the Science Kid
00:19:11
But I mean, still there are still chances for diseases or conditions, I should say, such as Parkinson's, dementia, etc.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:19:20
That's true, that's true. Although we're getting better at preventing some of those things as well.
Sean the Science Kid
00:19:26
Yeah.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:19:26
Yeah.
Sean the Science Kid
00:19:26
'And also, I wanted to talk to you about -- and this is a real good word -- psychoneuroimmunology.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:19:34
Oh my goodness, you have good words.
Sean the Science Kid
00:19:37
Yeah, try saying that three times as fast again. No, I'm kidding. Psychoneuroimmunology, psychoneuroimmunology, psychoneuromunology.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:19:45
Yeah, we did...That was easier actually.
Sean the Science Kid
00:19:47
Are we just going to do that with every word?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:19:48
I think we should, especially if it has more than three syllables, how about that?
Sean the Science Kid
00:19:52
Oh yeah.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:19:52
Okay, so what's your question?
Sean the Science Kid
00:19:54
How do you think emotions affect the immune system?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:19:59
Yeah.
00:19:59
And if a happy guy gets sick, will they heal faster than a depressed guy?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:20:04
Yes. Probably. There's my answer. Probably. No, but I think, you know, people talk about this thing known as a placebo effect. Have you heard of the placebo effect?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:20:13
Yeah, you can give someone a fake pill and their body they will think that the pill is actually helping them heal when really that's just their body naturally healing.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:20:26
'I think I'd have a hard time teaching you anything, but I'll tell you this, expectations --
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:20:31
Knew it, just kidding.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:20:34
That's funny. You have a fast brain, you know that?
Sean the Science Kid
00:20:36
Zoom. Zoom. Zoom.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:20:37
Yeah, exactly. Expectations and experience are inextricably linked. Do you know what I mean by that?
Sean the Science Kid
00:20:45
Yeah, if you expect something good to happen and it happens, then you're gonna have, well, a much better feeling than if you expected something bad to happen and something good happened.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:20:58
Yeah, and if you expect something to hurt, it'll probably hurt. If you expect it not to hurt it probably won't hurt. If you expect to get better faster, or recover from an infection, activate your immune system, then all of that will actually happen.
Sean the Science Kid
00:21:14
Oh my God.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:21:17
Psychoneuroimmunology. It's a real thing.
Sean the Science Kid
00:21:19
We could also refer this to like when babies get hurt they're like, oh my gosh, wasn't that so fun?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:21:25
Exactly.
Sean the Science Kid
00:21:26
And then the baby's like, oh yeah that was fun.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:21:30
Or or if they go into like really cold water and you say that water is warm, it's not that cold, and they actually think it's comfortable.
Sean the Science Kid
00:21:37
I wish that still worked like you could just tell someone this is gonna be fun and they're like, oh cool. This is fun.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:21:43
You can. You can do that. I bet you could do that because people believe you and you're very convincing.
Sean the Science Kid
00:21:47
Yeah.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:21:48
Yeah, what else you got?
Sean the Science Kid
00:21:49
My next question is about cryogenics.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:21:54
We gotta say it.
Sean the Science Kid
00:21:54
That's three syllables.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:21:56
Cryogenics, cryogenics. Okay, got it. Yeah, I'm a little mixed on cryogenics. I think the idea of suspended animation. Are you familiar with suspended animation?
Sean the Science Kid
00:22:09
Yeah.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:22:09
Of course you are. If the idea that becomes more real, then I think cryogenics may follow. But I think right now, we know that you can make things really cold and slow down metabolism. But sort of making that last long into the future, I think, is...
Sean the Science Kid
00:22:27
And then trying to get them to come back.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:22:29
To reanimate. Yes, very challenging. Although, Sean?
Sean the Science Kid
00:22:34
Yeah?
Sean the Science Kid
00:22:34
I think if anybody will do this in the future. Betting on you. I'm betting on you. Cryogenics. All right, so those are good. So we got neuroplasticity. We did...
Sean the Science Kid
00:22:45
Psychoneuroimmunology.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:22:47
And then cryogenics. You had like good questions. You got anymore?
Sean the Science Kid
00:22:53
Um, now these are just coming from the relics of the back of my mind.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:22:58
I love it.
Sean the Science Kid
00:22:58
What's your favorite neurochemical?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:23:00
'Oh, well, that's easy. Can you -- Want to guess?
Sean the Science Kid
00:23:03
Endorphins?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:23:04
Yeah. How did you know?
Sean the Science Kid
00:23:06
Those are mine too.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:23:07
Really? By the way, endorphins, good. Endorphins. Endorfins, endorfins. Yeah, most people would say dopamine, don't you think?
Sean the Science Kid
00:23:16
Oh yeah.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:23:16
So what are endorphins?
Sean the Science Kid
00:23:18
'Endorphins, they're like feel-good chemicals.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:23:21
Yeah, they are.
Sean the Science Kid
00:23:21
They're in the same category as dopamine and serotonin.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:23:25
Yes.
Sean the Science Kid
00:23:26
And they're usually associated with the same thing oxytocin is, love.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:23:32
Yep. And another thing that they're associated with is morphine.
Sean the Science Kid
00:23:36
Oh.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:23:37
''Phin.' Endor-phin. Endor-phine. That's where morphine comes from. So endorphins are kind of like our own body's natural morphine.
Sean the Science Kid
00:23:46
Isn't morphine a drug?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:23:47
It is a drug, but it's something that's synthetic, but they got the idea for morphine from our endorphins. We have our own morphine system. Isn't that cool? And by the way, that relates back to the placebo effect. Like if you can harness your endorphines, that's why you feel good. That's why expectations and experience are so linked. And you're doing the happy dance. I love it. You got any more questions for me?
Sean the Science Kid
00:24:14
Oh yeah. So, you have an Indian background, right?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:24:17
Yeah, I'm Indian.
Sean the Science Kid
00:24:18
Did that have anything to do? Did that do good for your career path? Did that did bad for your career path, did it have no effect?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:24:27
Wow, that's a really good question. Okay, I think it did good for my career path. And I'll tell you why. I think I have a funny sounding name, Sanjay Gupta. And the thing about funny sounding names.
Sean the Science Kid
00:24:41
I know funnier names.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:24:43
No, but it's not that unusual in India, but here in the United States, pretty funny sounding, right? But also that means pretty memorable name as well. So I think that's good, right.
Sean the Science Kid
00:24:54
I feel like Sean is a pretty common name, but my Irish spelling makes it a little less common.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:25:00
Did people call you "Seen" ever?
Sean the Science Kid
00:25:02
Oh my god, I get called "seen" more times than I get called Sean the Science Kid.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:25:07
Really?
Sean the Science Kid
00:25:08
Literally.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:25:08
Come on.
Sean the Science Kid
00:25:08
I have friends who've known me since I've come into the school and they still said, yo, what's up, Sean? Well, you've "seen" my annoyance. Like, are you kidding me?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:25:21
Well, um, Sean, I wish you a lot of luck and will you promise to call me if you need any help? I don't know if I can help you because you're really smart, and I think you're going to figure it all out on your own.
Sean the Science Kid
00:25:36
Hold up. Hold up. After this, what's your number?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:25:37
Okay, okay. I'll give you my number and then you can...
Sean the Science Kid
00:25:41
And then, like, when I'm with my friends, I'm just gonna be like, oh, nothing, I am just calling Sanjay. 'Wait, Sanjay who?' Sanjay Gupta.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:25:51
What a pleasure, Sean.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta
00:25:57
'That was my conversation with Sean the Science Kid, the 10-year-old brainiac helping explain science across social media. Thanks so much for listening.
