Smooth Brain Society

Do police officers drink more than the general population? How does racial discrimination affect mental health? And what can large-scale data tell us about health inequalities?
In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Patsy Irizar from Liverpool John Moores University to explore two seemingly different but deeply connected areas of research: alcohol use and mental health in the police and military, and the impact of racial discrimination on psychological wellbeing.
Dr. Irizar shares her journey, discussing her groundbreaking PhD work examining alcohol use among UK police officers and the culture surrounding drinking in policing. We unpack findings from a dataset of 40,000 officers, challenge stereotypes about the “hard-drinking cop,” and explore the complex relationship between alcohol and mental health.
The conversation then turns to health inequalities, where Patsy explains how the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted long-standing racial disparities in health outcomes. We discuss how discrimination can become biologically and psychologically embedded, why social determinants matter, and what researchers are learning from the largest survey of minoritized ethnic groups conducted in the UK.
Along the way, we talk about:
 Why people use alcohol to cope with mental health difficulties 
 The changing drinking culture within UK policing 
 The “sick quitter” hypothesis 
 Trauma, occupational stress, and mental health 
 COVID-19 and ethnic health inequalities 
 Structural and institutional racism 
 How discrimination affects mental health over time 
 Improving mental health services and treatment pathways 
 The role of research in creating meaningful social change 
Whether you're interested in psychology, public health, policing, addiction research, or social inequality, this episode offers a fascinating look at how our environments shape mental health.
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What happens inside a child's brain when they're told not to touch something… and immediately reach for it anyway?
In this episode we sit down with developmental neuroscientist Dr. Abigail Fiske from Lancaster University to explore how self-control develops in infancy and early childhood.
Dr. Fisk studies executive functions, which are the mental skills that help us focus, regulate behaviour, and resist impulses. Using child friendly brain-imaging technology (FNIRS) and longitudinal research, she follows children from infancy through early childhood to understand how these critical abilities emerge and develop.
We discuss:
Why toddlers struggle with self-control
What executive functions actually are
How inhibitory control develops in the brain
Measuring brain activity in babies using non-invasive neuroimaging
The role of the prefrontal cortex in early development
Lessons from the classroom that inspired Dr. Fisk's research career
Why the first five years of life are so important
Early intervention, education, and the future of child development research
Whether you're a parent, educator, psychology enthusiast, or simply curious about how the brain develops, this conversation offers fascinating insights into the science behind self-control and learning.
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In this special audience Q&A episode of The Smooth Brain Society, hosts Dr. Sahir Hussain and (soon to be Dr.) Beth Facer answer your most thoughtful, chaotic, philosophical, and occasionally cursed questions.
From the darkest stories in neuroscience history to whether trauma is really “stored in the body,” Beth and Sahir dive into mental health, AI, addiction, academia, policy, stress, and the strange realities of working in science. 
Plus: the podcast finally tackles one of humanity’s greatest debates… is a hot dog a sandwich?
Topics discussed include:
The darkest neuroscience experiments in history
Trauma, stress, and the body
AI’s future impact on child development and human connection
Alcohol & mental health
Culture and public health policy
The realities of working in academic research
Epigenetics and family planning
Research papers Beth & Sahir wish they’d worked on themselves
And, of course, hot dog discourse.
Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for this episode! we loved making this one.
Follow The Smooth Brain Society  on our social media platforms for future Q&As, episode updates, and science content from Beth and Sahir.
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Dr. Bailey Rose (Ngāti Maniapoto), Clinical Psychologist at Ora Toa Mauriora, New Zealand, joins us for a conversation on eating disorders, culture, identity, and mental health care.
We explore how eating disorders are often misunderstood through a narrow Western lens, and why that can leave Māori and other underserved communities unseen, misdiagnosed, or excluded from support systems. Bailey shares insights from both her clinical work and research, discussing the cultural meaning of food, barriers to care, stigma, social media pressures, and the limitations of relying too heavily on measures like BMI.
The episode also dives into:
 Māori perspectives on food, care, and wellbeing 
 How culture shapes experiences of eating disorders 
 Emotional regulation, shame, and relationships with food 
 Misconceptions around who “gets” eating disorders 
 The impact of beauty standards and social media 
 Ozempic and the growing conversation around weight-loss medications 
 Why culturally responsive mental health care matters 

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Can preparing the body before cancer treatment improve recovery, reduce complications, and even protect brain function?
In this episode, Sahir sits down with Dr. Christopher Gaffney, Senior Lecturer in Integrative Physiology at Lancaster University, to explore the growing science of prehabilitation. Prehabilitation uses exercise, nutrition, and psychological support to help cancer patients better tolerate surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy.
They discuss how a patient’s baseline fitness can influence treatment outcomes, why exercise is increasingly being viewed as medicine, the emerging evidence around “chemo brain,” and why healthcare may need to shift from reactive treatment to proactive preparation.
A fascinating conversation at the intersection of cancer research, physiology, and preventative medicine.
Topics Covered
 What prehabilitation is and why it matters 
 Exercise as medicine in cancer care 
 How fitness affects surgery and chemotherapy outcomes 
 The science behind chemo brain and fatigue 
 Why medicine needs to think earlier, not later
Support the show
Support us and reach out!
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Instagram: @thesmoothbrainsociety
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Merch and all other links: Linktree
email: thesmoothbrainsociety@gmail.com