Since November 2022, France Culture has been developing a podcast series entitled "Your brain." Over the past three years, each season of the podcast has encouraged listeners to get involved in experiments on how the human brain works, becoming their own "guinea pigs" by following the guidelines and trying out the suggested brain exercises.

How does the brain perceive reality? How can we outwit attempts at manipulation? In this collection of original podcasts, various scientists invite you to explore a specific aspect of how the brain works through a series of unique and entertaining audio experiences. Each six-episode season sets out to explore and better understand how our brain grasps and interprets the world around it.

• A new season about the mechanisms of addiction with Morgane Besson

To kick off 2026, France Culture invited Morgane Besson to produce the latest series and to speak about the brain and the mechanisms associated with addiction. Morgane is a scientist in the Integrative Neurobiology of Cholinergic Systems Unit, led by Uwe Maskos, and leader of the "Vulnerability to mental disorders" group. 

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Nicotine, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine – all drugs have one thing in common: when they reach the brain, they stimulate the release of dopamine and create a feeling of pleasure. How do they do this? By hijacking the brain's natural reward-based learning mechanisms, making you want to come back for more.

How can we identify the pathological condition that is addiction? What are the signs that point to addiction? How does addiction differ from habit? And what about addictions that are not to substances but to specific behaviors?

Morgane Besson uses immersive sound experiences to guide listeners in understanding how the mechanisms of addiction gradually begin to take hold. Constant repetition teaches your brain to associate the given drug with everything around it – sounds, places, atmospheres. These environmental details then become triggers. Some consumers go into automatic pilot mode, losing control over their impulses and gradually developing compulsive behaviors. Various factors – genetic but also environmental and family-related – influence our susceptibility to substances and predispose us to a risk of addiction.

Check out the trailer for the series

• Since February 10, 2026, the six 10-minute episodes have been available at franceculture.fr and via the Radio France application.

Access the full series