At every moment, your body’s internal organs are sending signals to your brain. You’ll be mostly unaware of them, but sometimes they cut through: for example when you’re hungry, or when you need to go to the bathroom. Our ability to tap into these hidden signals is called interoception – sometimes known as a sixth sense.

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly, we speak to a cognitive neuroscientist and expert on interoception about how new research on this connection between our minds and bodies could lead to breakthroughs in mental and physical healthcare.

And as US and UK forces strike Houthi targets in Yemen, we consider the background to the crisis. Keep an eye on our global home page for more on this and other international issues in the days ahead.

Gemma Ware

Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast
How good are you at listening to the signals of your own body? Your Hand Please via Shutterstock

Interoception: the sixth sense we use to read hidden signals from our body – podcast

Gemma Ware, The Conversation

Neuroscientis Sarah Garfinkel on why interoception can help explain the intergration between the body and the brain – and our emotions. Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
Show of strength: an image released by the UK ministry of defence, of the Royal Navy responding to the Houthi attack. Owen Cooban/Ministry of Defence

Houthi rebel Red Sea attacks and the threat of escalation and supply chain chaos are a major headache – and not just for the west

Basil Germond, Lancaster University

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have the power to significantly destabilise global trade by endangering maritime activity in the Red Sea.
Pope Francis baptizes 16 infants in the Sistine Chapel on Jan. 7, 2024, in Vatican City. Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images

Pope Francis called surrogacy ‘deplorable’ – but the reasons why women and parents choose surrogacy are complex and defy simple labels

Danielle Tumminio Hansen, Emory University

Surrogacy can exploit women, but others may choose to be involved for altruistic reasons. A scholar points out that surrogacy’s ethical value is dependent upon the people and systems who use it.