Month: February 2011
Turquoise Melodies and Quadrilaterals for Breakfast: The Life of a Synesthete
Middle World
A little self-education goes a long way. Let Richard Dawkins enlighten you (and if you’ve seen this already, it’s never a bad idea to brush up on the basics of life):
Neural Feedback: Smiling
In Justin Bieber’s 2010 smash hit ‘U Smile’ he addresses the idea that when “You smile I smile”, obviously deriving his inspiration from recent work by V.S. Ramachandran on the human mirror neuron system. Over 50 years before Justin Bieber’s efforts to bring Ramachandran’s research to the forefront of the media, Dale Carnegie noted in his 1936
A Clue to Interaction between the Visual Areas and Pain Perception
You know how getting an injection is painful? Next time, try looking at your arm for a change. Researchers at University College London and University of Milan-Bicocca have found that more pain can be tolerated if one looks at the afflicted body part. For instance, in the case of receiving an injection and anticipating pain, […]
The Odd Couple: Autism + Anorexia?
Have you ever considered there to be commonalities between autism and anorexia? Up until a few weeks ago, the idea never crossed my mind. I was more focused on how that other autism study about vaccines was proven to be a complete hoax. On February 10th, researchers at the University of Bath in England released […]
“Avatar" Virtual Reality: Scientists Explore Self-Consciousness
In the 2009 film Avatar, scientists exploring the planet Pandora used alien hybrid bodies called “avatars” that functioned through a mental connection established with their genetically-matched human counterparts. While this kind of technology seems as science fictionally fantastic as only the movies can portray it, recent work in the neuro-scientific community may lead the world to […]
Our Attraction to the End
Since the beginning of time, there have been theories on how the world will end. One fairly recent theory is that the end of the world will occur on December 21, 2012 when the Mayan Long Count calendar ends. Although scholars reject the theory that any catastrophic event is scheduled for this date, arguing that […]
"Rage" Stimulating Neurons Have Their Own Little Fight Club in the Amygdala
Ever been in a situation where you had to deal with someone/something that just really PISSED YOU OFF!? Of course you have. After all, we’re all human; we’ve all felt that terrible tingle of insatiable rage wash over us from time to time. It’s a pretty intense emotion, sometimes even frightening in its potential to […]
A Different Kind of "TREK"kie.
Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California Berkeley have delineated an alternative pathway for antidepressant function. Fluoxetine, the active compound in the widely-prescribed antidepressant drug Prozac, primarily acts as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Many pharmaceutical agents, however, are known to exhibit multiple functions, and […]
Black Swans and Tiger Moms
I am surprising myself this week by delving into the more psychological and less biological side of neuroscience. Upon seeing the haunting Black Swan over winter break, I was immediately intrigued by its psychological underpinnings. Not long afterward, a friend showed me a fitting article from the Wall Street Journal titled, “Why Chinese Mothers are […]