the nerve blog |
A Call to Arms: Conquering the Brain
We put a man on the moon. We mapped the entire human genome. And next, we will have access to the brain and all of its connections at our finger tips. The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative (known most commonly as the BRAIN Initiative) is a collaborative research effort that is a “combination […]
Keep Calm And Neuroscience On
It’s every student’s favorite time of the semester: midterm week. As you are freaking out about the upcoming exams that you have, you notice that others around you are relatively calm. You envy them and their ability to cope with stress. But here’s the thing: keeping calm under pressure isn’t a character trait or ability, […]
Video Games Can Read Your Emotions
Using technology similar to that found in a lie detector, Corey McCall, a Stanford University doctoral candidate, is creating a video game controller that registers signals about a players respiration, pulse, and perspiration. In Gregory Kovacs’s lab, in association with Texas Instruments, a prototype was constructed. As a player gets more excited, all of signals […]
Study Suggests Possible Connection Between TBI and Homelessness
Many homeless men have suffered a traumatic brain injury in their life, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital. After collecting data from over 100 men aged 27 to 81 from a shelter in downtown Toronto, researchers found that nearly half of the homeless men surveyed had suffered a traumatic brain […]
Using brain imaging to predict which vegetative patients have potential to recover
According to new research, positron emission tomography (PET), a functional brain imaging technique, is a promising tool for determining which brain damaged individuals in vegetative states have the potential to recover consciousness. This is the first time researchers have tested the accuracy of functional brain imaging for diagnosis in clinical practice. The researchers from the […]
Dreaming
I am assuming that whoever is reading this right now has had a dream before. Am I right? But have you ever had a dream with a person in it whom you have never seen before in your life? It may seem that way, but it is impossible. It is believed that the human brain […]
Just Forget It!
Have you ever lost something, yet had the feeling that you knew where it was? Have you ever studied hours for an exam only to forget most of what you have learned? I am sure you have had an experience in which you were frustrated by a spotty memory. Memory is an extremely complicated process. […]
A Bad Joke Won’t Fool The Brain
I think I’m funny. Some people say I’m funny. But when the moment presents itself where its my time to shine, all lights on me, this ‘one’ is going to be a knee slapper…nope, not so much. The first time I realized I wasn’t funny was in the eleventh grade in my calculus class. My […]
Popularity and Your Brain
Whereas the fields of psychology, sociology, and anthropology have extensively studied group dynamics and popularity, neuroscience is barely starting to scratch the surface. Although the role of power in social status has been well-investigated, research into popularity has been minimal. However, recent research by Kevin Ochsner of Columbia University is exploring how likability determines […]
The Numbers are All in Your Head
Numbers. Those arithmetical values that allow us to analyze and measure our surroundings. Without them, our understanding of the world we live in would be far less interesting. But what may be even more interesting is the way we process those numbers and how closely related that process is to spatial reasoning. The connection between […]