As neuroscientists, we spend much of our time staring at brain signals trying to decipher what the brain is “telling” us. We draw conclusions about memories, actions and even emotions from patterns of neural activity. In a very metaphorical sense the data “speaks to us”, it answers our questions, begs us to ask more, and […]
January
09
Can we inherit family trauma?
posted by Nicole Mlynaryk
The epigenetics behind “generational trauma” The 23 and Me craze has officially reached my family. Both of my parents were born in Poland, so the results haven’t been too surprising, but as we watched the site track generations of family history from a single spit sample, new questions came up. So when my sisters and […]
January
02
The Blob
posted by Haylie Romero
Beware! The Blob Imagine you are on a trip to Paris. There is so much to see and do, but you decide to go to the local zoo. You are walking around, admiring all the interesting animals. There are beautiful big cats lounging about. There are enormous giraffes feeding on plants. You feast your […]
December
26
Open Borders: Remapping the Brain
posted by James R. Howe VI
While reading articles online, you may occasionally stumble across headlines like “Scientists find fear center of the brain,” or “Could this really be where the mind resides?” You might have also heard a TED talk where the speaker discusses how they discovered a part of the brain that makes decisions. Such expressions can take more […]
December
19
Genomic Imprinting: A Genetic Custody Dispute for Your Brain
posted by Joseph Herdy
During this holiday season, we would do well to reflect on what we’ve inherited from our parents. You might have your mother’s sense of humor but your father’s sense of direction. You and your Ma might share the same tastes in music, but you prefer your Pa’s tastes for ice cream. Although heavily influenced by […]
December
12
A Switch in the Brain for Compulsive Drinking
posted by Joydeep De
Most of us have drunk some form of alcohol in our lives. Many of us drink alcohol often. But we might know of only a few people who are pathologically addicted to alcohol. Are we, individually, differently prone to compulsive alcohol use? A recent paper, published in Science, attempts to answer this question using rodents. […]
December
05
When it gets dark, people get SAD (seasonal affective disorder)
posted by Emily Baltz
Here in San Diego, we get a minimum of 9 hours and 59 minutes of sunlight, even in the dead of winter. Boston and Chicago get closer to 9 hours and Anchorage gets as low as 5.5 hours compared to Miami’s 10.5 hours. Does this dramatic difference in sunlight have any health effects? 1% of […]
November
29
Children on your mind… and in your brain
posted by Catie Profaci
There is something uniquely strong about the bond between mother and child – you might say that a mother always has her children on her mind and in her heart. But did you know that a mother might quite literally have a bit of her children in her brain and heart? (And also her lungs, […]
November
22
The Brain on Gratitude
posted by Carmine Chavez-Martinez
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, now is as good a time as any to stop and think about the concept of “gratitude.” The general consensus seems to be that gratitude is good for you, being consistently correlated with better physical, psychological, and social health. But for all its supposed benefits, there is still plenty […]
November
14
A Brain that Denies Climate Change
posted by Joydeep De
I recall walking with my uncle, on my way back home from school, on the streets of a mofussil cantonment town in Bengal, India. I remember enormous trees on the sides of the street that kissed each other above us. While we walked, he would tell me stories about these banyan trees. He would tell […]
