Category Archives: Behavioral Neuroscience

January 17

What are habits?

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Have you ever been driving and been so lost in thought that you aren’t even consciously aware of what you are doing? For a well-practiced skill like driving (and especially for a well-practiced commute) you might even find yourself arriving at your destination with little recollection of all the steps you took to make it […]

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December 27

The Trouble with Drug Development

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Open a new tab, load up a science media site you know. What do you first see across the front page? You will almost certainly find a headline blaring “NEW FINDINGS SHOW AUTISM’S DAYS ARE NUMBERED” or “UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER CURES PARKINSON’S DISEASE”. Open the page up next week, and you will almost certainly see some […]

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October 18

Follow the Flock

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[En español] Have you ever tried a cigarette? I have. I was a teen, and holding a cigarette looked pretty cool, but smoking seemed disgusting, and it left a horrible smell in my hair, clothes and fingers. So I didn’t get hooked. But, seriously, why did I even try it in the first place? It […]

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August 02

Snake Eyes: The Fear That Built Your Brain

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Indiana Jones is a quintessential American hero, his fedora, satchel, and whip instantly recognizable around the world. He lives a double life, a scholarly professor of anthropology in public and a globetrotting treasure hunter in private. He defeats the Nazis and always gets the girl, displaying daring and fearlessness, with one notable exception. He has […]

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July 26

A Neuroscience Perspective on the Lifelong Consequences of Detaining Kids at the Border

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[En español] If you’ve been even partially tuned in to the news over the last few months, you’ve heard about the gut-wrenching separation of children from their parents at the United States border and the detainment centers where these children have been held. You may have seen pictures of young kids in cages, been watching when […]

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May 31

The Rise and Fall and Rise of Genetic Memory

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We are all products of our past, for better or for worse. At first glance, such a statement seems so obvious it hardly bears mentioning; our earlier experiences, both our successes and our failures, shape our current behavior.  But dig just a bit deeper, and it becomes far murkier. What can you call your past? […]

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January 18

I Feel Your Pain – The Social Transmission of Pain in Mice

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We all know that emotions are contagious.  Your trip to the DMV might see you infected with that peculiar emotion – something halfway between apathy and misanthropy – that is endemic to the DMV.  On the other hand, your ray-of-sunshine coworker just may brighten up your day (unless you happen to work at the DMV). […]

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November 02

Fact or Fiction: False Memories from Replicants to Rituals

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Mild spoilers for the film Blade Runner 2049 follow.   In Blade Runner’s world, it is the year 2049, and Earth looks substantially different than in 2017. Our fair city of San Diego is a literal garbage dump, crops are unable to grow outdoors, a single corporation dominates all agriculture and industry. The skies of […]

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July 20

Genomes, Circuits, and the Roundworm: C. Elegans as a Model Organism

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A nematode can do much to help our understanding of human biology.

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June 01

Highs and Lows

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Have you ever heard about the distinction between Type 1 and Type 2 fun?  Don’t worry, this isn’t some scientific attempt to quantify fun and render it anything but.  Type 1 fun is basically anything you do that is actually fun.  Playing with puppies, hanging out with friends, annoying your significant other – that sort […]

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