Category Archives: Neurological Disorders

April 21

The Genetic Curse of Fatal Insomnia

Not being able to fall asleep when you want to is frustrating. No matter how tired we are, we all have nights when we just can’t fall or stay asleep. The role of sleep in our everyday health is critical, which is no more apparent than the day after one of those sleepless nights when […]

March 03

Why does diabetes make my foot go numb?

Context–what is diabetic neuropathy? Worldwide, about 1 in 10 adults have diabetes, with that number expected to rise in the coming decades [1]. In this disease, the body becomes unable to properly produce or respond to insulin, leading to high blood sugar levels and abnormal energy processing [2]. Thankfully, many medications, lifestyle interventions (e.g. exercise), […]

December 09

Mal de Débarquement: The Science of Land Sickness

Recently I was lucky to spend seven days on a catamaran out at sea with a small group of (COVID-vaccinated) friends. We traveled around the Gulf of California, witnessing truly amazing sights like manta rays jumping out of the water, sea birds diving into the water, and turtles floating along in the swell. This was […]

November 18

COVID-19 on the brain

As the world has struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic over the past nearly two years, scientists and doctors have worked in absolute overdrive to provide patients with safe and effective treatments and preventative vaccines in record time. However, providing treatment options for patients infected with the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus has been a challenge due to […]

October 29

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

What is anxiety? Many of us know how it feels; our heart rate increases, our minds race, our palms get sweaty. Maybe it’s before giving a speech or taking a big exam. Maybe it’s because we have so many work deadlines that we’re convinced our bosses think we don’t sleep. Anxiety is an incredibly common […]

October 08

It’s about time

About a day To you, Earth probably seems like a fairly stagnant entity. Sure, we are currently dealing with rising global temperatures as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, but in your day to day world, those changes probably seem quite small. Over the history of life on Earth, however, so many things that we […]

July 30

What’s happening in the brain with COVID-19?

[En español] What are the neurological symptoms of COVID-19?  At this point, most of us are familiar with the common symptoms of COVID-19: fever, cough, sore throat, muscle ache, diarrhea, and fatigue. We also know that the worst complications can be pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.  Acute respiratory distress syndrome can lead to hypoxia […]

July 23

Postictal Blues

Intro On the morning of January 12th, 2020, I woke up to the sound of my phone vibrating. It was my mom because it was her birthday and I had told her to call me the night before. I had the perfect plan: at approximately 2 a.m. that morning, I snuck into the house (I […]

April 30

Does cannabis help you sleep?

Marijuana is commonly used to help people fall asleep, but does the science back that up?

April 16

Get Your Head Out of the Game

“Dr. Pellman is not a neurosurgeon, he’s not a neuro-anything. He’s a rheumatologist.”  -League of Denial, 2013 When faced with the task of investigating concussions in football, the National Football League (NFL) did not choose a neurologist to head the committee; they did not choose a neurosurgeon: they chose a rheumatologist. The documentary “League of […]