Humans are unique in our use of sophisticated spoken language to communicate. While other animals use communicative calls and sounds, human language features complex grammar and structure that allows us to convey a nearly infinite number of ideas. Homo sapiens, the species name for modern humans, appears to have been far superior to other hominid […]
Category Archives: Neuroscience
January
07
Un-Consciousness
posted by Donovan Cronkhite
When you hear the word “consciousness”, what did you think it is? All of what you experience and what you believe it is? Let me demonstrate something to you before you make up your mind. Imagine a day at work, where you: Had someone tap you repeatedly to get your attention, but only felt it […]
December
31
Life After Death(?): From Strokes to Sci-Fi
posted by James R. Howe VI
Death is not a singular event, as implied when we refer to the “time of death” or “moment of death”. It is a relatively long, drawn out, active process: these terms merely simplify and provide a hard boundary. Not everything in the brain (or the rest of the body) dies at the same time, at […]
December
17
The Big Sleep: How We Hibernate
posted by James R. Howe VI
As December deepens, we rapidly find ourselves coming up on the first day of winter. Though winter officially begins on the 21st, many animals began their preparations for the season far earlier this year. Any birdwatcher could easily tell you that most birds migrated south a long while ago, and any hiker could tell you […]
December
10
BRAIN ORGANOIDS AND ITS ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS
posted by Jorge Urresti
We have already talked previously in this blog about stem cells, their applications in research and therapies, and how the field is advancing to produce organoids that resemble their ‘original’ counterparts more and more with every new discovery. However, we have not discussed the ethical implications that come with experimenting with human tissue. This is […]
November
05
Why do we get hangry?
posted by Susan Lubejko
I’ll admit it – I get very hangry. “Hangry” (a colloquial combo of “hunger” and “angry”) describes the grumpiness and irritability I experience when I’ve gone a bit too long between meals. Hunger itself is an important physiological feeling that signals when our body is low on energy that needs to be replenished by eating. […]
October
08
It’s about time
posted by Haylie Romero
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 […]
October
01
Stem cells and their applications in Neurobiology
posted by Jorge Urresti
You have probably heard about neurons and blood cells, but have you ever wondered where they come from? Their ‘mother’ cells are called stem cells, and not only are the ‘parents’ of all the other cells in our bodies, but they are also a very important tool for all kinds of research! What are stem […]
September
24
Something to sneeze at: Hunger-induced sneezing?
posted by Susan Lubejko
If you’re anything like me and crave the look of a pantry or office supplies organized by color in clear bins, you’ve probably, also like me, already binged Netflix’s Get Organized with the Home Edit, in which organizational gurus Clea and Joanna of The Home Edit Instagram fame edit and contain disorganized kitchens, closets, offices, […]
September
17
Your brain is plastic!
posted by minicontreras
Your brain is plastic! It has the remarkable ability to modify its connections and to be rewired as a result of your experiences and the neural activity generated by them. This ability is known as plasticity. Neurons in the central nervous system communicate across synapses, the small gaps between two adjacent neurons that allow the […]
