Category Archives: Neuroscience

March 18

Join Dennis Eckmeier on an expedition from neuroscience to science communication

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Today I invite you to join me on an expedition with Dr. Dennis Eckmeier through the academic jungle to the realms of science communication. You will learn about the courtship calls of Chinese fire-bellied toads, a blowfly flight simulator, the vision of zebra finches (yes, finches, not fish!), and how the memory of smell might […]

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March 11

The Future of the Neuroscience of Dreaming

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What is the purpose of dreaming? What do the contents of your dreams mean? What is your brain doing during dreams to produce the sometimes surreal experiences that leave you confused upon waking? Why do we remember some parts of our dreams, but struggle to recall the events in others? The unsatisfying answer to these […]

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March 04

The Bilingual Brain

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Humans have the ability to learn multiple languages. Studying bilingual brains offers scientists an opportunity to analyze physical changes in the brain and alterations in how the brain works as a result of some behavior, known as structural and functional plasticity. I recently wrote an article where I discuss plasticity, the ability of our brain […]

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January 21

Ketamine and Psychedelics: Next-Wave Antidepressants

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Ketamine and psychedelics are making headlines as new alternative antidepressant therapeutics. For years scientists have been studying the benefits of these drugs on the brain and exciting new research has led to the idea that our understanding of what underlies depression could be wrong and these next-wave antidepressants could be another remedy of one of […]

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January 14

Do pets understand our language?

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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 […]

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January 07

Un-Consciousness

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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 […]

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December 31

Life After Death(?): From Strokes to Sci-Fi

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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 […]

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December 17

The Big Sleep: How We Hibernate

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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 […]

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December 10

BRAIN ORGANOIDS AND ITS ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS

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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 […]

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November 05

Why do we get hangry?

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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. […]

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