Category Archives: Uncategorized

April 06

AN update: disease in a dish

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While the phrase “stem cells” used to spark bitter controversy, scientists can now take a harmless skin biopsy from a human patient and transform those (skin) cells into a bunch of stem cells capable of becoming many different types of cells in the body, including brain cells.

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March 23

Are computers like brains?

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[En español] A few weeks ago I stumbled upon an article, after a friend of mine (and fellow neuroscientist) posted it on one of the multiple social media outlets we manage these days. I felt immediately curious about its content, with a title that cleverly teases neuroscientists: Could a neuroscientist understand a microprocessor? After reading […]

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March 02

Pain: Can’t live with it, can’t live without it

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Imagine what life would be like with no pain.  No headaches or sore throats.  You would never experience the anguish of a papercut or a stubbed toe or a sprained ankle.  No stomach cramps or muscle soreness.  Childbirth or getting kicked in the balls?  Piece of cake.  Thrown from a moving car?  Don’t feel a […]

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February 24

“Work Alone” Nominated for a Lab Grammy!

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The UCSD Neurosciences Graduate Program’s parody music video has been nominated for a “Lab Grammy”!!! Please vote for us here!!! Once again, a massive thanks to Micah and Alie Caldwell for their incredible editing skills and for making this happen!   Vote, vote, vote! Let’s win this!!!!!

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February 09

What I learned as a ‘brain tourist’ in Japan

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This article was simultaneously posted on Neurographic: https://medium.com/neurographic/what-i-learned-as-a-brain-tourist-in-japan I never would have guessed that studying the brain would take me to such interesting places. When I signed up for graduate school, I assumed that I was resigning myself to staying in the same place and doing more or less the same thing for five to six […]

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February 02

The ABCs of Science: Always Be Communicating

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  A case for rebranding. Scientists have some perception problems.  The first is how the public perceives scientists, by turns as smart, but not very trustworthy or as politically motivated [although this survey reported a more favorable outlook]. The second is how scientists perceive the public, as knowledge-poor citizens who, if presented with enough scientific evidence, will align their […]

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January 12

Dosing Dopamine to Regulate Rest

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Sleep is great.  We all do it (sort of), and the fortunate among us can look forward to getting some sweet slumber every night.  But sometimes, something better comes along.  A new video game, Netflix series, or Tinder date might be so captivating that even late into the night, our body’s need for sleep seems […]

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January 05

Brain Hackathon: Towards becoming the cyborg you always wanted to be.

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  Ever wondered what the future looks like? I’m pretty sure it involves brain machine interfaces (i.e. the kickoff at the 2014 world cup in Brazil). Listen to my audio story about a brain hackathon- where nerdoscientists™ get together to create new brain machine interfaces!   TRANSCRIPTION NARRATION: Imagine a world in which you could play […]

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Desnudo y Sin Miedo

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Original por Megan Kirchgessner Traducción por Javier How El animal más feo del mundo. “Vertebrado del 2013”. Co-estrella de Kim Possible de Disney. Estas son sólo algunas de las distinciones más notables de la rata topo desnuda. Sin embargo, la magnitud de su peculiaridad y extrañeza es, si usted lo cree, enormemente subestimado. Cuanto más aprenden, […]

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December 08

The neuroscience of loneliness

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[En español] In this hyperconnected society that we live in, loneliness is an epidemic. We are going through times of profound social change, and the Internet and all the new technologies that go along with it are huge drivers in this, allowing us to remain connected with others without actually having to connect with them. […]

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