September 27

Close Encounters of the Robotic Kind: A Glimpse of Autonomy

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Earlier this summer, people around the world were gripped by the story of the young boys from a Thai soccer team who had been trapped inside of a cave after a flood. We watched with fascination – and a healthy dose of apprehension – as plans were formulated to rescue the boys, whose situation was […]

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September 20

Glioblastoma: John McCain’s final battle

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On August 25th, I received a news notification on my phone that Arizona Senator John McCain had passed away, just one day after halting treatment for glioblastoma and little more than one year after diagnosis. I was taken aback. I’d known this was coming, but not that it would happen so quickly. Moreover, the sorrow […]

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September 13

Your Virtual Self: Psychology in the Age of Virtual Reality

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“Look!” My nephew kept eating from a box of infinite donuts in his new cubicle office. He had just been promoted by a floating computer monitor, his boss. A concerned look slowly printed onto his boss’ flat face as it saw him continuously push donuts down his gullet. The game was “Job Simulator”, and while […]

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September 06

Spinal Cord Injury and how to treat it

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More than a quarter of a million Americans live with a spinal cord injury (SCI) [1], which occurs when a physical injury damages or severs spinal cord tissue. This injury can break neural connections from the brain to the limbs that are used to initiate voluntary movement, which in extreme cases results in full or […]

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August 30

Defining Cognitive Adulthood: When Neuroscience Influences Law

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In 2006, a grand jury convicted Evan Miller in a homicide case, sentencing him to mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility for parole. At the time of his crime, Evan was 14-years-old. Years later, after a series of appeals, Evan’s case–Miller vs. Alabama–made it to the Supreme Court, which ruled that a sentence of life […]

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August 23

The Neuroscience of Laughter

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Think back to the last time you had a real, hearty laugh: mouth in a wide smile, eyes crinkled and tearing, breath leaving your body in short bursts if you could get any breath out at all. For humans, there are few more pleasurable experiences or greater expressions of joy as laughter. We use laughter […]

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August 16

The Plastic Brain: Neurotransmitter Switching

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What comes to mind when you think of the word “plastic”? For me, this word conjures images of water bottles and tupperware. So in my high school psychology class, when we were told that our brains are “plastic”, I was pretty confused. However, we soon learned that the word “plastic” can be used to describe […]

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August 09

The Power of Neuroscience Compels You!

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[En español] Last February the Vatican announced that it was offering an exorcism training course* for priests. At first I thought it was a great way to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the release of the wonderful horror classic The Exorcist, but as it turned out, this initiative was in response to an alarming rise in […]

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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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