September 22

Left Brain, Right Brain, Red Brain, Blue Brain

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[En español] With the first presidential debate of 2016 quickly approaching, it’s a good time to consider whether your brain has already cast its vote. There is no shortage of articles that imply your political leanings are reflected in your brain’s structure and function (e.g. Is your brain liberal or conservative?—Fox News, Experts say liberal […]

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September 15

I’m not crying; it’s just been raining on my face

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Humans and turtles have many things in common: we both possess four limbs, two eyes, a shell around our most vulnerable secrets, and tears that are attractive to butterflies and bees [1,2]. Our salt-rich tears, it seems, are much more palatable (and nutritious) to insects than they are to ourselves. Julia butterflies drinking turtle tears […]

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September 08

Car Talk

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For many Americans—and southern Californians in particular—a good chunk of our lives occurs in the confines of a car above a tangle of highways (or side streets). Time spent in traffic is the pits, so it’s no small wonder that drivers might dabble in multi-tasking.  Driving itself involves a coordination of many tasks, both perceptual […]

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September 01

Mentors Like Us: Expanding Diversity Research Program Curricula

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STEM diversity initiatives should shift the focus from solely providing resources to also investigating why the vast majority of minority students stray from academia.

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August 25

To diet or not to diet: what does your brain think?

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“It is easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.” Margaret Mead [En español] In the US, about 50% of 10-year-olds have been on a diet [1]. Seriously. Tips for dieting and recipes for quickly losing weight saturate the media: from the most straightforward of dieting mantras, “eat less, exercise more,” to […]

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August 18

Mind your P’s and T’s: How tainted drugs revolutionized Parkinson’s research

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[En español] In 1982, a man was brought to a hospital in the Bay Area of California in a curious condition.  The man was completely catatonic (immobile), and was frozen into an awkward, statue-like posture.  Doctors initially diagnosed him with catatonic schizophrenia, a sub-type of schizophrenia characterized by rigidity and unresponsiveness. However, this diagnosis did […]

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August 11

Alzheimer’s disease: back to the basics & exploring new frontiers

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When my grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), I wanted to better understand what exactly was happening in his brain as his memory slowly deteriorated. Perhaps this drive came from innate scientific curiosity, or perhaps burying myself in the gritty molecular details was my attempt at escaping from the emotional gravity of the situation.

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August 04

Funding Autism Research

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encompasses many developmental disorders that cover a range of symptoms. While some people with ASD might have mild symptoms, others may stand out due to issues with social communication and language, for instance. Fortunately, scientists recognize that we need to accurately identify and treat individuals with ASD, beginning in early childhood […]

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July 28

To improve your memory, try to get some space.

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Imagine you have a big exam or work presentation at the end of the week. You’ll have to do it all from memory, so you have some studying to do. How should you decide how much to prepare? Do you practice everything once? Twice? More? It’s intuitive (and true) that more repetition results in stronger, […]

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July 21

NeuWrite reads: Brain on Fire

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As author William F. Allman puts it in his book Apprentices of Wonder: “the brain is a monstrous beautiful mess.” Thanks to the brain, we are who we are and we do what we do. Now can you imagine your brain failing you, turning against you and becoming your worst enemy? That is exactly what […]

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