July 02

Turning the Brain ‘Inside Out’

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[En español] Who would’ve thought that a film that takes place inside the mind of an 11-year-old girl named Riley and uses her personified emotions as the main protagonists would break the box office record for original movies and be such a worldwide sensation? From the moment I first heard about Inside Out, my own […]

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June 25

Aging: Telomeres and Meatballs

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What causes the slowly encroaching physical signs that we are past our prime? Scientists often gain understanding about a particular physiological process by studying cases in which that process goes awry. Can the aging process go haywire?

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June 18

Stop The Presses: Retraction by the Numbers

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It’s been a rough few weeks for the journal Science…and science as a whole. The retraction of a well-covered study on the effect of conversations with LGBT canvassers on votes for same-sex marriages has attracted a lot of attention from social media and has led the New York Times to publish a list of recent […]

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June 11

Technicalities of the Tingles: The science of sounds that feel good. #ASMR

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“I wanted someone speaking in lightly accented English. And I wanted them talking to me about jewelry, slowly and deliberately.” — Andrea Seigel, This American Life #491: Tribes (aired March 29, 2013) Now that NeuWriteSD’s gender month is over, I thought I’d ease our readers back into the usual routine with a scientifically-stimulating but slightly […]

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June 04

Hormones: What Boys and Girls are Made of?

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Once upon a time, a little boy named Bruce was born. The boy had the promise of a happy, normal life, until one day during a botched medical procedure his penis was destroyed beyond repair. His parents searched desperately for help, worried about little Bruce’s future. Their search led them to a psychologist who assured […]

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May 28

Ben Barres: On Science and Sexism

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Every May, the UCSD Neurosciences Graduate Program gathers students and faculty at a conference center on beautiful Lake Arrowhead for a weekend retreat of science and socialization. This spring, our keynote research speaker was Dr. Ben Barres of Stanford University. After a successful first day, a roomful of neuroscientists eagerly awaited Dr. Ben Barres’ keynote […]

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May 21

Your Brain on Sex

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What happens in the brain during sex? Are gender stereotypes a cultural construct? Or are there true neurological differences in how men and women experience sex—desire, arousal, orgasm?

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May 14

Beyond Black and White: Gender Identity and the Brain

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May is Gender Month here at NeuWriteSD! This is the second of four pieces exploring neuroscience and gender; you can read Melissa T.’s excellent post on subtle sexism here. It’s amazing how much of our culture is historically focused on binaries: issues are black or white, characters are heroes or villains, actions are right or […]

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May 07

Subtle sexism: Stereotypes and how they shape us

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Gender stereotypes are pervasive. Though Disney has recently come out with some kick-ass princesses (my personal favorites are the icy Elsa and fiery Anna, who don’t need a prince to save them in Frozen), enter any major toy store and you can still find row upon row of pink paraphernalia and sparkly tiaras. Trying to […]

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April 30

Birds, Brains, and Boats: The Harvey Karten Story

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“So, what can I do for you?” To be honest, it wasn’t how I expected to find Dr. Harvey J. Karten, neuroscience Professor Emeritus and recent inductee to the National Academy of the Sciences. But when I open the door his office on a bright San Diego afternoon, he is sitting in front of three monitors, hard […]

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