December 12

The best-laid brains of bugs and men

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Five hundred million years ago, Alalcomenaeus and Fuxianhuia scuttled along the ocean floor side-by-side. These creatures, each 1-2 inches in length, were living in a time known as the Cambrian Explosion – the sudden fossilized shift from largely single-celled organisms to animals representing every animal phylum still in existence today. To put this in perspective, […]

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December 04

Controlling the brain with lasers!

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Two male mice are hanging out in a cage, both with strange looking cables coming out of their head, and both minding their own business, when all of a sudden, a researcher flips a switch, sending a green light down the cable and into one of the mice’s brain. The mouse immediately proceeds to attack […]

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November 29

Rx: Gratitude

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Now that Thanksgiving is over, how are you feeling?  Are you still sleepily savoring the leftover turkey and stuffing from last night’s dinner?  Or have too much family time, traffic, and consumerism of Black Friday brought the onset of the holiday blues (Goin, 2002)1? In a recent study on the effects of the Thanksgiving holiday […]

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November 28

Tuckered Out By Turkey’s Tryptophan?

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The carcass lies half eaten in the middle of the room.  Its devourers are scattered about, full stomachs groaning as they sleep off their heavy meal.  A sense of quiet calm settles around their tired forms.  Yes, it has been a successful feast, one that is taking place across a joyful nation.  I’m talking, of […]

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November 27

Why We Buy: An Infographic

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Before waiting in line, tackling the crowds, and opening up your wallet this holiday weekend, mentally prepare yourself for the shopping frenzy of Black Friday by exploring the neuroscience behind why we buy.

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November 26

More Breast, Please

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Golden, browned skin… tender, succulent flesh… an enticing, irresistible aroma—there’s not much else that people require of their Thanksgiving turkeys!  In fact, that beautifully roasted bird on your table is the culmination of a centuries-old undertaking, starting with the first domestication of turkeys by Mesoamerican civilizations in 800 BC.1,2  Since then, generations of selective breeding […]

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November 21

The unsexy side of antidepressants

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Do you suffer from sadness, loss of interest or anxiety? Talk to your doctor about NeuWriteSD.org. Ninety-five percent of depressed individuals report a more positive outlook and greater contentment after reading NeuWriteSD 1. Please, always consult your doctor before reading this or any other blog, as side effects may include decreased libido, impaired sexual function, or […]

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November 20

SfN Highlight: Neurogaming and Neuroethics

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I started my SfN experience by inviting my sister, an artist trained in animation and game art, to a symposium that I thought both of us might enjoy: Neurogaming – What’s Neuroscience and Ethics Got to Do With It? This International Neuroethics Society Public Program combined our career interests in neuroscience and video games by […]

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November 19

Random, Hilarious, Scientific (?) SfN

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I enjoyed a lot of random things at SfN this year.  For example, I enjoyed composer Bruce Adolphe’s preview of a new piece for piano and orchestra, inspired by a discussion between bipolar patient (piano) and therapist (orchestra), which will be performed by the New York Philharmonic in 2015.  I also enjoyed the way Eric Kandel says […]

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November 18

Antidepressants, plasticity, and language development

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As an attendee at the 5th annual Society for Neurobiology (SNL) conference, four years had passed since my first exposure to the meeting–a discussion of the state-of-the-art research being done on the neuroscience of language processing. In those four years, things have happened! This meeting left me marveling at new advances and the number of […]

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