Tag Archives: Brain

March 13

Into the Mind of the Manatee

posted by

The Lazy Life of the Sea Cow Manatees are the gentle giants of the ocean. Reaching 13 feet long and weighing more than a ton, these mammals should give off a dominating presence, but in reality, the opposite is true [1]. Manatees tend to get along well with most aquatic species. They have no natural […]

»»
February 14

Your Love Is My Drug

posted by

“Maybe just need some rehab, or maybe just need some sleep…” Kesha wasn’t wrong in comparing love to a drug. No matter what you define as a drug, intense romantic love has intoxicating effects. Studies have shown that the brain responds to love through mechanisms similar to those of addictive substances1,2. Whether it’s the rush […]

»»
February 13

A Sweet Treat for the Brain

posted by

We all need a little treat sometimes – maybe on a special occasion, maybe after a long day, or maybe just as a pick-me-up in the afternoons. If you’re a chocolate lover like me, this treat might be a lindor truffle or a mocha latte. Many research studies have found that people show improvements in […]

»»
February 06

Déjà Vu: Have We Been Here Before?

posted by

SEEING THE FUTURE Remember that time you were sitting in the lunch hall with your friend and they were telling you a story that you thought you’d heard before? Not only that, but you also felt like the exact experience you were having had already happened. The scene was so familiar –the room you were […]

»»
January 30

The Magic of a Memory Model

posted by

You know that moment when you can’t quite remember a song, but the instant it starts playing, the memory floods back and you can sing along perfectly? This last year the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John Hopfield who came up with an elegant model for how this process could work in the […]

»»
September 19

Solving the Puzzle of Addiction

posted by

According to the United Nations’s World Drug Report of 2024, the number of people who use drugs worldwide had risen to 292 million in 2022, a 20 percent increase over the past 10 years (1). Further more, an estimated 64 million of those people suffer from a substance use disorder (addiction). The study of addiction […]

»»
August 01

Glued to Your Bed

posted by

As we know, sleep is essential for the proper functioning of our brain. Although sleep deprivation has never been found to be fatal in humans, a lack of sleep has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, as well as delirium and hallucinations (1). This is why a lot of research delves into how […]

»»
July 18

Operation PTSD

posted by

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine that started in 2021 has had devastating impacts on the daily lives of those in Ukraine, and this includes a dramatic increase in those suffering from PTSD in this war-torn country. Although 2021 was not the beginning of the tensions between Russia and Ukraine (1), as the war rages on, […]

»»
July 11

The World in 3D: A Glimpse Into Depth Perception

posted by

We see the world around us in three dimensions. These dimensions can be described as different planes in physical space, extending from any central point in not only vertical and horizontal directions, but also in depth. By using our vision to assess how near or far something is from us, and interpreting objects in three-dimensional […]

»»
June 20

When Illusions Help

posted by

What can pushing the limits of reality do for you? There has been a lot of interest recently in using the mind-altering properties of a class of drugs known as psychedelics in the treatment of many psychiatric and neurological disorders. Currently, psychedelics are being explored as a novel treatment for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, […]

»»