Skeletons as a hormone-secreting organ In the early 2000s, researchers in Dr. Gerard Karsenty’s group were studying a protein secreted by bones named osteocalcin (OCN) to see if it played a role in bone mineralization (i.e. how our skeleton attracts the minerals needed for its structure). Even though they found that OCN isn’t involved in […]
Tag Archives: learning and memory
February
03
Plants: What are they thinking about?
posted by Joseph Herdy
As fauna, we look at the floral contemporaries in our lives as little more than living scaffolding: unthinking entities more akin to the truly lifeless- like mountains -compared to us as fast paced, conscious creatures. However, if you’ve ever felt like your house plants were feeling a little neglected after the holiday travels, maybe you’re […]
July
22
Shaken memory
posted by Donovan Cronkhite
image source: http://epilepsycongress.blogspot.com/2018/07/epilepsy-and-memory-loss.html Like any college student in his early 20’s, I had a bit of a wild streak with alcohol back in April of this year (2021), getting drunk off my a**. That lasted about half a week. As I have written in a previous article, I suffer from a condition known as posttraumatic […]
June
25
Embracing The Challenge Of Change
posted by Joey Lattarulo
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to be an attack, but instead a learning opportunity largely pulled from my experiences and acknowledgement of my privilege. The Black Lives Matter protests happening all over the world are forcing attention to systemic racism that has too long been overlooked by those with the privilege to do so. […]
December
07
Ancient Aliens Among Us
posted by Jarrett Lovelett
First contact. The prospect of intelligent extraterrestrial life has tantalized us Earthbound humans throughout our history. In relatively recent times, artists such as H.G. Wells, Ursula Le Guin, and Gene Roddenberry have created wide-eyed fantasies full of violent invasions, fraught coexistence, and delicate peace between humanity and the Other. As early as the second […]
June
09
Forget About It
posted by Barbara Spencer
[En español] In the midst of studying for finals, forgetting is the enemy. You can easily remember the lyrics to your favorite 90s hit, but the names of the 12 cranial nerves elude you. We often think about forgetting as something pathological. We become frustrated by that all too familiar tip-of-your-tongue feeling and in extreme […]
April
01
The plastic brain
posted by stephnelli
[En español] We are born with roughly 100 billion neurons, more neurons than we’ll ever have again. It’s still a ton of neurons; they could wrap around the earth 3-4 times. Plus, each of these 100 billion neurons has a couple hundred to thousand connections with other neurons. But as we age, our brains also change. Regions of the brain key for memory […]
July
24
Lucy’s Brain: Use it or lose it
posted by Ethan McBride
With the Lucy movie coming out, we’ve been really curious here at NeuWrite about what marvelous new life skills Scarlett Johansson will accrue, now that she can use more than 10% of her brain. As forward-thinking neuroscientists, we’ve been speculating: what would Lucy be able to do with such incredible and unprecedented brain power? The […]
July
02
The hippocampus: Going the distance beyond space and time
posted by Emilie Reas
Anyone who’s spent a day exploring the streets of New York City will understand the importance of integrating accurate representations of space, time and distance. That hipster dive-bar you’re dying to check out is twelve streets from tonight’s dinner spot, whereas that hot new rooftop bar is just four avenues away. Which do you choose […]
Primate Visual Space: The Entorhinal Frontier
posted by UCSDNeuro
Throughout the course of human history, great metaphorical emphasis has been placed on developing an understanding of our “place in the world.” Although this proverbial construct refers more to a sense of self-efficacy, it underscores the inarguable importance of determining our position as it relates to the environment around us in producing proper behavior. Research into the neural mechanisms […]
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