Author: Anita

Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders 

A “Little Bit” of OCD: When Words Trivialize a Disorder

February 22, 2017June 30, 2017 Anita 3 Comments Awareness, Disorder, Manage, obsessive compulsive disorder, OCD, OCD Action, Outreach, Society, Symptom, Therapy, Treat, Treatment

Sheldon Cooper, a beloved character in a television series, knocks on a door exactly three times before his roommate opens it — and if the door is opened earlier, he… Read more

Interviews 

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Science Careers: An Interview with Dr. Rachel Bernstein

January 11, 2017June 30, 2017 Anita 0 Comments Career, Careers, Interview, Rachel Bernstein, Science

The pursuit of science is challenging. It is where new knowledge is born. In their path towards the unknown, scientists, too, face their fair share of insecurity. When experiments fail,… Read more

Brain Basics 

How to Give Thanks Like a Neuroscientist

November 23, 2016June 30, 2017 Anita 4 Comments Amygdala, Brain, Brain stem, Cortex, Cranial nerves, Emoji, Flight or fight, Food, Fusiform, Gratitude, gravy boat, Hippocampus, melatonin, Nerve, Neuroscience, Neuroscientist, olfactory, PLoS, PLOS Blogs, PLOS Neuro, Prefrontal, Pumpkin pie, Receptor, Sleep, suprachiasmatic nucleus, Thanks, Thanksgiving, Ventral, Ventral Tegmental Area, VTA

You’re on your way to the traditional Thanksgiving family get-together. You drive down a familiar street, locate your familiar house, and park in a familiar spot.… Read more

Interviews Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders 

Mental Health is a Part of Health: A Conversation with Shekhar Saxena

November 8, 2016June 30, 2017 Anita 0 Comments Anxiety, Conversation, depression, Global, Health, Interview, Mental, Neuroscience, Neuroscience 2016, Policy, Psychiatrist, PTSD, Research, Science, SfN, SfN16, Shekhar Saxena, Society for Neuroscience, WHO, World Health Organization

In a recent presidential town hall, President Obama looked directly into the camera and made a powerful statement about mental health. “If something inside you feels like it’s wounded, it’s… Read more

Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders 

What Loneliness Looks Like in the Brain

October 19, 2016June 30, 2017 Anita 3 Comments Brain, Calcium, Dorsal raphe nucleus, DRN, GFP, Green fluorescent protein, Indicator, Loneliness, Neuron, Optogenetics, Reward, Social Rebound, Ventral Tegmental Area, VTA

Consider three scenarios.  A kid joins a new high school and eats lunch by herself.  A recently separated man is alone for the New Year’s Eve countdown.  A prisoner becomes… Read more

Brain Basics Brain Development Did You Know? SfN 2014 

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Neural Stem Cells

November 18, 2014March 5, 2017 Anita 0 Comments Fiona Doetsch, Neural Progenitor Cells, Neural Stem Cells, Neuroepithelial Cells, Neurogenesis, Pluripotency, Potency, Presidential Lecture, Radial Glial Cells, Self-Renewal, SfN14, SfN2014, Society for Neuroscience, Stem Cell Niche, subgranular zone, Totipotency, Ventral-Subventricular zone

Stem cells have two characteristic and essential properties: Self-renewal. They can divide to give rise to another stem cell. Potency. They are capable of differentiating into specialized cells.… Read more

Brain Basics Brain Development Interviews SfN 2014 

Science Fiction, Serendipity and Interneuron Specification: A Conversation with Dr. Gordon J. Fishell

November 3, 2014March 5, 2017 Anita 4 Comments Conversation, Excitation, GABA, glutamate, Gordon Fishell, Graduate School, Inhibition, Interneuron, Interview, NYU, Presidential Lecture, Research, SfN, SfN14

It is easy to assume that if a car has a gas pedal, it needs to have brakes, and similarly, if our brain has excitatory neurons, it needs inhibition too.… Read more

Brain Basics Did You Know? Neuro News SfN 2014 

Getting Technical: Methods in Neuroscience

October 15, 2014March 5, 2017 Anita 4 Comments Biology, Brain, BRAIN Initiative, Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies, Electrophysiology, fMRI, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Genetics, Molecular, Neuroscience, Optogenetics, PET, Positron emission tomography, SfN, SfN14, Single-cell recording, Spatial, Technology, Temporal, TMS, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulaion

It is an exciting time for neuroscience. The BRAIN Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) is in the spotlight as a part of the new Presidential focus and recently… Read more

Brain Basics Neuro News 

Oh, Rats! They’ll Regret This.

July 30, 2014March 5, 2017 Anita 0 Comments 2014, A David Redish, Adam P Steiner, Behavioral Neuroscience, Brain, Decision, Decision-making, Food Preference, Nature Neuroscience, Neuroscience, OFC, Orbitofrontal cortex, Regret, Restaurant Row, Reward, Risk, Ventral striatum

We often find ourselves in decision-making dilemmas along the day. For instance, to reach work on time, would you rather take the shorter, faster route or the longer, scenic route?… Read more

Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders 

Decoding the Brain’s “Low Fuel” Signal

May 14, 2014March 5, 2017 Anita 0 Comments Blood-brain barrier, Capillary pericytes regulate cerebral blood flow in health and disease., Catherine Hall, Cerebral blood flow, David Attwell, Ischemic stroke, Nature, Nature 2014, neurovascular unit, No-reflow phenomenon, pericytes, Vasodilation

The human body is an efficient model to explore the popular theory of supply and demand.  When you physically exert yourself, your bioenergetic “supply” is down, so you feel hungrier… Read more

Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sensation and Perception 

Fatal Attraction: The Cat-and-Mouse Story with a Twist

October 29, 2013March 5, 2017 Anita 0 Comments Behavioral Neuroscience, Cats, Even after Extensive Parasite Clearance, Mice Infected with Low-Virulence Strains of Toxoplasma gondii Lose Their Innate Aversion to Cat Urine, Michael B. Eisen, PloS one, Predator, Prey, Toxoplasma gondii, Wendy Marie Ingram

The beloved classic cartoon “Tom and Jerry” brings amusement and laughter to the young and old alike.  As the house cat Tom attempts to capture the mouse Jerry, we also… Read more

Brain Basics Neuro News Sensation and Perception 

The Newest Cupid on the Block: Epigenetics

June 10, 2013March 5, 2017 Anita 0 Comments 2013, Acetylation, Epigenetics, Histone, Histone Acetylation, Histone deacetylase inhibitor, Histone deacetylase inhibitors facilitate partner preference formation in female prairie voles, Histones, Hui Wang, Love, Mohamed Kabbaj, Monogamy, Nature Neuroscience, Nucleus accumbens, Oxytocin, Pair-bond, Pair-bonding, Prairie Voles, Trichostatin A, Vasopressin

Genes are no different from individuals. Sometimes they behave in a simple, logical way. Other times, they are unpredictable and influenced by their surroundings. The central dogma (DNA to RNA to… Read more