Understanding Noonan Syndrome
This past November the mug shot of Charles McDowell went viral after viewers noticed that the man in the photo had an unusual phenotype- specifically a larger than average neck.…
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Popular Articles
It’s Brain Awareness Week!
Every March, Brain Awareness Week (BAW, for short) unifies the world in celebration of the brain and mind! In order to raise awareness about how the brain works, what neuroscientists…
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Our Year in Review
Knowing Neurons had an amazing year, and we are so thankful for all your support throughout our journey! Here are some highlights from 2016!…
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Why Dopamine Makes People More Impulsive
Over the past few decades, the neurochemical dopamine has earned the reputation of being the brain’s reward molecule. This image is built on observations that when animals and humans experience…
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How Do We Know? The Value of Scientific Models.
Last month, astronomers announced the prediction of a new giant planet in our solar system dubbed Planet IX, a genuine ninth planet with ten times the mass of Earth. The…
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Digging Out the “Earworms:” Involuntary Musical Imagery Correlates with Cortical Structure
You don’t know you know this song, but you definitely know this song: “Hey Mickey you’re so fine, you’re so fine you…” Did the end of the lyric materialize in…
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The Fugue of Life: Why Complexity Matters in Physiology and Neuroscience
People like simplicity. Each decade, corporate logos grow progressively minimalistic, pop songs use ever simpler melodies, and visual art embraces simpler compositions, as Monet gives way to Picasso and Picasso…
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Scale Invariance: A Cautionary Tale Against Reductionism
How long is the coast of Britain? It doesn’t matter how good your geography is — the answer depends on the size of your measuring stick. The coast of Britain…
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Inhibitory Neurons: Keeping the Brain’s Traffic in Check
Imagine that you’re driving down a road undeterred, no red lights or stop signs to slow you down. While that may seem like a very exciting idea, it is obviously…
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Hubel and Wiesel & the Neural Basis of Visual Perception
Snap! Crackle! Pop!
Those are the sounds that Professors David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel heard in the early 1950s when they recorded from neurons in the visual cortex of a…
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Heightened Senses: Cross-Modal Neuroplasticity
Envision this scenario. It’s the end of a grueling hike and you’re racing back to civilization along a trail in the mountains as darkness falls. You’ve become separated from your…
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Reverse Inference: Neuroscience’s Greatest Fallacy?
The recent unveiling of the BRAIN Initiative promised a greater understanding of cognition through improved imaging techniques. However, the biggest problem in neuroscience is not the limits of technology, but…
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One Concussion Could Cause Permanent Brain Damage
Every year, 1.5 million Americans sustain traumatic brain injuries (TBI), which occur when sudden traumas damage the brain. TBI commonly occurs when the head suddenly and violently hits an object, as in…
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How does the brain locate sound sources?
The brain has an amazing ability to identify the source of sounds around you. When driving, you can tell where an approaching fire truck is coming from and pull over…
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The amygdala: a full brain integrator in the face of fear
You are sitting at your computer quietly reading this article when – BOOM! – there is a sharp loud noise behind you! You instinctively stop what you are doing, jump…
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Social Grooming: It’s not just for monkeys and prairie voles!
Have you ever noticed how much time cats spend cleaning themselves? I’m sure they believe that “cleanliness is next to Godliness,” but spending 15% of their day grooming seems a…
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Why Prairie Voles Fall in Love: A Chemical Romance
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, the most romantic day of the year. Couples will stroll down the lane, gaze into each other’s eyes, and experience one of the most enigmatic feelings…
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LTP: When Neurons Make a Long-term Commitment
A few months ago, I got a new smart phone that had a bigger screen and a different operating system. For a while, I was annoyed that I made so…
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Brain Battery
“The human generates more bio-electricity than a 120-volt battery and over 25,000 BTVs of body heat. There are fields…endless fields, were human beings are no longer born. We are grown……
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The Reward Pathway Reinforces Behavior
If you think about it, most of our daily lives revolve around food: when our next meal will be, what it will be, and how yummy it will be! Evolutionarily,…
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