Knowing Neurons

Sensation and Perception

Brain BasicsSensation and Perception

How the Olfactory System Makes You Run Toward Pumpkin Spice Lattes, and Away From Rotting Flesh

By Ayushe Sharma and Brandon Mitchell As you walk down the street towards your favorite coffee shop, you experience countless odors. Trash. Stale fries. Wet dogs. Floral perfumes. Overbearing colognes.… Read More
Neurological and Psychiatric DisordersSensation and Perception

Cognition in Schizophrenia: The Missing Piece of the Therapeutic Puzzle

What kind of mental image springs to mind upon reading the word ‘schizophrenia’? Many envisage individuals locked in dark institutions, plagued by non-existent voices and vivid hallucinations. Fortunately, modern antipsychotic… Read More
Big IdeasCulturePhilosophySensation and Perception

Understanding Visual Illusions Can Make Us More Empathetic

Philosophers and neuroscientists agree that if there is an objective reality, human beings can’t perceive it: philosophers refer to objective reality as a perception independent of any conscious awareness. Neuroscientists… Read More
Brain BasicsConsciousnessNeurological and Psychiatric DisordersSensation and PerceptionSleep

Sleep Paralysis: What Is It and What Causes It?

Sleep paralysis is a type of REM parasomnia or abnormal behavior that takes place during the REM sleep cycle. Also known as sleep atonia, this condition refers to the feeling… Read More
Big IdeasBrain BooksConsciousnessEvolution of CognitionSensation and Perception

Book Review and Author Interview: The Case Against Reality by Donald Hoffman

A full interview with Donald Hoffman follows this book review Does the moon still exist when you’re not looking at it? In a provocative new book titled The Case Against… Read More
InfographicsMovementNeurological and Psychiatric DisordersSensation and Perception

Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease [Infographic]

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a peripheral neuropathy disorder that affects various genders and ethnic groups worldwide. Nerve cell abnormalities are associated with this disorder and are linked to symptoms such as… Read More
AgingBig IdeasBrain DevelopmentSensation and Perception

How Pain in Newborns Can Have Lifelong Consequences

You probably don’t remember anything from when you were an infant. However, chances are that you experienced some pain immediately after you were born. You might have needed an IV… Read More
Brain BasicsMovementNeuro PrimerSensation and PerceptionSpace Neuroscience

Neuro Primer: Vestibular System

Spanish Translation also available here: Neuro Cartilla: Sistema Vestibular ~~~ Have you ever watched shaky camera footage taken by someone running frantically through the forest? The camera shot shakes and… Read More
Big IdeasCultureNeurological and Psychiatric DisordersSensation and Perception

Are Foods Addictive or Just Delicious?

We are surrounded by an abundance of delicious food. Throughout the developed world, cooking shows saturate our televisions and streaming video feeds advertise greasy burgers and decadent chocolates. Our addiction… Read More
AgingBig IdeasBrain DevelopmentLearning and MemorySensation and Perception

Music for the Mind: How Music Nurtures Cognitive Development

Imagine listening to your favorite song, how it makes you feel, and the flood of memories the sounds bring with them. Music is well known for its ability to evoke… Read More
Artificial IntelligenceLearning and MemorySensation and Perception

How our Visual Neurons relate to Deep Neural Networks

Our brain has been evolving for millions of years, ever-changing and adjusting to handle novel stimuli and conditions, looking like a bag of slimy, gooey matter folded in various ways… Read More
Learning and MemoryNeuroscience TechnologiesSensation and PerceptionSleep

How Binaural Beats Affect Your Brain – and How They Don’t

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he beat is low and steady – but it’s all just in my head… While I’m sitting on my couch, listening to some smooth jazz, there is a faint beat… Read More
Brain BooksSensation and Perception

Book Review: Your Brain is a Time Machine: The Neuroscience and Physics of Time

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n a recent family trip, I persuaded my dad to continue on from Grand Teton to Yellowstone National Park. Time was short before driving back to our lodging in Idaho.… Read More
Brain BasicsBrain DevelopmentNeurological and Psychiatric DisordersSensation and Perception

Schizophrenia in a Vial? The Story of Ketamine

Note: Ketamine is a controlled substance in the US and many other countries. Do not use ketamine illicitly. [dropcap]I[/dropcap]magine an injection that briefly gives you schizophrenia. Now imagine that this… Read More
Big IdeasScience PolicySensation and Perception

Risky Business, or Is It?

[dropcap]B[/dropcap]iologist Marston Bates once described research as “the process of going up alleys to see if they are blind.” Bates was referring to the inherent uncertainty in predicting and managing… Read More
Neuroscience TechnologiesSensation and Perception

Neuromorphic Engineering: Biomimicry from the Brain

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hat is the brain? Researchers conceive of neurons as information processing units, meaning that the circuits formed by neurons support logical and mathematical operations. In this view, the brain is… Read More
Big IdeasNeuroscience ArtNeuroscience TechnologiesSensation and Perception

How Neuroimaging Changes Our View of Science & Humanity

Magritte’s comments on our fascination with the unknown rings true not just in artistic surrealism, but also in many of our scientific research endeavors. The human mind is continually fascinated… Read More
Did You Know?InterviewsNeuroscience ArtSensation and Perception

Self Reflected: The Best of Neuroscience and Art

The phrase, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” seems especially true for scientists. What we study becomes not only intellectually beautiful, but also literally beautiful: the form is… Read More