The brain has an amazing ability to form internal maps of the world around it. Knowing Neurons has previously written several articles about place cells in the hippocampus and how…
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Turns out that tub of black licorice you got from Costco, and managed to eat in only a few days (don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody!), might have actually done…
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The innumerable ways in which our parents contribute to our physical and mental identities are as complex as they are fascinating. From the genetic information they share with us to…
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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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Identifying safe or dangerous situations are essential for survival. A child may be fearful of crossing a road alone, but he will be completely relaxed while crossing the same road…
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The World Health Organization estimates that as many as 500,000 people will experience spinal cord injuries (SCI) every year. Researchers at the Center for Neuroprosthetics and Brain Mind Institute in…
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How many advertisements do you see each day? If you could count them all (billboards, television commercials, sidebar advertisements on your Facebook feed), it would add up to almost 5,000! …
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Have you ever tried to go to sleep hungry? Believe me, it doesn’t work. You just end up lying in bed, listening to your stomach growl, and dreaming about your…
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This is BIG week for neuroscience!
Each year more than 30,000 neuroscientists from more than 80 countries come together in the largest scientific meeting in the world! At the Society…
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Close your eyes and try to imagine medical treatment in the future. I envision sophisticated robots wielding lasers that precisely eliminate deadly tumors. I predict that insight from genome wide…
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Perhaps the biggest goal in neuroscience is to understand how individual neurons interact with each other in both space and time. The more detailed our understanding of complex neural networks…
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I’m going to ask you a question, and you have to be honest. Promise? OK. Here’s the question: how much time do you spend on Facebook each day? Take a…
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“Ouch!” Thanks to our always-alert sensory neurons that provide a spatial sense of self (proprioception) and pain (nociception), we receive an early warning to any noxious stimuli (think needle prick…
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For many, pain is an indescribably awful feeling that causes suffering and emotional distress. It is a sensation that is so unpleasant – so unbearable – that most people will…
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Everyone is familiar with the concept of “warming up” before doing some kind of practiced task. For example, a guitar player may play a few scales before a concert, or…
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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…
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The human brain continues to develop and form new connections from birth until as late as the mid-20s. During this time, billions of connections are made and broken as the…
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For Indiana Jones, there was no villain as menacing and no foe as treacherous as the writhing snakes in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Audiences saw their archaeologist champion paralyzed…
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We are all guilty of cursing at those pesky fruit flies that annoy us as they zip around the room just out of reach of being swatted. Rarely, it seems,…
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Neurodegenerative disorders, like Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease, are devastating. As you can imagine, witnessing the slow and progressive loss of a loved one’s mental and emotional states is an extremely…
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“You are here.” It’s the phrase that you’ll find on almost any map, punctuated with the ubiquitous oversized arrow. It is the salient mark in a sea of confusing lines,…
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The sense of hearing is a critical part of how we experience life and the world around us. It is so important, in fact, that the ears are fully formed…
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There are a handful of things that make me really uneasy. The mere thought of getting onto a roller coaster, especially the kind that slowly ascends hundreds of feet before…
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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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What if you change your mind with the flip of a light switch? Over the past decade, optogenetics has become an important component of neuroscience research. By introducing genes that…
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While I was growing up, I remember my parents and teachers saying, “Your brain is like a sponge.” Of course, I didn’t understand what they meant, but as cliché as…
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Every once in a while, we hear of amazing scientific feats about how some new drug successfully reduces weight without dieting or exercise in monkeys, or how scientists slowed aging…
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