Knowing Neurons

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Big IdeasAgingBrain 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
Neurological and Psychiatric DisordersLearning and MemoryPopular Articles

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.… Read More
AgingCultureNeurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Food for Your Brain: Mediterranean Diet May Help Your Neurons Live Longer

Historians consider it one of the ‘cradles of civilization,’ but for many scientists today the real value of the Mediterranean basin does not lie in its contribution to history. Home… 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
Neuro PrimerBrain Basics

Neuro Primer: Neurodevelopment

Spanish Translation also available here: Neuro Cartilla: Neurodesarrollo ~~~ How does your brain become a brain? Neurodevelopment is the crucial process through which every brain is formed.… Read More
ConsciousnessLearning and MemoryNeurological and Psychiatric Disorders

When You Split the Brain, Do You Split the Person?

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he brain is perhaps the most complex machine in the Universe. It consists of two cerebral hemispheres, each with many different modules. Fortunately, all these separate parts are not autonomous… Read More
Brain DevelopmentLearning and Memory

How Humans Speak and Mice Learn: The Widespread Effects of FOXP2

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]rom bird songs to frog ribbits, animals engage in countless forms of vocalization. However, no other species in the animal kingdom matches humans in complexity of language. The versatility of… Read More
Neuroscience ArtDid You Know?InterviewsSensation 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
AgingDid You Know?Learning and MemoryMovementNeuro News

Bite-size Science: Epigenetics help protect the aging brain

Epigenetics change which genes are active and which are inactive. Research over the past few years has shown that these changes are important for protecting the brain from neurodegeneration and… Read More
Neuroscience TechnologiesBrain BasicsBrain DevelopmentDid You Know?Learning and MemoryNeuro NewsSensation and Perception

How does fundamental research help you?

Sometimes it’s hard to understand why scientists do what they do. Why spend a career studying cells, fungus, or flies? Other than being nerdy and wanting to learn about our… Read More
Learning and MemoryMovementNeuro News

The Departure of Skill Memories from Motor Cortex: Deeper Directions for Neuroscience

You probably have certain skills that I don’t.  Each of us, having spent enough time practicing something new, can become an expert.  A simple, ubiquitous example is driving a car… Read More
Did You Know?InterviewsSfN 2014

From Stevens to Synapses: A Conversation with Kelsey Martin

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/173263228″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /] Take your wildest guess.  How many neurons make up the human brain?  You’re not guessing wild enough if you said anything less than… Read More
Learning and MemoryNeuro NewsPopular ArticlesSensation and Perception

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… Read More
Brain BasicsDid You Know?Learning and Memory

Resolving New Memories: Adult Neurogenesis

When I was young, my family lived in an old farmhouse.  It was cozy and had a lot of character but, at over 150 years old, it showed its age.… Read More
Learning and MemoryNeuro News

Don’t Remember Your Baby Days? Blame New Neurons!

Think back to when you were two years old.  Think HARD.  Anything? If you’re like most people, you’re probably drawing a blank.  Across cultures, adults can’t seem to recall any… Read More
AgingLearning and MemoryNeuro NewsNeurological and Psychiatric Disorders

Magnesium Supplement to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease

The human brain contains roughly eighty-six billion (~10^10) neurons, each of which forms approximately ten thousand (10^4) synaptic connections with other neurons. Therefore, on average, there are one hundred trillion… Read More
Brain DevelopmentDid You Know?Learning and MemorySensation and Perception

What Songbirds Tell Us About Human Nature

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… Read More
Learning and MemoryNeuro NewsNeurological and Psychiatric DisordersSleep

Let There Be Light!

When I was an undergraduate student, I was an expert at pulling “all-nighter” study sessions prior to exams and project deadlines.  Once everything was said and done the next day, many of my classmates… Read More