Sensation and Perception – Knowing Neurons

Focused Ultrasound: A Stimulating New Strategy To Treat Severe Brain Damage

October 27, 2020October 30, 2020 Joshua Cain 0 Comments brain imaging, Consciousness, Deep Brain Stimulation, Thalamus, transcranial electrical stimulation

A year into my doctoral training at UCLA, I escape the noisy hustle and bustle of Ronald Reagan Hospital at midday, into a clean and quiet room in the Intensive… Read more

Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sensation and Perception

Cognition in Schizophrenia: The Missing Piece of the Therapeutic Puzzle

April 22, 2020April 17, 2020 Jessica Brown 0 Comments Antipsychotic drugs, Cognition, Cognitive Remediation Therapy, Hallucination, Memantine, Neurological Disorder, NMDA, NMDA receptor, Quality of life, Relapse, Schizophrenia, Therapeutic Approaches

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

Feature image depicting a brain in the center of a circle with a visual illusion background. On the left is a hand, palm up, holding a heart. On the right, another hand is tentatively reaching out to grab it. Designed by Alexa Erdogan.

Big Ideas Culture Philosophy Sensation and Perception

Understanding Visual Illusions Can Make Us More Empathetic

April 8, 2020April 8, 2020 McKenna Becker 1 Comment Bias, Blind spot, Cognition, Empathy, Illusion, Neuroplasticity, Optic nerve, Perception, philosophy, Photoreceptor, Politics, R.L. Gregory, Reality, Retina, Stroop Test, Top-Down Processing, V.S. Ramachandran, Visual Illusions

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

Comic of a person in bed surrounded by worried faces, witches, out-of-body experiences, and ghosts. Illustrated by Rajamani Selvam.

Brain Basics Consciousness Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sensation and Perception Sleep

Sleep Paralysis: What Is It and What Causes It?

December 30, 2019September 1, 2020 Mira Rakicevic 2 Comments Anxiety, Cataplexy, circadian rhythm, EEG, Electromyogram, Genetics, Hallucination, hypnagogic hallucination, Hypnopompic, Insomnia, Narcolepsy, NREM sleep, parasomnia, PER2, Polysomnography, REM sleep, Sleep, Sleep Apnea, Sleep Atonia, Sleep paralysis, stress, Vestibular-motor Hallucination

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

Brain Books by Knowing Neurons. The Case Against Reality by Donald Hoffman. Illustrated by McCall Sarrett & Jooyeun Lee.

Big Ideas Brain Books Consciousness Evolution of Cognition Sensation and Perception

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

December 6, 2019December 7, 2019 Joel Frohlich 1 Comment Brain Books, Cognition, Color, Consciousness, Evolution, Evolutionary Game Theory, Hallucination, hard problem of consciousness, Illusion, Interface Theory of Perception, mathematics, Motion, Necker Cube, Occam's Razor, Orientation, Perception, Physicalism, Psychology, Quantum mechanics

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

Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (CMT) Feature Image

Infographics Movement Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sensation and Perception

Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease [Infographic]

November 13, 2019November 13, 2019 Rajamani Selvam 0 Comments Autosomal dominant, Autosomal Recessive, Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, Electromyogram, Genetic Mutation, Genetic Testing, Muscle Atrophy, mutation, myelin, Nerve Conduction Study, peripheral neuropathy, Sensory Loss, X-linked Dominant

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

Feature image depicting a fetus in the womb of a pregnant woman experiencing pain shortly after birth and having that pain show up later on in adulthood. Illustrated by McCall Sarrett.

Aging Big Ideas Brain Development Sensation and Perception

How Pain in Newborns Can Have Lifelong Consequences

September 18, 2019September 17, 2019 Denis Duagi 0 Comments Analgesics, Brain development, Chronic Pain, EEG, Excitatory Neurons, fMRI, GABA, Glycine, Inhibitory Neurons, Neonatal Pain, Pain, Sensation, Somatosensory, Tactile fibers, Touch

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

Feature image of a labryinth next to an ear (as a play on the inner labryinth of the ear). Illustrated by McCall Sarrett.

Brain Basics Movement Neuro Primer Sensation and Perception Space Neuroscience

Neuro Primer: Vestibular System

June 26, 2019June 26, 2019 Alexa Erdogan 1 Comment balance, BPPV, Cupula, Endolymph, Gravity, Microgravity, Movement, Orientation, Otolithic Organs, Otoliths, Saccule, Semicircular Canals, Sensation, Space neuroscience, Utricle, Vertigo, Vestibular Ocular Reflex, Vestibular system, VOR

Have you ever watched shaky camera footage taken by someone running frantically through the forest? The camera shot shakes and bounces, making it difficult to get a clear view of… Read more

Image of synaptic cleft in the background with a large cupcake on the right, topped with sprinkles in the shape of pills. Illustrated by McCall Sarrett.

Big Ideas Culture Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Sensation and Perception

Are Foods Addictive or Just Delicious?

April 4, 2019April 7, 2019 Shaun Khoo 0 Comments Addiction, Basolateral Amygdala, Classical Conditioning, Cocaine, Dopamine, glutamate, Neurotransmitters, Nucleus Accumbens Core, obesity, Operant Conditioning, Pavlov, Psychology, Relapse, Sugar, Tolerance, Withdrawal

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

Aging Big Ideas Brain Development Learning and Memory Sensation and Perception

Music for the Mind: How Music Nurtures Cognitive Development

February 28, 2019February 27, 2019 Alexandria Weaver 2 Comments auditory, Cognition, cognitive development, Emotion, Emotional Awareness, Learning, Listening, Memory, mood, Music, Musical Therapy, Performance, Therapy, Visuospatial abilities

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

A neuron halfway between winter and summer season backgrounds. Illustrated by McCall Sarrett.

Big Ideas Culture Learning and Memory Sensation and Perception

Is Winter Good for Your Neurons?

January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 MarcoTravaglio 0 Comments Attention, Climate, Cognitive, Decision-making, glucose, Memory, Metabolism, seasonal affective disorder, Temperature, Winter

It is that time of the year again. Whilst the Southern Hemisphere is coping with the sweltering heat of the summer, cold is sweeping across the rest of the globe,… Read more

Illustration of deep neural networks by Michal Roessler.

Artificial Intelligence Learning and Memory Sensation and Perception

How our Visual Neurons relate to Deep Neural Networks

November 7, 2018November 7, 2018 Ioannis Kalfas 0 Comments AI, convolutional neural network, deep learning, Deep neural network, Electrophysiology, inferotemporal cortex, Learning, Machine Learning, neural network, Perception, regression, visual system

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

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