Innate Interpretations: Poetry and the Brain
Written by James Cole “It is a test [that] genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.” T.S. Eliot A couple years ago I found myself in perhaps one of… Leer más
Brain Basics
This Is Your Brain on Twitter: The Neuroscience of Social Media
Written by Carolyn Amir How has the internet changed your life? How has social media? For many, social media represents a way to stay in touch with old friends, organize… Leer más
La sabiduría del perezoso ¿Es el sueño una virtud perdida?
Artículo original: The Wisdom of the Sloth: Is Sleep a Lost Virtue? Joel Frohlich Traducido por Keya Vijapure En el siglo VI, el Papa Gregorio I recopiló una infame lista… Leer más
El legado epigenético del trauma
Artículo original: The Epigenetic Legacy of Trauma Eric Harvey Traducido por Reyna Ediss La tarde del 9 de noviembre de 1938 comenzó con la solemnidad típica del otoño para muchos… Leer más
La excitación y la inhibición: El yin y el yang del cerebro
Artículo original: Excitation and Inhibition: The Yin and Yang of the Brain Joel Frohlich Traducido por Mariangelina Martínez Para crear un sistema nervioso funcional solo se ocupan dos fuerzas: la… Leer más
Los microbios que nos hacen humanos
Artículo original: The Microbes that Make Us Human Shuhan He Traducido por Dalí Jiménez Cualquiera que se haya manchado de brillantina sabe que inevitablemente la seguirá encontrando muchos días después… Leer más
Cómo dar gracias como un neurocientífico
Artículo original: How to Give Thanks Like a Neuroscientist Anita Traducido por Mariangelina Martínez Estamos rumbo a una reunión familiar tradicional de acción de gracias. Vamos conduciendo por una calle… Leer más
La basura huele a verde y los disparos son un arcoíris
Artículo original: Garbage Smells Green and Gunshots Are Rainbows Joel Frohlich Traducido por Keya Vijapure Las mentes de las personas son como universos paralelos, siempre inaccesibles entre sí. Nunca somos… Leer más
Iluminando el cerebro con la optogenética
Artículo original: Lighting up the Brain With Optogenetics Brainfacts.org Traducido por Dalí Jiménez Los científicos que estudian el moco de estanque descubrieron su capacidad peculiar de sentir la luz, incluso… Leer más
La pesadilla ineludible del insomnio familiar fatal
Artículo original: The Inescapable Nightmare of Fatal Familial Insomnia Sean Noah Traducido por Estefany Ochoa Una maldición familiar A principios de la década de 1980, un médico italiano estaba investigando… Leer más
Tic, tac: el reloj interno del cerebro
Artículo original: Tick, Tock: Your Brain’s Inner Clock Jenn Tribble Traducido por Elmer Sandoval El tiempo: como palabra, dos sílabas y seis letras, pero como concepto, uno de los engendros… Leer más
¿Por qué nos hace sentir tanto la música?
Artículo original: Why Does Music Make Us Feel So Much? Amy Thomas Traducido por Dalí Jiménez Ya sea que la estemos escuchando a través los pequeños audífonos del iPhone en… Leer más
Cerebral Organoids Reveal New Angles for Understanding the Human Brain
When you think of researchers growing “mini-brains,” you might picture a mad scientist out of a sci-fi or horror movie. But the reality looks quite different. Cerebral organoids, often colloquially… Leer más
La depresión: El papel de la inflamación crónica
Depression is a common mental disorder affecting around 4% of the world’s population. Evidence suggests that chronic inflammation plays an important role in the development of depression. Indeed, around one… Leer más
Cosquilleo en el estómago: La conexión con el cerebro
Picture this: You are encountering some dilemma. You call your friend, and they advise you to go with your “gut feelings”. These are perceived to be some sort of miraculous… Leer más
The Blood Brain Barrier – Is it Really All it’s Described to Be?
Spanish Translation also available here: La Barrera Hematoencefálica – ¿Realmente funciona como su nombre indica? ~~~ One of the mantras in neuroscience is that the blood brain barrier (BBB) protects… Leer más
Invisible Modulators of Fear: How the Gut Microbiome Alters Fear Extinction
Learning to avoid a threat as well as knowing when something is no longer dangerous is crucial for an organism’s survival. Being able to shake off fearful memories after a… Leer más
Sex Differences in the Neural Control of Thermogenesis: An Interview with Dr. Stephanie Correa
Understanding the complexity of the human mind and body is a feat that some would say is impossible. While the scientific community forges on despite the immense expanse of the… Leer más
The Nocebo Effect
Most of us have heard of the placebo effect – the phenomenon in which patients experience improvements in health simply due to their belief in the efficacy of a medical… Leer más
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… Leer más
Brain, Healthy Fats, and the Importance of Fitting Into Your Genes
Our brains are extremely rich in fat. Indeed, about two thirds of the human brain is composed of fat, 35% of which consists of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids. What are… Leer más
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… Leer más
What Is Consciousness? [Podcast Collaboration]
What exactly do we consider “consciousness”? How much do we know about it already and how much more do we have to learn? Joel Frohlich of Knowing Neurons recently spoke… Leer más
Neuro Primer: Sleep
Spanish Translation also available here: Neuro Cartilla: El Sueño ~~~ It’s easy to ask: “Why sleep?” But we can also turn the question on its head: “Why wake?” We need… Leer más
Neuronal Migration: A “Sliding Door” for the Future of the Brain
Have you ever wondered how each cell of our body reaches its correct place? It is even more astounding when you realize that our body is formed from only two… Leer más
Neuro Primer: Hormones and Body Weight
People all over the globe have the perception that being overweight or obese is caused by eating too much junk food, drinking sugary drinks, or not exercising enough. People with… Leer más
Neuro Primer: Glia
Every single day, a group of cells work tirelessly to monitor and protect the neural architecture of your brain. Some of them even move around, scanning neural networks like recon… Leer más
Neuro Primer: Aging
What happens to the brain in aging? Normal aging comes with many changes in brain structure and function. As individuals approach the age of 65 years and above, they experience… Leer más
¿Las personas con dislexia leen y escriben al revés?
Dyslexia is an unexpected difficulty in learning to read despite normal intelligence and vision and access to good instruction. Today, scientists generally agree that people with dyslexia struggle to read… Leer más
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.… Leer más
Neuro Primer: Cerebral Organoids
t may sound like something Dr. Frankenstein himself would be envious of, but scientists can now create miniature “brain” organoids in a dish.… Leer más
The Wisdom of the Sloth: Is Sleep a Lost Virtue?
In the sixth century, Pope Gregory I compiled an infamous list of seven deadly sins. Of these seven, sloth is the only sin named for an animal in English. But… Leer más
Neuro Primer: Attention
magine suffering through a 2pm class on a sweltering day in early June. Summer’s almost arrived, and it’s hard not to let your mind wander away from the dull information… Leer más
Tick, Tock: Your Brain’s Inner Clock
ime: one syllable, four letters, but one of the nebulous constructs of our world. Many bright scholars and philosophers have attempted to understand time as a primary sense, including Albert… Leer más
No, You’re Not Left-Brained or Right-Brained
At the fictional Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry in the Harry Potter series, students are sorted into different school houses by a magic hat based on their personalities. Similarly,… Leer más
The Life and Times of the 10% Neuromyth
How much of your brain are you using right now? The science fiction answer would be “10%.” And, if you’ve watched enough bad sci-fi, using 100% of your brain would… Leer más
Neuronal Communication: Electricity and Neurotransmitters
ith approximately 86 billion neurons in the human brain, it is a complex piece of machinery in charge of movement, sensation, decision-making, and more. Behaviors cannot arise from the work… Leer más
The inescapable nightmare of fatal familial insomnia
A family curse During the early 1980’s, an Italian physician was investigating a mysterious and dreadful disease that had long plagued his family. In earlier generations, this disease had killed… Leer más
What is the cerebellum?
Learn about the mini brain you have at the base of your skull!… Leer más
Los Componentes Básicos del Cerebro: Sobre protones y vóxeles
hat’s in a brain? That which we call a voxel by any other name would sound far less confusing. Imagine all of the atoms in your brain. Now imagine how… Leer más
Lighting Up The Brain With Optogenetics
Scientists studying pond scum discovered its peculiar ability to sense light, even without eyes. This discovery would eventually lead to a technique called optogenetics, one of the most powerful techniques… Leer más
¿Esquizofrenia en un frasco? La historia de la ketamina
Note: Ketamine is a controlled substance in the US and many other countries. Do not use ketamine illicitly. magine an injection that briefly gives you schizophrenia. Now imagine that this… Leer más
Learning about Language from Birdsong
Songbirds are one of the few known species who learn to speak (or sing) like we do. That makes them the perfect case study to learn about the origins of… Leer más
La Lectura: El mejor secuestrador del cerebro
What are you doing right now? I’m no psychic, but I can say for certain one thing that you’re doing: reading. You’re reading this sentence, word by word, and extracting… Leer más
¿Por qué nos hace sentir tanto la música?
Whether you’re listening through tinny iPhone headphones on your morning commute or crying at a John Mayer concert, there is a special place in our hearts for music. But what… Leer más
Unwrap the Gift from the Deadliest Toxin
EXTERIOR SCROOGE’S DOOR – CHRISTMAS EVE Knock! Knock! Scrooge answers the door.… Leer más
Just Keep Swimming: A Tail of Zebrafish Regeneration
The human brain is arguably the most complex organ. Throughout life, it is shaped ever so slightly by each and every experience we endure. The resulting nuances are what make… Leer más
¿Decisión final? Por qué el cerebro sigue cambiando de opinión
Benjamin Franklin once quipped: ‘There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know oneself.’ Every decision we make, from pinpointing the source of a faint sound to… Leer más
What the Heck is a Claustrum?
Given its subjective nature, consciousness is already a controversial topic in the world of brain science. While some neuroscientists doubt that consciousness can even be studied, others still endeavor towards… Leer más
¿Se puede confiar en la resonancia magnética? La respuesta no es tan sencilla.
The first human magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan was acquired almost 40 years ago. The scanner — hand-built by Dr. Raymond Damadian with the help of his two postdoctoral fellows… Leer más
