[Podcast] Uploading the Human Brain
n a brand new episode of the Knowing Neurons podcast, we explore the concept of “mind uploading”. How would something like a mind upload really work?… Read more
Neuron
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
Weird Animal Brain: Dung Beetle
he dung beetle has more interesting characteristics than you might think! If you’d like to learn about more animals with amazing vision, check out this article.… Read more
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… Read more
Weird Animal Brain: Narwhal
Narwhal tusks used to be sold as unicorn horns and were believed to contain magical powers. Now we know a little bit more about these unique tusks, and the truth… Read more
Weird Animal Brain: Tuatara Lizard
The tuatara lizard is called a “living fossil” because it is the last surviving member of the Rhynchocephalia order. Learn more about the tuatara in the infographic below!… Read more
Bite-size science: The brain remembers without staying the same
A new paper published this month in the journal Cell describes an unexpected finding about memory. Researchers used to think that memory required specific activity from the same brain cells… Read more
Weird Animal Brain: Fly
Fly lips are called labellum and fly feet are called tarsi. Both the labellum and tarsi contain taste receptors which help the fly find food. Think about that the next… Read more
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
Reading: The Brain’s Best Hijacker
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… Read more
Weird Animal Brain: Brittle Star
Brittle stars are covered in protective outer plates, but they also have another structure of internal plates. A particular species of brittle star seems to be able to use these… Read more
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
Bite-size Science: Immune Cells use Neurotransmitter to Communicate
Researchers have suspected for a few years that neurotransmitters like dopamine play a role in how the immune system functions. But they didn’t know how cells in the immune system… Read more
Weird Animal Brain: Moth
These beautiful little creatures are incredibly skilled at sniffing out mates. The pheromone the females release is called bombykol. Scientists are on the hunt for exactly how this pheromone activates… Read more
Weird Animal Brain: Platypus
The platypus and the echidna are the only mammals that have the power of electroreception, which means they can sense electrical changes. Check out this new Weird Animal Brain to… Read more
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
Weird Animal Brain: Sea Squirt
The brain is one of the most complex and amazing structures in the universe. It allows us to experience the world, feel, remember, and plan for the future. But for… Read more
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
Weird Animal Brain: Octopus
The octopus almost reaches alien status when it comes to its brain and nervous system. And yet, the differences can help us understand more about the human brain as well… Read more
What Loneliness Looks Like in the Brain
Consider three scenarios. A kid joins a new high school and eats lunch by herself. A recently separated man is alone for the New Year’s Eve countdown. A prisoner becomes… Read more
Double Book Review: The Emperor’s New Mind and Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
“A barber (who is a man) shaves all and only those men who do not shave themselves. Does he shave himself?” If you can’t solve the above riddle, don’t worry… Read more
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
Choose Your Own (Prion) Adventure: Memory or Madness
In the early ‘80’s ranchers in Great Britain began to notice strange behaviors in their cows. What began with increased aggression and an inability to walk turned into a strange… Read more
What Zebrafish Teach Us About Touch
Unlike the sense of vision, which is perceived only by light-sensitive photoreceptors in our eyes, the mechanoreceptors that respond to light touch are located in sensory neurons all over the… Read more
Itching to Understand Dynorphin
Bzzzzzz! Splat! Ugh! Anyone who has ever been around a campfire during the summer months is familiar with this progression of noises. Mosquito bites and the resulting welts provide unwelcome… Read more
Turning On A “Photoswitch” Helps Blind Mice See The Light
Our senses connect us to the world. Your visual system lets you know that there is a yellow car ahead of you, and your auditory system lets you know that… Read more
Sleep ‘til you’re Hungry. Eat ‘til you’re Sleepy.
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… Read more
Genetic Tricks To Reverse Schizophrenic Symptoms
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… Read more
What a Coincidence!
Coincidence is a peculiar thing. We typically think of a coincidence as the occurrence of two events that happen to occur at the same time, but that have no underlying… Read more
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
The Drosophila Odyssey: Spartin Insight into Troyer Syndrome
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,… Read more
You Are Here: Mapping The World With Neurons
“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,… Read more
Treating the diseased brain with artificial stimulation
We often fail to appreciate the small and precise functions of our motor system. How effortless and smooth our movements are when getting up from a chair! How quick and… Read more
Chance Connections
Before virtual brains could see and perform motor tasks as Kate described in the last post, large-scale brain models were being developed in order to identify the synaptic connections between… Read more
My, oh myelin!
How many neural processes are going on within your body as you read this sentence? The answer to this question is hard to fathom, I know, but give it a… Read more
