Neuroscience

  • FACE BLINDNESS IN A NUTSHELL: PUTTING A HUMAN FACE ON PROSOPAGNOSIA
    Contemporary painter and photographer Chuck Close has displayed artwork at famed galleries around the world. He has published several books of his paintings and was an acting member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Some of his works have even …
  • NATURE’S MYSTERIES: THE SIXTH SENSE THAT COORDINATES OUR MOVEMENTS
    I grew up in a rural town in the middle of Missouri, where the most interesting thing to do at night was to go to the local park and watch the stars. One night as a teenager, on my way back home, I noticed a police car and truck stopped by the side of the road …
  • MUSICIANS MAY MAKE BETTER SCIENTISTS
    About 20 years ago, Miller and Coen published “The Case for Music in the Schools.” In this article, they noted that 66 percent of music major applicants were accepted into medical schools, whereas only 44 percent of biochemistry majors got in. The authors speculated …
  • PROPRIOCEPTION: YOUR SIXTH SENSE
    Have you ever tried drinking out of a straw after a mouth-numbing trip to the dentist? Hilarity can ensue. Or maybe you have slept in an awkward position and awoken with a dead arm, which you then flail about in order to revive? (Occasionally to the detriment of your …
  • THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON CAPSAICIN
    When it comes to food, there are two types of people in this world: those who EAT TO LIVE and those who LIVE TO EAT. I, unapologetically, belong to the second group. I am a foodie through and through! If I hadn’t become a scientist, I would have …
  • CAN A DRUG GIVE YOU PERFECT PITCH? (NO)
    Have you ever known someone with perfect pitch? It’s the ability to immediately recognize whatever note they hear, along with the ability to tell if a note is even one hertz out of tune. It isn’t really something that you can teach yourself, either – you have …
  • AFTER FINAL WHISTLE, FORMER COLLEGE ATHLETES FACE RELIEF, DEPRESSION
    For years, Jenny Wilson set her alarm clock for 4:11 a.m. She rose before the sun so she could be in the pool by 4:45 a.m., a routine that started in the sixth grade. When she started swimming for Northwestern University in 2008, she was out of bed by 5:21 a.m. …
  • KINDNESS IS CONTAGIOUS, NEW STUDY FINDS
    Imerman Angels, a cancer support organization based in Chicago, has “floods of volunteers,” according to John May, chairman of its board of directors and a long-time volunteer himself. “You can’t help but just get excited to get involved,” he said. These do-gooders are …
  • MATH – IN ANIMALS?
    By: Noah Rowland The ability to do math has long been thought of as a purely human trait – it comes with the whole higher-intelligence thing. But what if the ability to do math wasn’t as restricted to our makeup as we thought? Are we really as special as we think we are, or is […]
  • MATH – IN ANIMALS?
    The ability to do math has long been thought of as a purely human trait – it comes with the whole higher-intelligence thing. But what if the ability to do math wasn’t as restricted to our makeup as we thought? Are we really as special as we think we are, or is our …
  • OPTICAL ILLUSIONS AND YOUR BRAIN
    Why do optical illusions occur? Your eyes generate a two-dimensional photo of the world, but your brain needs a three-dimensional understanding in order for you to act in the world. Your visual system is very good at figuring out the 3D world, but it’s also …
print