Keeping up with brain mapping
It is so hard to keep up with the amount of information that’s coming your way in today’s digital world. To keep up with the explosion of scientific information that is presently out there, one of the geeky things scientists like to do is gather together for scientific conferences. Such conferences provide a good way to get exposed to the hottest current trends and ideas in the field and give you a window into the future of scientific progress. Just as birds migrate south for the winter, brain mappers gather each summer for the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM).
Defaulting to the default mode of your brain during meditation
Have you ever wondered what your brain does when you are seemingly doing nothing? Obviously, you can decide what you will think of, but you cannot decide to “shut down” the activity of your brain.
International family, maple leaves, and glass brains
When I was little, I used to catch leaves with my dad in autumn as I waited for the school bus in the Pine Barrens (a part of southern New Jersey that takes credit for the origin of the Jersey Devil). I was thinking about those moments as I read a recent interview with Karl Friston (KF).
Scientist tested, kid approved: Peer review from a child's point of view
It’s often hard to find easy-to-read articles about cool scientific findings that are written in a clear way - let alone articles that are understandable enough to use as bedtime reading with your child. But, here’s a little secret: there are articles out there that are actually written by scientists and approved by children before they are published.
Mapping traumatic brain injuries
There’s been an increasing amount of media attention to the topic of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) -bolstered in part by conversations surrounding the 2015 Hollywood blockbuster Concussion. The movie Concussion describes a particular phenomenon, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy or CTE, which occurs in the brain after repeated high impact blows to the head. The diagnosis of CTE requires examining brain tissue under a microscope after death, so it can’t be diagnosed in living individuals.
New puzzles for brain scientists
No matter how exciting the topic, your mind is bound to wander at some point when you’re sitting in a room for several hours listening to scientific presentations. This is exactly what happened to me during the meeting between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) in Geneva.
Baseball on the brain
I stare at the brain every day and it was only during the last game of the World Series that I saw an uncanny resemblance between the construction of the baseball field and a map of visual space present in each of our brains.
Improving public health through brain research
At the end of June, I found myself running through the streets of Geneva with two other brain mappers—all three of us sweaty from trying to catch the bus. Even though I live in New Jersey and am used to muggy weather in the summer, I couldn’t help but recognize how humid it was.
Brain mapping: Getting it right
Scientific publications generate a written conversation that evolves over time. Each new publication expands on the conversational foundation established by its predecessors. Despite our positive view that a recent study by Eklund and colleagues makes a valuable contribution to the conversation in our field of brain mapping, many reports have interpreted that findings from this paper cast doubt on all studies conducted with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) over the last two decades.
Let's take a walk along the cortical ribbon
When you hear the word ribbon, you might think of wrapping presents or maybe a yellow, red, or blue satin award you won when you were seven (or even yesterday). You probably don’t think that an integral part of what contributes to your thoughts and perceptions is a strip of neural tissue known as the cortical ribbon.
From cannoli in South Philly to brain mapping in Geneva
When you hear the word ribbon, you might think of wrapping presents or maybe a yellow, red, or blue satin award you won when you were seven (or even yesterday). You probably don’t think that an integral part of what contributes to your thoughts and perceptions is a strip of neural tissue known as the cortical ribbon.
Machine learning helps determine which infants will gain the most from cochlear implantation
Machine learning helps determine which infants will gain the most from cochlear implantation
The hidden world of the brain: The role of the basal ganglia beyond movement
There's more to the BG than just movement. The 5 nuclei of the BG each have independent functional roles and are also interconnected with different areas of the cortex.
Using screams to examine differences between fear and anxiety in the human brain
For decades, psychologists, neuroscientists, and brain mappers have studied fear and anxiety using language that obscures the distinctions between these complex emotional states.
The thinking center
Naturally we are aware of the full range of functions of the feet, which include but are not limited to penalty kicking and tap dancing. We also know that many other body parts are involved in each of these activities. Why is it then, that when it comes to the brain, we are so tempted to simplify and localize function? "The amygdala, the fear center of the brain", "the prefrontal cortex, the brain region that is responsible for planning", "the hippocampus the memory center of the brain", and so forth, are commonly encountered phrases in popular media.
From broken brains to Frankenstein: A Walt Whitman birthday listicle
Walt Whitman was born on this day in 1819. His lifespan overlapped with a period in neuroscience history that laid the foundation for today's exciting time of brain exploration. Though he would likely roll over in his grave at the word listicle, here are three ways Whitman is historically linked to the brain.
Linking us together through our resting brains
We’ve all heard weird factoids about brains. For example, dolphins sleep one hemisphere at a time. But, did you know that your brain has a resting state? This is somewhat of a contradictory label since it’s hard to define rest when it comes to the human brain.
Predicting literacy skills in preschoolers in just 30 minutes
Wouldn't it be great if we could identify neurobiological biomarkers of reading difficulties in less than an hour? Based on recent findings, it looks like we are becoming closer to making this goal a reality.
What do your brain maps have in common with Neil deGrasse Tyson's? More than you might think
One of the cool things about being human is that you know you’re you and that you have skills and abilities that others don’t have. For example, qualities that differentiate you from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and vice versa.
So you want to shake hands with your brain...
It’s 7:30 a.m. and I’ve had my morning coffee already. I’m taking off my belt and emptying my pockets. It’s that time again — I’m getting my brain scanned. I should clarify that I’m not taking off my belt in a Magic Mike sort of way, but instead, in a brain mapping sort of way. Magnetic Resonance Imaging - or MRI - has a strong magnetic field.