Many of us have heard of or learned about the 11 systems that keep the human body functioning, such as the skeletal, muscular, nervous, and cardiovascular systems. Although these systems are made up of distinct tissues and cells, they are not as separate as one might believe. In particular, the nervous system is essential for […]
Bridging the brain and the heart Read More »
Imagine yourself years into the future — your joints are aching, you’ve been prescribed blood pressure medication, and you can barely remember how to perform everyday tasks like reading, cooking, and cleaning. According to the World Health Organization, this is the reality for 50 million people worldwide living with dementia, along with an estimated 150
Fix the heart to heal the mind Read More »
Since the first successful kidney transplant in 1954, human-to-human organ transplantation has remained the best method of treatment for most patients with late-stage organ failure. Although medicine has rapidly advanced since 1954 — including innovations from the insulin pump to CT scans — the fundamental problem of allotransplantation has yet to be resolved: the number
Pigs: The solution to organ shortages? Read More »
There may already be time-travelers among us: people who elected to be frozen solid after their death to live once again in a scientifically updated future. It can certainly be argued that these individuals are quite literally in over their heads (in liquid nitrogen), but even though hardly anything is known about how exactly they
Human cryopreservation: How and why (not)? Read More »
Around once a month, I have a day where nothing seems to go right. I can’t focus, everything is irritating, and all I want to do is sit in bed eating ice cream alone. I first noticed this pattern around age 14 and thought it meant I was about to start my period, but menstruation
Periodic pulses: Hormonal releases during the menstrual cycle Read More »
As fall descends on the Northern Hemisphere, bears and chipmunks begin to hoard food and build fat stores in preparation for winter. Hibernation occurs in hundreds of known species, including mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and even one species of bird — the common poorwill. While animals hibernate, their metabolism slows dramatically: they become hypothermic, their heart
Low-resource survival: How hibernating animals conserve energy Read More »
American author and therapist Virginia Satir once said, “We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” Amidst a global pandemic, hugs have become a part of the distant past as we embrace a world where social interactions are six
Touch starvation and heart health during a global pandemic Read More »
If you’ve been keeping up with online trends, then you’ve probably heard of ASMR; it’s an acronym for autonomous sensory meridian response, used to explain the experience of feeling tingly sensations in response to certain audio-visual stimuli, or “triggers.” These triggers include personal attention and close-up ear attention. In response to these triggers, tingles start
Taps and whispers: What’s behind those ASMR tingles? Read More »
Heartbreak often brings to mind cartoon hearts dramatically shattering into pieces Looney-Tunes-style, or eating a giant tub of ice cream and crying over romantic comedies. In reality, though, according to the American Heart Association (AHA), there is such a thing as a literal broken heart, which raises the question — is it actually possible to
A “broken heart” is more than just a saying Read More »