“Hello? Can you hear me?” We all know how difficult it is to hear the other person during a call with terrible cell service; everything sounds muffled, the audio keeps cutting out, and you feel as though you’re underwater. For individuals with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD), this is an everyday reality. ANSD is an […]
Sound starts early: Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder Read More »
Whether or not animals can be moral beings is an idea that puzzles scientists and philosophers to this day. The philosophical article “Animal moral psychologies” contains multiple examples of what appears to be animal morality, such as a family cat chasing a dog away from an injured child or an orca doing a tour of
Do animals have morality? Read More »
Taking a cocktail of medicines to slow the brain’s deterioration while slowly losing the ability to remember, walk, and speak, until they are trapped in isolation despite the presence of loved ones. This is the reality of millions of Americans affected by neurodegenerative diseases, and scientists are yet to find cures. While many treatments exist
Brain–computer interfaces: A spark of hope for brain disease patients Read More »
Asthma. We’ve all heard of it. Whether it be your friend who carries an inhaler in their backpack or the student in the back of the lecture hall who can’t stop coughing during flu season, almost everyone is familiar with this chronic respiratory condition. Characterized by inflammation and narrowing of the airways accompanied by acute
Breathe in, zone out: How hypnosis could help your asthma Read More »
The enigma of memory has long captured the attention of scientists and thinkers alike. The Greek philosopher Plato once theorized that our brain and memories function like a wax tablet, where impressions are engraved and later read. Though outdated, Plato’s metaphor remains useful to illustrate how our memories are created, stored, and retrieved. You may
The mystery of memory: Where our memories are stored and how they are retrieved Read More »
Can I hypnotize you in 500 words? Probably not — this isn’t a movie or Vegas stage show — but a professional may be able to in just one. Hypnosis is a trance-like state during which the brain experiences a noticeable change in theta wave activity. Theta waves are brain waves synonymous with the subconscious mind, and
Tapping into a trance: The neuroscience of hypnosis Read More »
Think of your brain as a busy city – constantly working, processing “events”, and producing waste. What if there was an essential system in the brain that helped clear out these “toxins” and prevent harmful buildup? This is exactly what the glymphatic system does. The glymphatic system is a network that utilizes perivascular channels to
Get some sleep, and clear your mind Read More »
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia. It affects an estimated 6.9 million Americans and remains the fifth-leading cause of death among Americans aged 65 and older. Unlike other major causes of death, such as HIV, heart disease, and stroke, AD rates continue to rise. Despite its prevalence, the mechanisms behind disease development
Higher levels of leptin suggest brain protection against late-life dementia Read More »
Dismissed and criminalized for decades, psychedelics were thought to offer nothing beyond mind-bending hallucinations. However, as times change, scientists are beginning to re-explore the medicinal benefits of psychedelics for treatment-resistant mental health conditions. Research has shown that drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA can be effective for treating a range of psychiatric conditions, including depression,