IntroductionWhat is your favorite memory? Is it sitting in front of the fireplace, burrowing yourself under a blanket with a visibly steaming cup of hot cocoa between your hands? Or

IntroductionIn mythology, corvids, the family of birds that includes crows and ravens, are often depicted as clever and mischievous.  Native Americans tell stories of ravens as wise and practical jokesters

IntroductionIn the human body, the immune system plays a crucial role in protecting us from foreign substances. For example, when you contract the flu, the immune system is responsible for

The denizens of modern-day, developed countries have living standards that have not been available ever before in human history: a permanent food surplus, technologies that were unthinkable just decades ago,

In September 1863, George Dedlow awoke in an army hospital tent [1]. As he regained his bearings, he felt a sharp cramp in his left leg. Dedlow tried to reach

IntroductionMedications have long been one of mankind's best ways of treating diseases. Imagine you are feeling nauseous, so you go to a doctor and they prescribe you some medication. You

IntroductionMost people are familiar with the concept of eating better to feel better. You are what you eat after all. This takes on new meaning when considering the integral connection

IntroductionImagine, for a moment, that you are undergoing brain surgery to remove a tumor. While the surgeons operate on you, you remain deeply sedated and unconscious -- but before they

The Scent of Love, Emotion, and AttractionIt isn’t uncommon to see marketing for fragrances and deodorants that do not show the product or its features. Depending on the intended

IntroductionHunters of the night, unseen during the day, bats are some of the most interesting creatures on the planet. Making up roughly a quarter of all mammal species, they are

Our Brain Is Being BeatenWith the increase in computer performance and accessibility of personal computing, most jobs require computer skills as part of their work. According to an analysis done

Have you ever been on the brink of sleep when you get hit with a memory of something embarrassing that you did in the past? Maybe even just remembering the

The Pollution Problem: How Pollution is Affecting our BrainsTake a deep breath in. Exhale out. Take another deep breath in. Exhale out. Take deep breaths to center and calm yourself.

Naturally occurring hallucinogens have been around for centuries and are used for a myriad of reasons from recreational to spiritual. The first synthetically-made hallucinogen was created in 1938 by a

It was the summer of 1799. World famous chemist Sir Humphry Davy switched on his mercurial breathing machine, filling two bags with pure nitric oxide gas   [1]   . He exhaled deeply

Sub-Saharan African tribes use scarification as a rite of passage for milestones such as transitioning into adulthood [1]. Along with scarification, many cultures around the world incorporate pain into deeply

Imagine walking into a house and smelling warm cookies. First, you know that you smell something . Then, you recognize the scent as freshly baked cookies. Immediately, your brain begins making

The spinal cord is like a highway, sending and receiving information between the brain and the whole body. Our abilities to sense, move, and react are all transmitted as information

The ability to see is often attributed to the eyes, but this is only the beginning of visual processing. It is estimated that one-third to one-half of the human brain

As we go through our daily routines, whether they be in a bustling coffee shop packed with sleep-deprived students or in the high-ceilinged library reading room, we are surrounded by

“Rise and shine!” Or, better said, “shine and rise!” The sun provides a central cue for waking hours because the light it emits serves as a regular signal that enforces

In recent years, the scientific community has increasingly been going with its gut. That is to say, scientists have been looking to the human gastrointestinal microbiota for its role in

“Everything may die, nothing may be regenerated”  –Santiago Ramón y Cajal When neurons were first discovered, the prominent perspective on neuroanatomy was “once it’s gone, it’s gone for

Every day, millions of students experience the feeling of almost indescribable emptiness caused by major depression, also known as major depressive disorder or simply depression. Major depression, one of the