Biochemistry and Neuropharmocology

Small Particles, Big Impact: The Potential Effects of Micro- and Nanoplastics on the Brain

As you scroll through social media, bombarded by alarming posts about the dangers of plastic pollution on human health, you may find yourself grappling with feelings of helplessness and fear.

Issue 32

Herpesvirus: A Cunning Neurotropic Virus and What We Can Learn From It

Roughly 64% of people under 50 are infected with a virus called Type 1 Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1). One of the prominent 8 types of herpesviruses, HSV-1 is a DNA virus that currently has no complete cure.

Issue 28

What Can We Gain from Blocking Out Pain? Peripheral Nerve Blocks in Postoperative Pain Management

Introduction Imagine you are in a car accident and break your wrist. You need surgery to repair it. Surgeries like these are relatively straightforward and can sometimes take under an

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Neuroinflammation after Traumatic Brain Injury Linked to TREM1 and Microglia Activation

Every year, there are over 50 million cases of traumatic brain injury worldwide, making it one of the major causes of death and disability [1]. A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, has two important parts: the primary injury, which happens right as the blow

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Desynchronized brain activity may be the key to Psilocybin-assisted treatment of Depression

In 1957, TIME magazine shocked readers with the cover story “Seeing the Magic Mushroom,” introducing most Americans, for the first time, to psychedelics [1]. The Controlled Substances Act, denoting psilocybin a Schedule 1 drug, halted the first wave of western psychedelic research in 1970,

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Antisocial Addiction: Exploring Cocaine’s Effects on Empathy

The study of empathy, altruism, and other behaviors that help another at one's own expense has long been a topic of interest and debate. Altruism was believed to be an evolutionary disadvantage, and for a while theories focusing on a biological understanding of it

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New Ginkgo Extract Can Aid Stroke Recovery

An ischemic stroke is a common type of brain injury caused by impaired blood flow to the brain. Currently, the only FDA-approved treatment for strokes is the drug Tissue Plasminogen Activator (TPA), composed of the human TPA protein that breaks down blood clots. However,

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How Astrocytic TDP-43 protein accumulation and dysregulation accelerate neurodegeneration

When most people think of neurodegenerative disease, they probably think of the loss of neurons and corresponding loss of memories or cognitive function. This expected relationship between neurons and neurodegenerative disease makes sense. After all, neurons are the cells that send information throughout the

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Towards the Effective and Safe Treatment of Psychosis and Alzheimer’s Disease

In the U.S. alone, there are 6.2 million people living with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), the most common form of dementia [1]. While this unfortunate reality is generally recognized by the public, a lesser-known fact is that approximately 50% of those suffering

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Conversations between the lungs and the brain cause COVID headaches

SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19, remains mysterious even in a “post-COVID” era. Researchers have yet to discover the full extent of its expression, especially concerning its neurological effects.

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Mitochondria, The Powerhouse of the Cell? Perhaps Not If You Have ALS

In the United States, baseball plays a large part in sports culture and has captivated families around the nation for decades. In its most popular days, news of baseball greats often overlapped with daily headlines, which is why you’ve probably heard of Lou Gehrig’s disease, or ALS.

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Probiotics reveal a surprising link between gut microbiota and Alzheimer’s Disease progression

If your doctor told you that eating yogurt every day could reduce your chances of getting Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), how would you react? If you were like me, you’d probably switch to a new doctor.

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Cannabidiol’s Therapeutic Potential for Chronic Pain

Surgery is a powerful tool that enables an abundance of treatments for previously incurable diseases, but it doesn't always lead to a better life for the patient, sometimes due to post-surgical chronic neuropathic pain.

Issue 28

Effects of Alcohol on the Neuroimmune System

Imagine you’re at a college party: The music’s loud, people are dancing, and you’re surrounded by bottles of whiskey, beer, vodka, and rum. You take a shot, and someone hands you another drink.

Issue 28

The Mechanisms of General Anesthesia

For many, the thought of undergoing surgery can be a terrifying fear. Operations in the United States often come with an exorbitant price tag and without any guarantee of success. At the extreme end, there is even a risk of death.

Issue 28

Special K: The Emergence of Psychedelic Healthcare

Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic, is notorious for its street reputation as an abused substance. Known by the general public as an illicit club drug, recreational users inhale, ingest, or inject

Issue 26

CBD: New Player on the Pain Block

Everyone knows what pain is…right? While most people have a comfortable understanding of what pain means to them, pain as a clinical symptom is nebulous: difficult to describe and even more difficult to treat [1].

Issue 25

Your Brain on Aromatherapy

Introduction Jasmine, rose, and sandalwood; these are the scents that permeate my childhood memories. From the burning of incense sticks to the steady stream of fragrances coming from my essential

Issue 25

Harnessing Your Inner Bear: The Neuroscience Behind Hibernation

You’ve just woken up from a deep sleep. As you slowly regain your senses, you find you have a renewed sense of vigor. The birds are chirping outside, and the sun’s rays neatly drape themselves on your wall.

issue 24

Sharing Memories through Epigenetics

Try to recall your tenth birthday party. Specific details such as the color of the cake or the theme of your party are probably resurfacing in your mind right now. These pieces of information are stored as long-term memories and are readily available for recall...

issue 24

Tachyphylaxis: Antidepressants' Greatest Challenge

Imagine sitting down with a doctor to discuss several distressing symptoms you’ve been experiencing recently. Slowly you confess that you’ve been experiencing a sense of numbness, and your hobbies don’t interest you. In fact, nothing interests you anymore...

issue 24

Prions: How Can Proteins be Infectious? And what that tells us about other neurodegenerative diseases

What makes cows go mad? The deceptively short answer: prions. Most of the human population has encountered pathogenic viruses and bacteria at some point in their lives, but very few have experienced an illness related to prions, which are misfolded proteins...

Issue 21

Nootropics: How Online Communities Foster Misinformation and Pseudoscience

On a sunny July day in Paris, 189 cyclists breathe a sigh of relief. Some are celebrating, some are disappointed, and some are just grateful that they can get some rest.

Issue 22

Lean, Mean, Psychoactive Machine

We Have Lean On the Beat Over the last thirty years, hip-hop music has risen from its humble beginnings in inner-city neighborhoods to the center of the mainstream music stage.

Issue 20

How a Signal is AMPA'fied

Find out the role of the NMDA-AMPA receptor system in our ability to associate the occurrence of two events, allowing our brains to learn and form memories.

The Undergraduate Neuroscience Journal