Issue 33

Dancing Through Life: New Therapy for Parkinson's Disease

Introduction Dance is communication. People often communicate their feelings through body language – feelings of elation, discomfort, misery – but if body language is a whisper, dance can sound like someone is

Issue 33

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: What Science Tells Us About This Complex Condition

Introduction “You could say I was the recipient of a miracle” [1]. Fiona Symington has suffered from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), for 14 years, and in

Issue 33

Alien Hand Syndrome - Neurological Explanation and Medical Cause

A 77-year-old woman is watching TV feeling relaxed after a long day. Suddenly, she is startled by a hand stroking her hair and face. The catch? It was her hand.

Issue 32

Morality and Decision Making

Introduction If you were given the choice to divert a trolley down a different track and kill one person instead of remaining on a track that kills five people, would you make it? What if a trolley was on a path to kill five

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Brains May Hold the Secret to Efficient Computing

Kwabena Boahen grew up in Accra, Ghana, and vividly remembers his father bringing home the family’s first digital computer when Kwabena was 16 years old [1]. He immediately began learning all of its ins and outs in an attempt to program the classic

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Seeing Faces: Face Pareidolia and its Connection to Parkinson’s

Once you see it, you can’t stop seeing it. A frowny face on your outlet. A look of shock on your bowling ball. Even a colon and the letter D, “:D” – all these things were not designed after human faces, and yet, we

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Scientists Develop a New Way to See into the Mind of a Behaving Octopus

Octopuses have long been a subject of fascination. From deceiving predators to learning from past experiences, they display many behaviors associated with high intelligence [1]. This has sparked curiosity about their brain function and perception of reality. Octopuses also have large brains relative to

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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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Synchronized Sleep Enhances Memory Consolidation

Have you ever crammed for an exam the night before and woken up with new information embedded in your mind? Almost like a magic spell, your biological diagrams, calculus equations, or chemistry reactions have been ingrained in your memory as you slumbered away. Perhaps,

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What Strategic Choices of Rhesus Monkeys Can Teach Us About Decision-Making and Optimization

Decisions are constantly made in our daily lives. Whether it is to restock the morning cereal in the canister or watch a newly released Netflix series late at night, our decisions are more or less indicative of how we put value into the actions we make.

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Hungry, Angry, and Hangry: How Our Internal Signals Shape Emotions and Sensation

Imagine you have classes from 8:30 am to  5:30 pm and have no time to eat anything. You're hangry.

Issue 31

Neurobiological Basis of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)

PMDD is an intensified form of PMS characterized by unusual and inexplicably severe physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms that begin during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, wherein the uterine lining thickens right before menstruation occurs.

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Somnambulism: So, you're a sleepwalker?

When thinking of sleepwalking, the image that most often springs to mind is that of a person rising from their bed and walking around like a zombie. But the potential implications are a lot larger than this.

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The Neurobiological Mechanisms of a Suicidal Brain

Many of us live our lives day to day, excited to see tomorrow’s adventures or indulge in its captivating events. Others live their lives simply wishing it would end.

Issue 29

Sleep and the Glymphatic System

We have all experienced sleepless nights and know what it is like to suffer the consequences: inability to focus, decreased productivity, and feeling lethargic. Sleep is a process that is

Issue 29

From Genes to Behavior: Unraveling Psychopathy with Neuroscience

Psychopathy is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by the absence of emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavior control, resulting in antisocial behavior and participation in criminal acts. Researchers suggest

Issue 29

The Brain is Alive with the Sound of Music

While everyone has their own music preferences, there are some songs that almost everyone knows the words to. Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA” is basically the Fourth of July national anthem, and we only need to hear the first few bell chimes to identify Mariah Carey

Issue 29

Mirror, Mirror

Have you ever flinched when watching a character get hurt on TV? Yawned when someone near you yawned? These reactions may be due to unique brain cells known as mirror neurons.

Issue 29

Microglia: Little Giants in the Brain

Imagine the brain as an epic house party with various cell types acting as partygoers, each contributing to the chaotic buzz. Amid the lively crowd, the neurons are the center

Issue 28

A Review of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response

Imagine a tingling sensation, starting at the top of the scalp and traveling down your spine, inducing a state of relaxation and deep breathing [1]. You feel an increased desire

Issue 26

Improving Memory through Slow Wave Sleep

In the ocean, the form water will take at any given time may seem unpredictable to someone not paying attention, though there are patterns that can be identified and relied upon with some certainty.

Issue 26

Navigating the Cosmos of Whole-Brain Imaging

Mapping the (B)rainforest Neurons, with their long axons and countless branching dendrites, are often colloquially spoken of in the language of trees. To extend the metaphor likens the brain

Issue 25

An Introduction to Neuroeconomics

Introduction Behavioral neuroscience and economics are two distinct academic disciplines which at first glance would not seem to have much in common. However, a deeper dive into the specifics of

Issue 25

The Richest Palace is in Your Brain

Imagine you are given 60 seconds to memorize 52 cards, with only one chance to look at the deck and no room for errors. That may seem like a lot to memorize in a short amount of time—a feeling shared by...

Issue 25

Chronic Stress: Living in a World of Worry

Chronic stress affects many Americans. Most recently, a major cause of stress in the United States has been the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly eight in ten Americans reporting that the