You may never have heard of the incredibly accomplished Alexa Irene Canady, who was both the first female neurosurgeon and the first African American neurosurgeon in the United States. In honor of Black History Month, I wanted to share the story of this pioneering and inspiring figure. Canady was born in 1950. Her mother worked…
Harvard Scientists have developed new ways to look inside the brain, and the results are stunning.
Our brains are pretty amazing, but they can make a lot of mistakes that we are not even aware of. Sometimes these may have negative long-term consequences, but often they just mean a moment of misunderstanding or confusion. Here are 5 common mistakes your brain makes every day! We trust our memories, even though they…
You’ve probably seen headlines about how “cheesecake is like cocaine for the brain” and may have noted the growing trend of carbohydrate- and sugar-free diets (like the Atkins or Paleo diets.) This is a great 5-minute TED-Ed video from neuroscientist Nicole Avena that wades through the hype to illustrate how sugar actually affects your brain,…
I’m excited to announce that my brand new book Soft-Wired is now out and available in paperback or Kindle format. This book was a labor of love, and it took me many years and many iterations to say exactly what I wanted, how I wanted to say it. The result is a book that covers much of…
I always enjoy the fun, approachable, fast-paced science videos from ASAP Science. Here, the team presents a quick primer on the biology of aging. In just three minutes, you can learn why you can blame your father for a shorter life span, why some worms are virtually immortal, and what a telomere is. Enjoy!
Chances are, you’ve never heard of Solomon Carter Fuller, who was the first African-American psychiatrist in the United States and one of the pioneers of Alzheimer’s research. In honor of Black History Month, I thought it would be fun to share something about the life and times of this influential scientist and doctor. Dr. Fuller…
With all of the complex brain science findings out there, I really enjoyed this TED talk from neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert that goes back to one of the most fundamental questions about brains: why do we have them at all? Wolpert argues that the only reason we evolved our brains is because we had to move,…
I’ve just gotten back from a very exciting scientific meeting in Greece (yes, the life of a brain scientist occasionally has its perks!) I had the opportunity to visit our collaborators in the Long-Lasting Memories consortium. This research group, with members in Greece, Spain, Austria, France, and Cyprus, is working to develop a combined brain…
A few days ago, we hosted a Q&A session on Facebook about brain plasticity and brain fitness with Posit Science founder Dr. Michael Merzenich. For those who missed the discussion and prefer to read it in transcript form, I’ve re-posted it here. Question: I would love to know what Dr. Merzenich thinks about brain plasticity…