The Brain’s Border Wall and Psychiatric Illness
Just as every country is protected by a tightly sealed border, so too is the brain. Breaches in the brain’s border wall cause many neurological dysfunctions, but a leaky brain border can also cause neuropsychiatric disorders, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. The brain’s border wall, called the blood-brain…
Read MorePredicting Your Baby’s Future
From tea leaves to crystal balls, the possibility of seeing a person’s future is a timeless fascination. But now, using technological advances that reveal details of a person’s brain structure and function, neuroscientists may be able to do what fortune-telling mystics could not—tell a parent what their child’s temperament will be when they grow up.…
Read MoreA New Form of LSD to Treat Schizophrenia
Working in his lab at the pharmaceutical company Sandoz in 1938, chemist Albert Hoffmann was investigating an alkaloid from the ergot fungus in search of a new drug that would act on the brain to stimulate respiration (an analeptic). Suddenly, all that changed when he was plunged into a mind-blowing psychedelic state after he accidentally…
Read MoreSugar Craving and Diabetes Linked to Gut Bacteria
We tend to think of craving as a psychological phenomenon triggered by habits, desires, and emotional swings, but new research shows that a wide range of psychological conditions are generated by the community of bacteria thriving in our gut. These microbes release substances that act as hormones or neurotransmitters to affect mental function. A new…
Read MoreThe Forgotten History of the Discovery of Human Brainwaves
The centennial of the discovery of brain waves in humans exposes a chilling tale involving Nazis, war between Russia and Ukraine, suicide and the vicissitudes of history. German psychiatrist Hans Berger, the firs to record human brain waves in 1924. This year is the centennial of the discovery of human brain waves. Few people know…
Read MoreHow Our Longest Nerve Orchestrates the Mind-Body Connection
It is late at night. You are alone and wandering empty streets in search of your parked car when you hear footsteps creeping up from behind. Your heart pounds, your blood pressure skyrockets. Goose bumps appear on your arms, sweat on your palms. Your stomach knots and your muscles coil, ready to sprint or fight.…
Read MorePsychological Trauma in the Olympics
Every measure is taken to protect athletes from physical injury in competitive sports, while protection from mental injury is neglected. Yet athletes face extraordinary risks of mental trauma in competition. We insist upon helmets and other safety gear and impose stringent rules enforced by referees to protect athletes from physical injury, but as the recent…
Read MoreViral Infections Millions of Years Ago Promote Inheritance of Mental Illness
People understand that someone can be predisposed to mental illness by inheriting certain genes or gene variants, but new research is revealing that inherited mental illnesses are also promoted by alterations in our DNA that were caused by viral infection of our ancestors over a million years ago. Remarkably, the changes do not modify parts…
Read MoreHow the Tremendous Boost in Brain Power Arose Suddenly in Evolution–The Mystery of Myelin
“Why, if species have descended from other species by fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms?” — Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species. Charles Darwin proposed that evolution is driven by gradual variations in organisms that have survival advantage in a changing environment, but he recognized that new traits often…
Read MoreBig Mystery About the Little Brain
With all the stunning advances in neuroscience it may come as a surprise that a major part of the brain is a mystery to scientists. It is not a small oversight. This peculiar brain lobe contains ¾ of all the brain’s neurons! Astonishingly, its cellular structure is unlike anywhere else in the brain. The neurons…
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