Blog
Neuroscience Explains Why Dinosaurs Couldn’t Get Any Bigger
Long-necked Sauropods, like Brontosaurus, were the largest animals on earth, but their brain, not their leg strength, is what kept them from getting any bigger. With their heads soaring 60 feet above the ground, Sauropods were gigantic animals, about the same height and length of The White House. Imagine the tremendous bone strength and muscle…
Read MoreListening with Light: Deaf Can Hear Using Lasers
Cochlear implants have restored hearing to thousands of deaf people, but what about when deafness is caused by a damaged cochlea or nonfunctional auditory nerve? A possible solution is to bypass the cochlea and stimulate the brain directly. Scientists are developing a new technology that uses laser light instead of electricity to stimulate brain cells…
Read MoreThe Neuroscience of Violence
We are on the brink of a new understanding of the neuroscience of violence. Like detectives slipping a fiber optic camera under a door, neuroscientists insert a fiber optic microcamera into the brain of an experimental animal and watch the neural circuits of rage respond during violent behavior.
Read MoreBegging for Food from Mr. President and the First Lady
No, not that President! Thousands of people are captivated by the live video stream of a pair of bald eagles, named Mr. President and The First Lady, nesting on top of a Tulip Poplar tree at the U.S. National Arboretum. The reality peek into the life of a pair of breeding eagles, together with new…
Read MoreMarijuana Causes 7-Fold Increased Risk of Violent Behavior
New research reported in the journal <em>Psychological Medicine</em>, concludes that continued use of cannabis causes violent behavior as a direct result of changes in brain function that are caused by smoking marijuana over many years.
Read MoreTennis Star Maria Sharapova’s Performance-enhancing Drug Explained
Tennis star Maria Sharapova has admitted to using the performance-enhancing drug meldonium, which boosts brain and body power and endurance. Here’s how it works. Meldonium was developed for the Soviet military and given to Soviet soldiers in the Afghanistan invasion. The drug increases endurance for physically and cognitively demanding tasks when the body is…
Read MoreSeeing Red out of the Blue
We like to believe that we are in control of our actions, but sometimes we are not. A sudden incident can overtake conscious will and launch us into violent action that risks our life and limb in an instant. I know, because it happened to me. I am a neuroscientist, and after witnessing…
Read MoreThe Inevitable Violent Outcome of the Oregon Militia Stand-Off
The tragic violent death this week of LaVoy Finicum, one of the Militia of Ranchers occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon illustrates the LIFEMORTS triggers of rage in action. The difficult situation is an example of the type of violence that I hope an understanding of the neuroscience of aggression can help to…
Read MoreThe Explosive Mix of Sex and Violence
The roving gangs of men who sexually assaulted women during the New Year’s Eve celebration in Cologne, Germany, have ignited outrage across Europe and around the world. (1) The political implications have been much discussed, but how was this violence triggered in these individuals? These assaults illuminate a dark side of human nature: how sex and violence are…
Read MoreThis is Your Brain on This Election
Rhetoric in this year’s election is triggering something deep and dangerous in voters’ rage circuits—and neuroscience shows how they’re exploiting our primal fears.
Read More