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Neurological Implications of COVID-19 Raise Concerns
Virologists are alerting doctors to a possibility that could help explain two of the most puzzling aspects of COVID-19—why the severity of the disease varies so widely, and how the infection can be so deadly. In severe cases the virus may enter the brain through the olfactory nerve in the nasal cavity and damage neurons that control…
Read MorePromise and Concerns of Reading and Controlling Minds with New Technology
The ability to detect electrical activity in the brain through the scalp, and to control it, will soon transform medicine and change society in profound ways. Patterns of electrical activity in the brain can reveal a person’s cognition—normal and abnormal. New methods to stimulate specific brain circuits can treat neurological and mental illnesses and control…
Read MoreUntangling Controversy over Brainwaves in Autism
Brainwaves are cited as a biological basis for autism, an objective method to diagnose it, and a treatment through EEG-guided neurofeedback. Yet each of these intersections between brainwaves and autism is controversial. These mysterious waves of electromagnetic energy radiating out of the human brain are interrelated with autism, and there is tremendous potential for brainwave…
Read MoreRomance Rides on Brainwaves
Love. It’s what makes the world go round. Across cultures and throughout the span of human existence, the quest to find the right romantic partner is the hub of life. The mysterious attraction that draws two strangers together romantically is unspoken and seems to burst forth automatically from somewhere deep below our conscious deliberation. Romantic…
Read MoreDonald Trump Is No Brain Scientist
Yesterday on an international stage in Davos, Switzerland, President Donald Trump dismissed the reported injuries of American troops being treated for traumatic brain injury in Germany after an Iranian missile attack on the Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. No matter what one’s political views may be, Trump’s uninformed and potentially damaging pronouncement cannot go uncorrected. I have…
Read MoreMaking Long-term Memories Depends on Making Myelin and Brainwaves
Neuroscientists have always presumed that learning and memory depend on strengthening or weakening the connection points between neurons (synapses), increasing or decreasing the likelihood that the cell is going to pass along a message to its neighbor. But recently some researchers have started pursuing a completely different theory that does not involve changing the strength of synaptic…
Read MoreThe Brain’s Clockwork
How many times a day do you check the time? Estimates are that people between the ages of 18-34 check the clock between 50-74 times a day! Staying in sync is essential for any complex system; whether it’s a machine, social organization, or transportation system, chaos would erupt if the intricate processes involved were not precisely coordinated in…
Read MoreElon Musk’s Brain-Computer Interface—Reality Check
The much-anticipated recent announcement of Elon Musk’s development of a brain-computer interface (BCI) device, called Neuralink, was a media sensation. The fact that Musk, a successful businessman who makes advanced technology a commercial reality, is investing in BCI is significant and newsworthy. This area of research has been around since the 1970s, and brain stimulation…
Read MoreThe Taste of Thanksgiving
I took a sip of sugary Coke and was struck by a hideous intense blast of aluminum. I rushed to the sink and spit out the tainted drink. Poison! What’s wrong with this Coke! I took another tentative sip. I was slammed again by the overwhelming metallic taste. I spat out the poison by rapid…
Read MoreToxin in Dungeness Crab Causes Brain Damage
Commercial Crab Fishermen, Pillar Point, CA The California Fish and Game Commission has banned crab fishing until further notice after detecting high levels of a neurotoxin in Dungeness and rock crabs. The toxin, domoic acid, is produced by certain types of planktonic algae, and it becomes concentrated in tissue of crabs and other marine organisms…
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