Neurosurgery has an article on the 17th Century neuroanatomist Niels Stensen who not only made major contributions to our understanding of the brain but was beatified - the first step to becoming a saint - by Pope John Paul II in 1988.His work was not restricted to the brain and was a founding figure in both geology and palaeontology, but his willingness to test received wisdom with regard to bra
18 Vote(s)
July 22, 2010
The blessed neuroscientist
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June 3, 2010
Pointing the finger
A brief yet intriguing description of a talk on pointing, by the ever versatile neuroscientist and philosopher Ray Tallis at the recent Hay Literary Festival.A spellbinding hour with philosopher and self-confessed "many-layered anorak" Raymond Tallis on the subject of pointing. Yes, sticking your finger in the air and directing it at an object. It is, he argued, one of the attributes that mark us
6 Vote(s)
6 Vote(s)
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February 27, 2010
Clearing the fog of vision
Neuroscientist Pawan Sinha gave an inspiring talk to TED India about his work on providing treatment for visual problems and how this is over-turning many of our long-standing assumptions about how the brain develops the ability to make sense of the visual world.Sinha focuses on children and adults who have grown up with congenital cataracts - a clouding of the eye's lens that prevents light from
12 Vote(s)
12 Vote(s)
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February 25, 2010
On riding the mistake wave
I've just read a funny and insightful interview with neuroscientist Vincent Walsh from last November's Current Biology that's full of over-caffeinated anecdotes and understated wisdom.It's really worth reading in full but, unfortunately, the whole thing is locked behind a paywall (a bargain at only $31.50), but I've reproduced part of the piece below:What's the best advice you have ever given to
17 Vote(s)
17 Vote(s)
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February 19, 2010
Dolphin cognitive abilities raise ethical questions, says Emory neuroscientist
Many modern dolphin brains are significantly larger than those of humans and second in mass to the human brain when corrected for body size, says a scientist. Some dolphin brains exhibit features correlated with complex intelligence, including a large expanse of neocortical volume that is more convoluted than that of humans, extensive insular and cingulated regions, and highly differentiated cell
6 Vote(s)
6 Vote(s)
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November 13, 2009
Taking the neurotrash out
Neuroscientist Raymond Tallis has a barn-storming and somewhat bad tempered article in The New Humanist where he rails against the increasing tendency to explain everything from beauty to crime in terms of brain function.He begins by criticising how neuroscience is now appearing as a handy 'neuro-' prefix to more and more areas of human society, leading to the likes of "neuro-jurisprudence, neuro
11 Vote(s)
11 Vote(s)
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September 15, 2009
Neural jewellery
Morphologica is a neuroscientist in the final stages of her PhD who also makes wonderful brain-inspired jewellery.The piece in the picture is the lovely pyramidal neuron necklace, although there are also earrings and necklaces inspired by the double helix, the contours of the cortical surface and cell proliferation.And if you're a jewellery wearer (sadly, I can never find the shoes to match) you
6 Vote(s)
6 Vote(s)
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August 9, 2009
Bang goes the bus top and still no tickle
Last night, I walked past a bus stop adorned with a poster advertising the new BBC science programme Bang Goes the Theory asking "Is it possible to tickle yourself?" and giving a number to text for an explanation. Fantastic, I thought. Neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore's work on the role of action prediction in the sensory attenuation of self-produced actions summarised in 160 characters.But h
14 Vote(s)
14 Vote(s)
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July 1, 2009
A neurobiology of the disordered mind
Newsweek has a short but smart essay by neuroscientist Eric Kandel who riffs on some of the latest developments that have pushed forward our understanding of the neurobiology of mental disorder.Kandel gives a description of one of the big biological discoveries from recent years, namely copy number variations, and explores what they might tell us about the development of psychiatric disorders:One
9 Vote(s)
9 Vote(s)
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