brain
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Tag archives for brain
Jell-O Brains
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on April 10, 2013 I have to admit I love the science section of The New York Times. The topic today: Dr. Karl Deisseroth and colleagues at Stanford University have developed a technique called CLARITY that uses hydrogel to make the brain look like it is made of Jell-O. They have successfully applied this technique to a whole mouse brain as well as part of…
Brain scans show how crows perceive human faces
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on September 11, 2012 You may recall a prior post in which I talked about how intelligent crows are. In fact, there was a special on PBS demonstrating their ability to solve problems and even recognize human faces (HIGHLY recommended if you haven’t yet had a chance to see it): Watch A Murder of Crows on PBS. See more from Nature. In a…
Bigger brain = less offspring and guts
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on August 15, 2012 Studies of guppies show that bigger brains may mean “smarter” fish, but less offspring. Credit: Marrabbio2/Creative Commons …at least for guppies. Dr. Alexander Kotrschal and colleagues at Uppsala University (Sweden) either shrank or grew the brains of guppies over multiple generations to create animals with up to 8-10% variations in brain size. To test for “smartness” they had…
Restoring movement after paralysis
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on June 5, 2012 Scientists have been able to restore locomotion in paralyzed rats using a combination of nerve stimulation and engaging the mind by having the rats complete simple tasks (like obtaining treats). In the newly published research, Dr. Grégroire Courtine (University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and his team created a rat model of spinal…