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November 26, 2008
Category: Neuroscience
The term body image was coined by the great neurologist Henry Head and refers to a mental representation of one's physical appearance. Constructed by the brain from past experience and present sensations, the body image is a fundamental aspect of...
Posted by Mo at 12:40 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 25, 2008
Category: Neuroscience
For most of us, visual perception is crucial for spatial navigation. We rely on vision to find our way around, to position ourselves and localize objects within the surroundings, and to plan our trajectory on the basis of the layout...
Posted by Mo at 10:23 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 24, 2008
Category: Neuroscience
Prosopagnosia is a neurological condition characterised by an inability to recognize faces. In the most extreme cases, the prosopagnosic patient cannot even recognize their own face in the mirror or a photograph, and in his 1985 book The Man Who...
Posted by Mo at 6:00 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 19, 2008
Category: Microbiology
Fox 10 News has a rather gruesome story about the removal of a live parasitic worm from a woman's brain, which is accompanied by a film clip containing footage of the surgical procedure. As the film explains, the woman,...
Posted by Mo at 9:31 PM • 20 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Developmental Biology
This beautiful image of the brain of a 5-day-old zebrafish larva, which was created by Albert Pan of Harvard University, has just won 4th place in the 2008 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging competition. (See a larger version here.) It...
Posted by Mo at 9:27 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Neuroscience
Last Thursday's episode of the Radio 4 programme In Our Time featured a very interesting discussion about recent developments in neuroscience research. Presenter Melvynn Bragg was joined by psychologist Martin Conway of Leeds University, cognitive neuroscientist Gemma Calvert of the...
Posted by Mo at 8:25 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 18, 2008
Category: Neuroscience
Optogenetics is a recently developed technique based on microbial proteins called channelrhodopsins (ChRs), which render neurons sensitive to light when inserted into them, thus enabling researchers to manipulate the activity of the cells using laser pulses. Although still very new...
Posted by Mo at 12:18 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 14, 2008
Category: Vintage Illustrations
The current issue of Nature contains an interesting article about Sir Christopher Wren's contribution to neuroanatomy, by art historians Martin Kemp and Nathan Flis of Oxford University.The article focuses on the anatomical illustrations produced by Wren for Thomas Willis's 1664...
Posted by Mo at 4:17 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 12, 2008
Category: Neuroscience
It is now well established that the adult mammalian brain - including that of humans - contains at least two discrete populations of neural stem cells which continue to generate new nerve cells throughout life. These newborn neurons are quickly...
Posted by Mo at 10:28 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
November 11, 2008
Category: Animal Behaviour
Every autumn, millions of songbirds embark upon long distance southerly migrations to warmer climes. Some species migrate during the day, but the majority - including sparrows, thrushes and warblers - do so at night, leaving their daytime habitats just after...
Posted by Mo at 10:59 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
PZ Myers 11.19.2009
PZ Myers 11.14.2009
Tim Lambert 11.18.2009
Ed Brayton 11.20.2009
James Hrynyshyn 11.20.2009
