Pure Pedantry

Reality is always more complicated than you think.

Profile

Jake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine focusing in Neuroscience. He is due to graduate in 2032. He received a BS and a MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University -- where he spent most of his time drinking heavily and building vegetable catapults instead of learning information that would now be eminently useful. When he is not failing terrifically to perform his sworn duties, he enjoys watching bad movies, ethnic food, and running.

Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.

Jake is joined periodically by two wonderful guest bloggers: Kara Contreary and Kate Seip. See the About Page.

DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own or those of my co-bloggers. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments we currently attend.

Search this blog

Neurological disease:

Sen. Kennedy and Glioma

I don't know if everyone caught this in the news, but Senator Edward Kennedy has been diagnosed with a glioma. Regardless of one's politics, this is a real bum rap, and my deepest sympathy goes out to him and his...

Read on »

Posted on May 22, 2008 11:36 AM • 5 Comments •

Using a mirror to combat phantom pain

CNN has a story about a Navy neurologist who tried using mirrors to help soldiers from Iraq with phantom pain. Phantom pain is pain in amputees that is perceived to originate in the amputated limb. What causes it is not...

Read on »

Posted on March 20, 2008 8:41 AM • 11 Comments •

Migraine Art

The NYTimes has a slide show of "migraine" art provided by Oliver Sacks from his book Migraine. They attempt to illustrate what a migraine aura looks like. Neat. I would put one up on my wall if I didn't feel...

Posted on March 4, 2008 11:29 AM • 5 Comments •

Imaging Functional Recovery in a Monkey Model of Spinal Injury

In neuroscience, we spend a lot of time studying the normal function of the nervous system, and we spend a lot of time studying disease processes that can impair this function. What we don't typically do is study how functional...

Read on »

Posted on January 17, 2008 9:51 AM • 0 Comments •

Foreign Accent Syndrome and Different Types of Aphasia

In which a boy wakes up after an infection with a new accent.

Read on »

Posted on September 18, 2007 11:02 AM • 8 Comments •

Mobius syndrome is nothing to smile about

Science has an article this week (sadly behind a subscription wall) about a rare disease called Mobius syndrome. Mobius syndrome is a developmental disorder of facial muscle innervation with a variety of presentations; however, the presentation often includes facial paralysis...

Read on »

Posted on May 14, 2007 1:30 PM • 0 Comments •