Tag: brain
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Every breath you take, every memory you make
The way you breathe can influence your brain’s ability to form long-term memories, writes Clara Lenherr.
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What makes us human may come down to the way our neurons process information
Clara Lenherr explores the newly discovered human-specific characteristics of neurons and discusses how the uniqueness of human neurons brings into question what we already know about human cognition. The ability of neurons to carry out complex computations when integrating the thousands of inputs that they receive is thought to be the basis of cognition. The…
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How brain cells repair their DNA reveals “hot spots” of aging and disease
The brain is the organ responsible for our personality, consciousness and ability to process our surrounding environment. It, quite simply, makes us who we are. Unfortunately, as we age it is not solely our body that begins to fail us, but our mind responsible for our identity also deteriorates. However, the process behind this deterioration…
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Why we should be more concerned about maternal stress during pregnancy
Marie Poirot reports on a University of Edinburgh study which highlights the connection between stress during pregnancy and the development of the baby’s brain. Pregnancy is a time of immense change for the expecting mother. As we mostly see the positive aspects of this extraordinary event, many can be unaware that it can also bring…
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Zombie neuroscience: it’s all about the braiiiiins
Ellie Bennett uses neuroscience to explore what has gone wrong in the zombie brain to make them the lumbering, flesh-hungry creatures depicted on our screens. A lumbering gait, no recognition of loved ones, the inability to verbalise above moans and grunts, and an insatiable appetite. It’s the archetypal zombie. He’s been staggering his way through…
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You are what you eat: is cannibalism a good idea?
During lockdown I, like many, have been watching more TV shows. My most recent watch was Hannibal. For those who don’t know, Hannibal is a horror-thriller TV series which follows Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a forensic scientist and secret cannibal. Recently, writers and directors have been reframing cannibalism for entertainment purposes, treating their subjects not as…
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An Alien in Our Sea: A look at the intelligence of an octopus
In 2016, one of my favourite sci-fi films Arrival was released, and – mild spoiler alert – it presented us with an alien species named the heptapods, who challenged human perception of the universe and life. Had these species originated instead from Earth, I wouldn’t blame you for assuming them to be related to the…
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Time for an upgrade? Exploring human neural enhancement
When considering neuroprosthetics and brain-machine interfaces, cyborgs and sentient robots may come to mind – part of a not too distant dystopian future, perhaps. Popular culture leans very heavily upon speculation and the boundless imagination of readers and writers alike, often arousing apprehension and calls to forego innovation for fear of what we may unwittingly…
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The brain is overrated: a look at cognition in slime mould
Historical, scientific and philosophical adventure into the nature of consciousness seems to have, nine times out of ten, made the assumption that cognition should be explored within the kingdom of animalia. This top down approach seeks to derive a mechanism for consciousness from that which we already know, rather than from first principles of computation.…