Cognitive enhancers. Developmental genes (axon guidance and targeting genes) are always expressed in the hippocampus. Since I often hear about cognitive enhancers improving memory, I wondered if cognitive enhancers somehow interact with axon guidance and targeting genes or proteins.First, I looked up whether there is a correlation between axon guidance genes and “intelligence.” (Several genome-wide […]
Last year, I heard about cases of human hibernation. The applications of this ranged from use during surgeries to space travel (apparently NASA is interested in this topic for its potential, like sleeping to Mars!). Anyway, I stumbled across this blog post while searching for accidental instances of human hibernations and it’s fantastic: http://inhumanexperiment.blogspot.com/2010/03/curious-case-of-human-hibernation.html (this […]
pork tapeworm or Taenia solium is a type of worm that can end up in your brain. It infects via fecal-oral contract so infection is higher in developing countries with poor hygiene (parasites spread when tapeworm egg infested foods or water are consumed). If the parasite larvae cysts enter the nervous system, then it’s called […]
Funny words and phrases used in science: flp off (n, “flip – off”) : genetic technique to repress a specific protein expression in certain cells catch virgins (v) : isolating virgin animals (usually fruit flies) for upcoming experiments lickometer (n, “lick – ah – meter”) : a device used to quantify when animals are drinking […]
Although she is most known as a fashion icon, Audrey Hepburn was also really involved in humanitarian work. Hepburn has been rewarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom among other awards and honors.Hepburn was mostly involved as a UNICEF ambassador (1988-1993; 50 years!), traveling to provide food to starving children, testifying before the US Congress, […]
Dopamine. This neurotransmitters is well known for being involved in processing reward. I recently read about dopamine being used for something similar in a fruit fly, so I tried to look up if maybe dopamine use is evolutionary conserved. First, multiple introductions from studies using fruit flies suggested conservation [ex: 1]. So I then I […]
Primates have a secondary gustatory (taste) cortex in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) [1]. I thought that this was odd, given that (1) the OFC is associated with understanding consequences and (2) the prefrontal cortex (where OFC is located) is generally not associated with early sensory processing. (Instead, this area is associated with what we consider […]
Pesticides in the gut? Starting around 2002, multiple reviews supporting the hypothesis that the vagus nerve as an initial site for Parkinson’s disease started being published. The vagus nerve includes cells that relay information from the gut to the brain. Currently, the speculation is as follows [1]:– An environmental cue (ex: ingested pesticide) triggers a […]
DNA can jump around. These segments of DNA that move around within the genome are called “transposons.” When the human genome project was completed, >45% of our genome was found to contain DNA segments from transportable elements [1]. Insertion rates of transposons can be estimated, which revealed a varying rate with several peaks throughout primate […]
Sex and violence, they pair well. I assumed that this was mostly pop culture glorifying masculinity through association with aggression and sex… but there’s apparently a tight biological link. Multiple regions in the brain have now been identified as containing cells specific for behaviors related to aggression or mating. Studied mostly in male mice (because […]
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