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Posted in Perception, Somatosensory, Techniques, Uncategorized on Nov 3rd, 2009
Carbonation is an important quality of favorite drinks like beer and soda. In addition to the feel of bubbles bursting on the tongue, the flavor of CO2 adds to the fizz experience. Researchers have just identified the taste cells and a membrane-bound receptor responsible for tasting CO2. Using genetically-engineered mice that lack one [...]
Posted in Perception, Vision on Jun 24th, 2009
Do these lines look like they extend away from you at different angles? Actually, they’re exactly the same. You brain is fooling you…again! For more information and a few other examples of this illusion, click here.
Still trust your perception? Maybe this will change your mind. Here is the 2009 winner of the Best Visual Illusion [...]
Posted in Behaviour, Brain, Perception on Jun 24th, 2009
The placebo effect has been observed for centuries. Patients given nothing more than sugar pills are able to alleviate their own pain, anxiety and depression. In one case, a terminal cancer patient shrunk his own tumors when he believed in the power of a sham treatment.
This is a very well-written article that links the placebo [...]
Posted in Brain, Motor Control, Perception on Jun 24th, 2009
Has someone just been watching too many sci-fi movies on Hulu? Doctors at Geneva University Hospital disagree. This is a special case of a supernumerary phantom limb. After suffering a stroke, the 64-year old woman says she can see and feel the “presence of a pale, milky-white and translucent third arm.” More surprisingly, she even [...]
Posted in Cortex, Pain, Perception, Techniques on Apr 24th, 2008
A recent article in Scientific American describes one of the treatments for patients experiencing phantom limb pain. One solution mentioned was to thrust a screw driver into the apparent trouble spot. The amputee would place his prosthetic leg where his own leg used to be, and stab at it with his screwdriver. [...]
Posted in Perception, Vision on Jan 23rd, 2008
Magicians exploit the fact that we often don’t pay attention to what is going on around us. Even though our eyes take in everything and faithfully report what they see, the brain simply must choose what to focus on. There is too much out there to take it all in and process it. [...]
Posted in Brain, Imaging, Techniques on Nov 22nd, 2007
Neuroimaging is a rapidly growing aspect of neuroscience with lots of new toys to view the active structures of the brain during as a result of different stimuli. But this new technique takes it to a new level. There are great pictures of hippocampal neurons from the “brainbow” mouse.
Stanford’s online-medical ezine has a [...]
Posted in Behaviour, Limbic, Perception, Sleep on Oct 28th, 2007
Something to consider over the Harvest Feast Holiday is cuddling up with a good book. A couple suggestions to fuel your mind would be Oliver Sacks’ new book on music-mind connections. The NYTimes wrote a nice review. Another set of essays to prepare you for the third unit of the course are: [...]
Posted in Brain, Cortex, Hearing, Perception on Oct 18th, 2007
As we continue to dive deeper into the functional mapping of the cortical regions of the brain, we will see that even though we make firm distinctions as to what parts connect to what– there is always a kink in the plan…
This is a series of clips of the famed neurologist V.S. Ramachandran that cover [...]
Posted in Channels, Pain, Perception on Oct 6th, 2007
By at least one measure surgical pain management techniques haven’t changed significantly since the first use of ether at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Charlestown in 1846. Anesthetics—both general and local—work by blocking or interfering with signals from all neurons, not just the pain-sensing ones. While these techniques do block pain, they come with a [...]
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Channel N – brain science videocasts Mind Hacks