Why do we need to sleep? In all of human biology, few questions are more persistent – or more mythologized – than this one. Almost as puzzling as sleep itself are sleep disorders like narcolepsy and insomnia, which make us wonder why some of us need so much more sleep than others do. David Rye, [...]
Posts Tagged ‘biology’
Deciphering Sleep: Our Interview with David Rye
December 17th, 2012 
The Connectome 
Posted in Feature Stories, Featured 
Tags: biochemistry, biology, consciousness, dreams, neurochemistry, neuropharmacology, sleep 
1 Comment »
Q&A: Can We Preserve Our Brains After Death?
November 2nd, 2012 The Connectome As promised, here’s the first-ever official Connectome Q&A! We’ve been getting lots of incoming questions on our Facebook and Twitter pages – some of them on the technical side; others of the more “general interest” variety. Most of these questions require pretty involved answers – and it’s important to me that each of them gets [...]
Posted in Featured Tags: biology, connectomics, consciousness, evolution, imaging, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, technology 2 Comments »
Podcast 4 – Our Interview With Scott Emmons
September 15th, 2012 The Connectome On episode 4 of the Connectome podcast, Ben chats with Scott W. Emmons, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience and genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Emmons talks with us about his cutting-edge connectomics research, which may help us understand how neural circuits “decide” on a particular behavior. Click here to subscribe in [...]
Posted in Featured, Podcasts Tags: biology, connectomics, functional networks, neuroanatomy, neurons, senses, technology No Comments »
The Lurking Lizard
September 7th, 2012 The Connectome He has haunted us for more than fifty years – this strange scientist, with his theory of primal reptiles embedded in each of us. And for years I wondered, Could this bizarre hypothesis be true? Might it explain the ancient instincts – so contrary to my intentions – which I felt arising from the depths [...]
Posted in Feature Stories, Featured Tags: biology, evolution, functional networks, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, psychology 1 Comment »
The Listeners from Below
August 15th, 2012 The Connectome Deep within your brain, they are listening. In still silence, they await signals from afar – dim echoes of distant calls. And when they hear what they’ve been waiting for… they will awaken. They are known as neural stem cells – and not only are they real; researchers have just made some major discoveries about [...]
Posted in Brain News, Featured Tags: biochemistry, biology, neurochemistry, neurons, neurophysiology No Comments »
Sexy Neuroscience III
June 24th, 2012 The Connectome Female orgasm is a topic shrouded in mystery – not just for sexually awkward boyfriends, but for biologists too. We know, for example, that lots of animals have clitorises, yet a surprising number of female mammals don’t seem to experience orgasms at all. This has led researchers to some new discoveries and debates – and [...]
Posted in Feature Stories, Featured Tags: biology, evolution, neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, sex No Comments »
Aliens in the Lab
June 19th, 2012 The Connectome Researchers are creating new lifeforms that are chemically unrelated to any other life on earth. In fact, for the first time ever, scientists in Japan have built an artificial synapse, from the molecules up. What?! How can this be? Read on, intrepid voyager of the unknown, and discover for yourself. The basic idea is that [...]
Posted in Brain News, Featured Tags: biochemistry, biology, learning, neurochemistry, neurons, technology No Comments »
Skin Into Brain II
June 9th, 2012 The Connectome For the first time in history, scientists have reprogrammed a whole batch of skin cells into a self-organizing, functioning network of brain cells, says a new study. That’s right, y’all – Dr. Sheng Ding at UCSF is blowin’ up the stem cell research game once again – except this time, instead of just reprogramming individual [...]
Posted in Brain News, Featured Tags: biology, genetics, neurons, structural networks, technology 1 Comment »
Whisperers in Darkness
May 31st, 2012 The Connectome Last night I awoke with my head under the covers, to the sounds of strange chitterings and scratchings in the darkness around me. For a few seconds I lay frozen, hoping the sounds would fade – but they only grew louder and drew nearer – until at last, unable to stand it any longer, I [...]
Posted in Feature Stories, Featured Tags: biology, consciousness, psychology, senses, sleep No Comments »
Prometheus Unbound
May 26th, 2012 The Connectome What would you do if you could feel any way you wanted, at will? I’m not just talking about mind-hacks for calming yourself down or getting motivated. I mean, what if you could become drunk, instantly, just by deciding to – and then completely sober up at a moment’s notice? What if tripping on mescaline [...]
Posted in Feature Stories, Featured Tags: biochemistry, biology, memory, technology, technosophy No Comments »
