By Mariam Melkumyan With Thanksgiving a few days away, it seems very hard to find things to be grateful about this year. 2020 gave us COVID-19, environmental issues, political and human rights movements, terrorist attacks and hostility all over the world, including a war in my home country Armenia, and a crazy, stressful period of … Continue reading The Neuroscience Behind Gratitude
neuroscience
Food for Thought: How Diet Can Affect Your Brain
By Rebecca Fleeman We are consistently told that throughout our lives we should “eat right and exercise”. Ask anyone why diet and physical activity are important, and they will likely respond with answers on disease prevention and longevity. The general public is largely aware that a bad diet can lead to weight gain, and that … Continue reading Food for Thought: How Diet Can Affect Your Brain
A Tale of Two Studies: The effects of APOE at the blood brain barrier in Alzheimer’s disease
By Stephanie Baringer It is always exciting for scientists to see their research interests published in high impact journals, such as Nature, Cell, and Science. One can imagine my excitement when two articles that focused on the blood brain barrier (BBB) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) were published in Nature within about a month of each … Continue reading A Tale of Two Studies: The effects of APOE at the blood brain barrier in Alzheimer’s disease
The Re-Introduction of Psychedelics in Medicine
By Rahul Nachnani Millions of patients are struggling with treatment-resistant psychiatric diseases including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and addiction. These folks often go through numerous rounds of medications, therapies, providers, and are understandably frustrated with the lack of progress in their mental health and recovery. In an ideal setting, rather than months of ring-around-the-pharmacy, … Continue reading The Re-Introduction of Psychedelics in Medicine
The Hype Behind Supplements for Your Brain
By Mariam Melkumyan A few months ago, I was shopping at CVS and came across a stand that caught my attention. It was a stand full of brain support supplements with labels including “Brain Armor”, “Brain Fog Capsule”, “Brain Performance”, “All-Day Focus”. Later on, my brother brought up the brain supplement by Qualia, saying that … Continue reading The Hype Behind Supplements for Your Brain
What is Going On in Your Brain When You’re Stressed
By Mariam Melkumyan While certain levels of stress present in our lives is a good thing, sometimes it can be too much. Now is a very stressful time for graduate students; in addition to qualifying and comprehensive exams and dissertations, we are constantly reminded of threats to our health and normal lives due to the … Continue reading What is Going On in Your Brain When You’re Stressed
The Life of Aducanumab: A Potential Novel Alzheimer’s Disease Drug
On October 22nd, 2019, headlines read “Biogen plans regulatory filing for Aducanumab for Alzheimer’s disease based on new analysis of larger dataset from phase 3 studies”. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease characterized by cognitive dysfunction and memory loss. It is the 6th leading cause of adult deaths in the United States. Biogen … Continue reading The Life of Aducanumab: A Potential Novel Alzheimer’s Disease Drug
The Little Brain with Big Potential
Credit: Raman Oza from Pixabay Until recently, the cerebellum, often referred to as “the little brain,” was thought to regulate motor movements, balance, and coordination. However, according to an article published in 2009, the cerebellum has 70 billion neurons (compared to the 25 billion in the cerebral cortex) giving it 2.5 times more neurons than … Continue reading The Little Brain with Big Potential
Don’t forget about the stars in your brain!
Figure 1: Immunohistochemistry stain of astrocytes (Oksanen, 2017, Stem Cell Reports). In the late 19th century, Santiago Ramón y Cajal aided in the formation of the neuron doctrine, a theory which used evidence from neuronal staining techniques to confirm that neurons are each separate entities and not one continuous fusion of cells. These separations allow … Continue reading Don’t forget about the stars in your brain!
A Scary Side of Drinking: Alcohol Use Disorder
Credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Turning 21 is a rite of passage—your first (legal) drink! Drinking is typically seen as a reward for something great (like getting a grant!), something to take the edge off (like when you don’t get that grant…), or a way to loosen up in social situations. On occasion and in … Continue reading A Scary Side of Drinking: Alcohol Use Disorder
Lions Talk Science 