The social lives of rats
The lab I am in mainly studies effort behaviors in rats and humans (and recently pigeons with my collaborators). We want to know what goes on in the brain when animals work at a difficult task. But knowing that a … Continued
Neurons in the Pigeon Nidopallium Caudolaterale Display Value-Related Activity – For the people
Not so bird brained after all; pigeons care a great deal about how quickly they get a reward, and we found the neurons that carry that information! Pigeons, just like humans, prefer rewards they don’t have to wait long for. … Continued
Hippocampal place cell encoding of sloping terrain – For the people
In all mammalian brains, from humans to bats to rats, there are specialized neurons called “place cells“. These brain cells are only active when we are in a particular place within an environment. You have some place cells for your … Continued
Noise in system – A story about real life science
The events of this post are all true (as far as I can remember) and began on the 5th of June. Everything was going well. Too well. Nothing goes well in science, especially not as well as things were going … Continued
Interactive neural network
Visualizing how brain cells communicate and learn Rather than just watching a brain work, in the demos below you can create your own miniature brain! Simply click/press anywhere to add a new neuron to the brain. Press the up/down arrow … Continued
Is Black Mirror’s Recaller real?
How close are we to being able to read people’s brains today? Minor spoilers ahead First some background Netflix’s Black Mirror explores possible futures for humanity and civilization in each episode. In the latest fourth season, episode 3 (titled “Crocodile”) … Continued
Dear Grandson
I am so sorry we did not do more. That we did too little so late. Worst of all, we knew the costs which would fall upon your back as we enjoyed the immediate benefits. We knew for decades and did nothing. … Continued
Finding Dory’s Memories: The neuroscience behind Disney Pixar’s Finding Dory
Warning: Minor spoilers if you have not yet seen the movie! Summary of Finding Dory Finding Dory picks up a little while after Finding Nemo ended. Nemo is still a kid and going to school with Mr. Ray. Rather than … Continued
Sea Hero – Gaming and Citizen Science to Fight Dementia
“We are nothing more than the sum of our memories and experiences” ― Michael Scott, The Sorceress Dementia Dementia is a broad range of neurodegenerative diseases, the most common sub type known as Alzheimer’s disease, which effects people’s ability to think … Continued
No, we did not just upload memories matrix style.
Catchy headlines have been whizzing around the internet recently: “Scientists develop Matrix-style technology capable of ‘uploading knowledge’ to your brain” – The Independent “Scientists discover how to ‘upload knowledge to your brain’ ” – The Telegraph The news reports claim trained … Continued