More than seven years ago, I listened to a video from a student in my online course on the neurobiology of everyday life. I couldn’t believe my ears. I was certain that the speaker was mistaken, confused. What she spoke of was an impossibility. But I was the one who was mistaken. That fateful day was the first time I […]
Thomas Graham Brown is a colorful and largely forgotten figure in the history of neuroscience. He was unknown to me before I encountered a rabbit hole that, as is my wont, I could not resist. Rabbit holes are always surprises and the path that leads to them is a big chunk of the fun. Here is my path to theThomas-Graham-Brown-rabbit-hole: […]
There has been a revolution in the unlikeliest of disciplines! Neuroanatomy! Yes neuroanatomy – so cut and dry – has been seriously altered by new research. The textbook world of neuroanatomy turned upside down yesterday. A team led by Jean François Brunet of INSERM in Paris has made the audacious proposal that the autonomic outflow of the sacral cord is […]
I just finished teaching Pritzker Medical students (Class of 2015). Once again, it was fun; I learned things and had new thoughts. Teaching is indeed learning. Today I want to share a recent teaching joy. Pritzker students gathered together on their own initiative to explore caloric testing, which I had talked about in class but never included in laboratory […]
This morning, Diana Keat, a NeuroMOOC student and friend texted me about a story on NPR’s The Takeaway that was about air conditioning as a necessity. As some of you may know from a previous post, the neurobiology of heat waves is one of my pet topics. Mammals have no way to actively cool themselves aka to “refrigerate” their bodies. We can heat ourselves very […]
Last Friday, I had a delightful visit from Diana Keat, a MOOC student and Facebook friend, and her husband Eddie. It was great fun to meet Diana and Eddie. I am hoping to see them again soon if I can manage to get to their home town of Philadelphia to see the Greg Dunn exhibit at the Franklin Institute. One of […]
Once upon a time there was dead and there was alive. The twain did not meet nor intersect outside of religious miracles. The era of dead-or-alive lasted for millennia until the 20th century when technological advances inserted an in-between state that consisted of alive only because of medical assistance. The first crack in the dead-or-alive edifice started with ventilators, machines that […]
Recently I was asked to answer a “Proust Questionnaire” for a get-to-know-your-teacher blurb. I had never heard the term but the exemplary questions, (e.g. Your favorite virtue; If not yourself, who would you be?; For what fault have you most toleration?; Favorite heroines in fiction) were clear enough that I was able to get into the spirit. I wrote back my […]
Whenever I teach eye movements, I am reminded of how exciting they are. I like that eye movements appear mundane, common, and perhaps even uninteresting. They fly under most people’s wow-o-cool-o-radar, giving all the appearance of a nuts-and-bolts system without lofty aspirations. Despite this unpretentious appearance, eye movements are incredibly interesting and also of the utmost importance to our social selves. There is so much more to […]
Yesterday, a good friend died at the ripe age of 102 years, 3 months, and a couple of days. I met Caryl through my spouse, Gisèle, more than 20 years ago. Gisèle and Caryl were both part of an artists’ cooperative in Hyde Park (Chicago not London). Caryl was a total live wire, funny and unexpected, interesting and opinionated. Caryl […]
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