The Tim Hunt comments from last week set off a firestorm of ridicule, indignation and despair. In the wake of this depressing reminder of the challenges ahead for women and men in science, I was thrilled to learn that Martin Chalfie, winner of a Nobel Prize for Chemistry, was coming to give a talk. From long ago interactions, I knew Dr […]
I am thrilled to say that after roughly 3 ½ years, our work on empathic helping has been replicated by Nobuya Sato and his colleagues. Not only did Dr Sato confirm that rats help other rats in distress but he extended this finding in several ways. Rats help a soaked conspecific Dr Sato and his colleagues published an article entitled “Rats demonstrate […]
I have tried and tried, over and over, to write a post relating how teaching Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life on Coursera has changed my life. Every time that I have thought of sitting down to summarize my experience in writing, I quickly become overwhelmed by my feelings of deep gratitude for this journey that NeuroMOOCers and […]
I was devastated when my friend and colleague, Sheharyar Hasnain, emailed me to tell me that Sabeen Mahmud had been assassinated in Karachi as she and her mother were going home from her bookstore/café/salon. As of the latest updates, Sabeen’s mother is in critical condition. I am an unlikely person – an Americam Jew – to be touched personally by the […]
A few days ago, a friend texted me, Is this for real? followed by a link to an article about a pair of sunglasses that “fix” color blindness. Well, before even clicking, I was certain that the EnChroma sunglasses were no fix or cure. Cures are rare, exceedingly so. We treat conditions, we don’t cure them. Indeed the sunglasses made by EnChroma will alter a […]
A few days ago, the world was taken by storm by the is-it-a-gold-and-white-or-a-blue-and-black-dress controversy. There have been several explanations of this phenomenon from several different experts (see for example Wired and NYTimes). As far as I can tell these explanations center on two points: The close cropping of the image prevents a person from globally contextualizing the dress. Is the dress drenched in light […]
Here are my two cents on Brian Williams and the malleability of memory. Let’s start by fully acknowledging the limitations of perception. Perception of the world outside is very different from the record produced by a camera or audio record. Perception of our innards is even farther from accurate: is that a knife in my stomach or gas? So the information coming in to the brain, information […]
I am hoping that you play my game and try to read the text above. Go ahead and try before you read the answer below. How’d you do? I am betting that you did just fine. Maybe you had some problems with neocortex, or maybe not. Here is the un-substituted text: How did you read the scramble? Are you aware of how you […]
I am working in earnest on the 2nd edition of my textbook entitled Medical Neurobiology (Oxford University Press, 2011). I have taught from this book to Pritzker medical students four times (2011-14). While teaching medical students is most directly relevant to a textbook that specifically targets medical students, I also learned so much from teaching undergraduates in University of Chicago’s Study Abroad […]
The idea of regeneration and de novo cell production captures the interest of many in the public. I am not entirely clear on the reasons that people find regeneration so alluring. But I venture to say that regeneration may be an attractive idea because it offers 1) the hope of reversing ill health and 2) a biological approach to immortality, typically the exclusive domain of […]
Join me and thousands of others in the next offering of Understanding the brain. The start date will be announced here when available.
To learn much much more about the brain in all of its splendorous detail, check out my textbook. The second edition is now out!! Get it here: textbook. 
The brain is sooooo cool! 