![[A person holding up a heart on one side and a brain on the other side of their head.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2024/02/decision-4083469_1280-8935575295c9adbd.jpg)
How do we separate right from wrong in moral decision making? Some moral decisions, like whether or not to commit murder, seem like easy and intuitive moral decisions. However, we are often caught in moral dilemmas in our lives where the “right” thing to do is not as clear…
Tag: neuroscience
The neural foundation of psychopathology is complex
![[A person unwinding and rolling up the tangled wire, pulling the tangled wire is in the brain.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2023/09/mental-6841357_1280.png)
Since the “Decade of the Brain,” neuroscientists and clinical psychologists have been particularly interested in understanding how the brain contributes to psychopathology (commonly referred to as mental illness or mental disorder). However, despite all the resources poured into pursuing questions along these lines, there is little overlap in research findings between studies; it remains difficult to effectively translate neuroscience research into clinical practice, arguably the ultimate goal in studying the brain basis of psychopathology.
Heart rate variability: What it is and how it relates to mental health
![[Two red heartbeat waves extend from a black-and-white outline of a brain.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2022/12/sciu_hrv_mainimage.png)
A healthy heart is not a metronome. Even though most of us can follow our heartbeat with ease, in between each heartbeat is a period of time that varies in duration from one beat to the next. This difference in time between any consecutive heartbeat is known as heart rate variability (HRV), and researchers are increasingly using it as a tool to understand mental health…
Racial biases in neuroscience research methods: Electroencephalography (EEG) & black hair
![[A headshot of a woman staring deeply at the camera with her hands covering part of her face.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2022/10/feature-image.png)
The lyrics “Don’t touch my hair, when it’s the feelings I wear,” sung by the widely acclaimed musician Solange, express how hair can be an extension of one’s identity for many in the Black community. However important hair is to many Black individuals, cultural sensitivity in working with Black clients and research participants is often absent from basic neuroscience research training…
Potluck of neuroscience: Meet microglia, your brain’s National Guard
![[An illustration of a microglia.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/02/Microglia-Warrior2.png)
One of the first things you’ll learn about if you start studying the brain is that it is made of cells called neurons. While neuroscientists have a decent understanding about how neurons work, it turns out that at least half of the brain is actually made of non-neuronal cells called glia*. Glia, named based on the Greek word for ‘glue,’ were initially thought to be a type of connective tissue in the nervous system, acting just as scaffolding, while the neurons did all the communicating. In the last couple decades, the growing field of neuroimmunology has highlighted the importance of a certain kind of glia: microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells…
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021
The question of how we sense the environment around us has fascinated humans for centuries. The first attempts at a theoretical understanding of the senses were discovered in the writings of early Greek thinkers in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. However, the gap between our theories and our understanding of how our senses work is continuing to shrink. This year, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to Dr. David Julius and Dr. Ardem Patapoutian, two scientists who independently discovered mechanisms of how we sense temperature and touch…
A study on grammar and the bilingual brain
![[A cartoon of the brain, with pictures of a heart, a thought bubble, music notes, numbers, a molecule, and words.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/09/brain-5662029_1920.jpg)
We humans have a unique capacity to acquire language, even as adults. However, if you have ever used Duolingo, you might have realized that children are more successful at acquiring languages than adults. This observation is puzzling; since adults are smarter than children, shouldn’t it be the other way around? One set of explanations for this paradox focuses on parsing — that is, applying our knowledge of grammar as sentences unfold incrementally…
Cannabidiol: A step in the right direction for treating epilepsy
![[Black and white image of the brain. The black lines represent the many different “connections” our brain uses in order to communicate and function.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/04/abstract-image-of-brain.png)
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder that is characterized by sudden, uncontrolled electrical activity between neurons in the brain. These electrical disturbances typically manifest in the form of seizures which, in their mild forms, can go unnoticed, but in more severe cases can cause uncontrollable muscle twitches, loss of consciousness and, ultimately, memory loss. There are two classes of seizures: general, whole brain seizures and focal seizures, in which only a part of the brain is affected. Based on these two classes, additional seizure types are characterized by their severity and symptoms…
The Origins of 420
![[A cannabis plant, seeds, and oil displayed on a canvas cloth.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2021/04/cbd-4469987_1920.jpg)
This Tuesday is April 20th, otherwise known as 420. For some it’s just another day in the week, but for others it’s a much-anticipated and beloved holiday. However, have you ever stopped to consider how this pseudo-holiday came to be? A quick google search will provide a number of varying and amusing theories. Some of the most popular 420 stories include 420 as a police dispatch code for cannabis use, as the number of chemical compounds in cannabis (actually there are over 500), or the day of Bob Marley’s death (actually May 11th). However…
Potluck of neuroscience: Meet microglia, your brain’s National Guard
One of the first things you’ll learn about if you start studying the brain is that it is made of cells called neurons. While neuroscientists have a decent understanding about how neurons work, it turns out that at least half of the brain is actually made of non-neuronal cells called glia*. Glia, named based on the Greek word for ‘glue,’ were initially thought to be a type of connective tissue in the nervous system, acting just as scaffolding, while the neurons did all the communicating. In the last couple decades, the growing field of neuroimmunology has highlighted the importance of a certain kind of glia: microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells.