According to both popular science and drug commercials, the brain is a mess of chemicals. Imbalances in these chemicals are responsible for a variety of ailments from depression to addiction. However, there’s rarely any mention of how these chemicals are related to neural activity. For instance, why is dopamine often rewarding, and why is serotonin… Read more »
Tag: neuroscience
Teaching an old dog new tricks: Neuroscience research at IU combines centuries-old methods with modern technology
This post is the second installment in a two part series. Check out last week’s post here. Thanks to modern technology, the field of cellular neuroscience has become illuminated with brightly colored images – tissue samples, cells, and individual molecules have been stained, photographed, colorized, and even reconstructed in three dimensions. A Google Image search… Read more »
Feeling stressed? Researchers at IU are studying how stress reshapes the brain
This post is part 1 of a two part series. Check out part 2 here. Imagine it’s 9:45 am. You have a meeting across town in 15 minutes and you just realized that you overslept your alarm! You throw on some clothes, grab a cup of yesterday’s coffee, and rush out the door, only to… Read more »
Harnessing the therapeutic benefits of marijuana: Research findings from Dr. Andrea Hohmann’s laboratory at Indiana University presented at international neuroscience conference
Last week, over 32,000 neuroscientists met in San Diego for the annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) conference. Joining them were members of IU’s Program in Neuroscience, including Dr. Andrea Hohmann, who is also a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences in the College of Arts in Sciences and a Linda and Jack Gill Chair of Neuroscience… Read more »
Catching brainwaves
If your family is anything like mine, you have that one crazy uncle with his tin foil hat, purportedly to prevent the aliens from electromagnetically manipulating his brain or to prevent his precious brain waves from being read by the government. While few take such fears seriously, significant confusion persists regarding ‘brain waves.’ What are… Read more »
The brain science of cognitive control
Ever wonder how your brain knows exactly what to do to achieve the goal of acquiring a cup of coffee, even if you’ve just stumbled out of bed? You need to take a number of steps in the correct order, including putting in the filter, adding the water, adding the coffee and turning on the… Read more »
New research at IU explores links between gut microbiota and the brain
You might be surprised to learn that your body is home to tens of trillions of microorganisms. In fact, your body contains more microbes than it does human cells. While that might sound a bit worrisome, these tiny, single-celled organisms are extremely important for human health. For example, the microbes that live in the gut… Read more »