Neurobiology

It has long been a goal of the scientific community to understand the mysteries of how the human brain develops from just a few cells into an organ capable of coordinating conscious thought. Slowly but surely, scientists are illuminating this black box…

Researchers studying neural development are plagued with an ever-present difficulty: how does one study the developing human brain without using invasive methods or being restricted to post-mortem tissue? Due to the complexity of human brain development,…

Our brain contains billions of cells called neurons, each connected to one another in a complex network, permitting us to think, move, and assimilate information about our environment. While many cells in our body can talk to one another, neurons are…

Presented by Clare Malone Is there a biological reason why some people become violent offenders? This is an area of biology with many legal, ethical, and societal implications. Tonight we will focus on what the biology can, and cannot, tell us about the…

Meditation has ancient, religious roots, but it has also become a secular practice, implemented to promote wellbeing and to treat depression and anxiety. Skeptics might be wary of this jump from spiritual origins to medical treatment, but mounting…

They say that the key to a man’s heart is through his stomach. A more biologically accurate metaphor would be that your gut holds several keys—not to your heart, but to your brain. Remarkably, the gut is capable of altering the brain’s ability to process…

-- Of the five senses, sight and hearing are often felt to be the most important. They allow us to interact with each other and our environment, and the loss of either sense can be devastating. Worldwide, an estimated 39 million people have severe…

Presented by Jessica Laird, Brenna Krieger, and Philip Shiu Decision-making is part of our daily routine, but what is really going on in our heads? This lecture will explore the science of decision-making from the perspectives of Economics and…

-- Try the training regimen of an Olympic athlete for a few days and two things will likely happen: you will be physically unable to complete the tasks and it will hurt, a lot. That’s because, as you overexert your muscles, they will tell your brain that…

-- Memory encompasses everything from thoughts of childhood friends to a mental list of what we need to pick up at the grocery store. It is essential for our sense of self, and allows us to learn from our previous experiences. In general, a memory is a…