Nervous laughter

National Geographic Channel aired its Emmy-nominated series Brain Games: “Watch This” on Oct. 9, 2011, directed by Jeremiah Crowell and written by Leslie Schwerin. The settings took place in multiple locations in California, starring, Neil Patrick Harris as the narrator, Beau Lotto as himself, Bas Rokers as himself, John Crawford as himself, Jonah Lehrer as himself, Robin Harlan as herself, Sarah Monat-Jacobs as herself, Josh McDermott as himself, Dr. Lera Bordoditsky as herself, Daniel Kish as…

Introduction: Planarians are free-living aquatic flatworms that posses remarkable regeneration abilities in addition to its distinct negative phototaxis behavior. A wealth of research studies has thoroughly examined its photophobic behavior under different wave frequencies and light conditions. Planarian are highly sensitive to white light and wavelengths of high frequencies, blue-green range ( Paskin TR, 2014). Two basic pigment-cup eyes situated in the head region govern its photophobic…

1.2. Brain Development Brain development starts at the embryonic period, more specifically at the fifth week of pregnancy. Figure 1.1 illustrates the timeline of pregnancy by weeks and months of GA (16). In the first months of pregnancy and before birth, the brain experiences the most development and changes in shape, size and structure (17, 18). Most significantly, changes occur in the size of the brain and in the cortical folding. Growth continues rapidly until the brain is two to three years…

for, or even imagined. Daily life no longer becomes the simple task of getting dressed and going to work, but voluntarily caring for your own body, with the hopes living a long and fulfilling life. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system, which causes inflammation and hardening of tissues located within the brain and brain…

Although there is no cure for muscular sclerosis there just a few treatments that can help control the symptoms. A variety of medications are prescribed in several forms such as orally, intravenous or by injection. Treatment for attacks includes corticosteroids to reduce nerve inflammation. Medications for depression, sexual dysfunction and bladder and bowel control may also be prescribed. Medications administered by injection subcutaneously or intramuscularly are Beta interferons for…

One of the most sought out secrets is the one of how the mind works in terms of the different networks of neurons. In recent years neuroscientist have accomplished a lot with regards to what parts of the brain are active at certain times such as when you smile, when you see a picture, or when you have an enjoyable memory, but one thing that neuroscientist have not been able to discover is how one age mentally. Many theories have been proposed and seen through different studies. The most…

Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular disorder or autoimmune disorder. An autoimmune disorder occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy tissue. Neuromuscular disorders involve the muscles and the nerves that control them. With myasthenia gravis, the body produces antibodies that block the muscle cells from receiving messages (neurotransmitters) from the nerve, which causes weakness of the voluntary muscles. Therefore, fewer receptors are available for stimulation, resulting…

Behavioral and Neural Events in the Olfactory System Olfaction is dependent on a large network of multiple primary and secondary processing centers connected in parallel and serial manners. Some of these centers are linked with non-olfactory regions. Olfactory receptor neurons project into the olfactory bulb which projects to the olfactory cortex. The olfactory cortex is a three layered cortex with several distinct sub-regions, the largest being the pyriform cortex. The other main components of…

Ever heard of a patch for migraines? The majority of medicine for migraines today is pills not patches. In 2015 an advertisement for Zecuity was published. This Zecuity advertisement is using ethos, pathos and logos to attract the audience. This advertisement has only three colors. The colors are blue, green, and white. The whole background is blue from left is dark blue and in the middle it gets lighter then fades out into a greenish blue on the right. On the bottom of the advertisement there…

LeDoux said we “do not come preassembled, but are glued together by life.” (LeDoux, 3) As a leading neuroscientist, he makes this claim intending to show that neuroscience is the best approach for understanding identity. It is the most complete and concise way of understanding the numerous, undeniable correlations between brain structures and identity. Current research has already shown key facets of human experience to be directly represented in the brain. Computers are closing in on matching…