Can’t remember your dreams? Take your vitamins! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Psychologists think that “lucid dreaming” – when you’re aware that you’re having a dream – can help people overcome nightmares. Some people keep dream journals to help them be more aware of
Continue readingTag: neurology
Hidden Brain
If your eyes are the window to your soul, what’s the window to your brain? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Many people suffer from diseases that require brain surgery to treat and monitor. Unfortunately, brain surgery requires an open skull – risky and complex!
Continue readingAmped-Up Memory
Your brain – what’s it up to…at night? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. It’s not just cooking up bizarre dreams! Sleep is also thought to affect memory formation.. Our natural electrical brain activity helps seal in those memories, converting them from short-term to long-term.
Continue readingNaptime for Jellies
Sleep is for the weak. Or is it? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. During sleep, the brain declutters, organizes memories, and rejuvenates. But what about animals without a brain? Do they ever need a snooze? Enter the Cassiopea jellyfish. With no heart, bones, or
Continue readingThe Nerve!
Are cockroaches lending a helping hand? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. I know – technically cockroaches don’t have hands… But they do have legs, and they’re revolutionizing prosthetic limbs. How? Yeongin Kim and colleagues at Stanford University have created an artificial nerve. It senses
Continue readingCroc Meets Bach
Do crocodiles like the Crocodile Rock …or do they prefer classical? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When you get a concussion, doctors use an M-R-I to take pictures of your brain. Remember that big hollow tube that patients lie down inside of on Grey’s
Continue readingStressy Study
Are you STRESSING OUT right now? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Life is full of stressful situations – exams! Traffic! Which remote goes with which appliance?!! And the effects of stress are usually thought to be harmful to our health. But WHY do we
Continue readingSeeing is…Feeling?
Can you trust your …eyes? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A lot of our feelings come from what we see. Imagine how you feel looking at a colorful sunset, or a deep car scrape. But could our FEELINGS change how we SEE things? Erika
Continue readingObey Your Thirst
Obey your thirst! Your brain commands it! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Meet Yuki Oka of the California Institute of Technology. He and collaborators have a thirst for knowledge. Literally! They’ve pinpointed two groups of cells in mouse brains that control thirst. Kind of
Continue readingCount Your Brain Cells
“You can’t teach an old dog…”—how does that go? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. As you age, certain motor functions begin to slow down. You don’t move as fast as you used to, and you become a tad forgetful. Based on past studies, most
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