Home of the Stanford Neuroblog. Scientists writing about science, for a general audience.
Have a question about the brain? Ask a neuroscientist a question.
In this edition of Ask a Neuroscientist, Dr. David Bochner tackles a pair of questions: 1) Whether synaptic plasticity means that synapses move closer together, and 2) Whether the predominance of papers describing plasticity at glutamatergic synapses means that other synapses aren't plastic.
Spoilers: The answer to both these questions is no. Read below the fold to learn why.
Read MoreIn this edition of Ask a Neuroscientist, what does it take to get into the Stanford Neuroscience PhD program?
To help me answer this question, I sat down with the newly minted director of the Stanford Neurosciences PhD Program, Dr. Anthony (Tony) Ricci. Before his appointment as Program Director, Tony served on the Stanford PhD Program Admissions Committee; he also was involved in graduate admissions at Louisiana State University prior to his appointment at Stanford. Tony believes that graduate admission should be a transparent process, and so was happy to share his personal approach to selecting applicants.
We discuss the process by which 500 applicants are narrowed down to 30 invited interviewees, and what a successful application needs to prevent rejection.
Read MoreIn this issue of Ask a Neuroscientist, Jennifer Esch discusses the language abilities of the independent left and right hemispheres of split brain patients. She tells us why it's extremely unlikely that split brain patients would be able to type a separate email from each hemisphere, and furthermore, why it's unlikely those patients would be able to use a keyboard in the first place.
Read MoreIs it possible for the brain to encode sensory stimuli that we don't consciously perceive? Becca Krock (who loves the unconscious, fyi) writes about a 1967 experiment that proved that a major chunk of our somatosensory cortex is fully capable of representing stimuli that a human subject swears they know nothing about.
Read MoreWhat are the best introductory neuroscience books? Which ones would we recommend for the enterprising high school student, interested in learning about Neuroscience and it's principles? I list 4 textbooks and one non-fiction book, then (reminded that textbooks are really expensive), I add on an online textbook and an expanded list of non-fiction books.
Read MoreJason asks: What makes certain mental tasks be perceived as more demanding than others?
For physical tasks, it is pretty ease to see how, say, lifting a 10 lbs barbell would be perceived as easier than lifting one that’s 20 lbs. But why is watching a 1 hour video on, say, physics perceived as more demanding than watching an hour of “Desperate Housewives”?
This is a great question, Jason. Why is it that we feel mentally exhausted after studying for a test or preparing for a meeting, but we read books or watch movies to relax? All of these activities require your brain, after all! And why is it harder to resist eating a cookie when you've been doing brain work for hours?
As brain users, we generally feel as if there is some substance called mental effort, which we all have in limited quantities. We have to budget it carefully because some mental tasks require more of it than others, and if we run out we simply have to wait for it to replenish itself before we can use it again.
Read MoreIn this edition of Ask a Neuroscientist, a question about human tetrachromacy. Our response discusses the principles behind color vision, the genetic underpinnings of tetrachromacy, why women are like cats, and whether humans with 4 cones can actually perceive more colors.
Read MoreOur latest question comes from Dr. Sowmiya Priyamvatha, who asks: I've learnt that tracts to and fro from the brain cross. Why should they cross? Is there any evolutionary significance for that? I know left side of the brain controls right and vice versa but why?
Your question is actually hotly debated among evolutionary biologists and neuroscientists. There are, in fact, multiple theories about why tracts cross in the human nervous system. My favorite theory, though, has to do with the evolution of the entire vertebrate lineage. It is called the “somatic twist” hypothesis[i], and it asserts that neural crossings (technically called “decussations”) are the byproduct of a much larger evolutionary change—the switch from having a ventral (belly-side) nerve cord to dorsal (back-side) nerve cord.
Read MoreEric (age 18) asks: How different are the fine motor skills in your dominant hand rather than in your non-dominant hand? Say, if I have used a computer mouse for my entire life with my right hand, but am left-handed, would my computer mouse accuracy improve if I now switched to using the mouse with my left hand? How long would it take to catch up to my right-handed computer mouse skills?
Read Moren this edition of Ask a Neuroscientist, I crowdsource the answer to a question about the differences between how the brain processes spoken versus written language.
The question comes from Minski, who wrote:
"Does writing down what I think and saying what I think activate different parts of the brain and neuropathways? I feel I have an easier time writing than I do speaking, so I wonder.
Thank you for your time and knowledge!"
Read More
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