What causes the loss of smell in COVID-19?
By Helen Murray New research shows that SARS-CoV-2 infection can cause significant damage to the olfactory bulb and brainstem and highlights the importance of monitoring the neurological symptoms of COVID-19. Although COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory disease, many...
How do we measure pain, anyway?
By Jeremy Delahanty Imagine you have been asked to define pain by your doctor. They might have asked for a rating on a scale from zero, no pain, to ten, unbearable pain. Or you chose from a selection of faces ranging from happy to tearful. Maybe you answer with your...
Why is it so hard to find a cure for Alzheimer’s?
By Norman A. Paradis Norman A. Paradis investigate why it is so hard to find a cure for Alzheimer’s after a century of research into the brain disease. Biogen recently announced that it was abandoning its late stage drug for Alzheimer’s, aducanumab, causing...
Q+A: How does our unconscious mind alter political outcomes?
Scientists are finding more and more evidence that human behaviour is not rational, not conscious, and maybe completely programmed without our rational thinking. How does the unconscious mind and biological predispositions affect political outcomes and prejudice...
Is mind control possible?
By Lily Toomey Reading minds seems to be a common part of the science-fiction canon—a genre much loved by actual scientists. But even as someone who turned their love of Kurt Vonnegut, John Wyndham and H.G. Wells into a career as a neuroscientist, I hadn’t considered...
What is your first memory – and did it ever really happen?
By Lucy V Justice, Martin Conway & Shazia Akhtar I can remember being a baby. I recall being in a vast room inside a doctor’s surgery. I was passed to a nurse and then placed in cold metal scales to be weighed. I was always aware that this memory was unusual...
Are hallucinations a disease?
By Yewande Pearse Hallucinations may be a symptom of mental illness, but they are not necessarily harmful, as Yewande Pearse explains. As late as the 18th century, hallucinations in their various forms were considered independent diseases or syndromes. In 1821, Alexis...
Pulling all-nighters may damage your brain
By Hannah Thomasy Doctoral candidate Hannah Thomasy discusses the impacts of all-nighters on the brain. Is staying up late a health risk? For decades, scientists have suspected that there is a connection between poor sleep and neurodegenerative diseases like...
What is neuroscience and how far can it take us? 🔊
Neuroscience has uncovered so many clues about human attitudes and behaviours that have far-reaching consequences. But scholars and doctors disagree about what it does and does not tell us about what it means to be human. Are we our brains? Do we have free will? How...Subscribe by Email
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