Tag: Featured

General, Uncategorized

The Truth Behind the Marie Antoinette Syndrome

Yukta Kulkarni ’22 Before her execution in 1793, French queen Marie Antoinette noticed that her hair was suddenly turning white. Although this story is just folklore, there may be some truth to it in regards to the Marie Antoinette Syndrome, a condition in which one’s hair abruptly turns white. To further explore this syndrome, Zhang et al. designed an experiment measuring the rate of hair … Continue reading The Truth Behind the Marie Antoinette Syndrome

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Neuroscience

Circadian rhythm directly influences muscle performance in Olympic swimmers

Joyce Chen ’23 Organisms have a specialized inner clock known as the circadian rhythm, which is regulated by the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus of the brain. Throughout the day, circadian rhythms in the body have direct control over physiological functions, including muscle strength and flexibility. Despite its relevance, there is a lack of research on the effects of circadian rhythms on Olympic athletes. … Continue reading Circadian rhythm directly influences muscle performance in Olympic swimmers

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Biology

Napping appears to have significant beneficial effects on long-term memory-retention over cramming

Priyanshi Patel ’22 Currently, there is extensive research on the cognitive effects of daytime naps, but not whether naps are a practical way to assist learning. Naps can reduce the likelihood of forgetting episodic memory consisting of life events and experiences. Prior research surrounding memory improvements have led to the idea that naps may be used as a pedagogical tool.  However, there is little evidence … Continue reading Napping appears to have significant beneficial effects on long-term memory-retention over cramming

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Cognition

Monkey Behavior Aids In Understanding Human Cognition

Yukta Kulkarni ’22 The human brain’s prefrontal cortex plays an important role in cognitive behavior. It contains several sections including the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), which is associated with working memory, reasoning, and planning; and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), which directs reversal and reinforcement learning, reward evaluation, and alternative option evaluation.  These structures are also present in animals and have similar functions. To learn more … Continue reading Monkey Behavior Aids In Understanding Human Cognition

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General Neuroscience

Music to One’s Ears: Familiarity and Music Engagement in People With Parkinson’s Disease

Thumyat Noe ’23 Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder characterized by loss of dopamine and reduced innervation of neural structures that are responsible for coordination of motor movements. Affected individuals often have difficulty walking and maintaining balance. However, music has been shown to be a helpful external cue that reduces these symptoms. Research shows that exposure to music activates brain regions that are closely related … Continue reading Music to One’s Ears: Familiarity and Music Engagement in People With Parkinson’s Disease

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Health and Medicine

The association between digital screen time and myopia: A systematic review

Sabah Bari ‘24 With the advancement of technology and the creation of new digital platforms, many individuals have experienced an increase in screen time, which may heighten the risk for many health-related issues, especially in the eyes. Myopia, also known as nearsightedness and shortsightedness, is a condition in which parallel rays are focused in front of the retina. Light rays converge to a focal point … Continue reading The association between digital screen time and myopia: A systematic review

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Health and Medicine

Terahertz Spectroscopy to Improve Burn Injury Assessment

Aditi Kaveti ‘23 Burn injuries are painful, potentially life-threatening, and can often require long and complex treatment. Early and accurate assessment of burn injuries is important to determining the correct path of treatment. However, the severity of burns can be difficult to visually diagnose accurately, and clinical evaluations of burns only have about a 50 to 70 percent accuracy. This complexity allows for a significant … Continue reading Terahertz Spectroscopy to Improve Burn Injury Assessment

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General Psychology

Psychological Effects

Ayesha Azeem ‘23 While COVID-19 has definitely affected our physical health, primarily targeting the very young, the elderly, and those with long-term illnesses, the virus has also taken a severe toll on people’s psychological health. Because of the high risk to human health and the heavy economic burden resulting from national lockdowns and unemployment across the world, the public has been severely impacted mentally by … Continue reading Psychological Effects

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Biology

Evaluating Subgroups of Patients with Spinal Epidural Abscess

Panayiota Siskos ’23 Spinal epidural abscess (pus that has built up in tissue, organs, or spaces in the body) is a rare infection that has rising incidence, as well as high morbidity and mortality due to delayed diagnosis. These abscesses are in the epidural region (located between the outermost layer of tissue and the inside surface of bone containing the spine that runs down its … Continue reading Evaluating Subgroups of Patients with Spinal Epidural Abscess

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Brain

Creation of Images by Detecting brain activity via Neuroadaptive Generative Modeling

Sooraj Shah ’24 The relationship between humans and technology is one which advanced the world to where it is today. By physically pressing a few buttons, we are able to express our thoughts and ideas onto a digital screen. However, this might not always be the case. Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed neuroadaptive generative modeling, in which a computer creates a visual … Continue reading Creation of Images by Detecting brain activity via Neuroadaptive Generative Modeling

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Genetics

Neuroanatomical Variation in Dogs

Panayiota Siskos ’23 The selective breeding of dogs by humans has led to variation in the brain across different breeds. Selectively breeding dogs for traits and abilities has been a recent occurrence  in evolution, and genetic research shows behavioral variation is heritable. Behavioral specializations depend on neural specializations, and strong selection pressure exhibits that brain differences between dog breeds correlate with differences in behavior. Selection … Continue reading Neuroanatomical Variation in Dogs

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Neuroscience

Effect of Mutation in NMDA Receptor Proteins resulting in Neurological Disorders

Sooraj Shah ’24 Neurological disorders affect 25 million people in the United States, which makes the study of NMDA receptors increasingly important. NMDA receptors are key contributors to regulation of memory and behavior in the human brain. NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor proteins are transmembrane proteins, and are in a subset of Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs), which contain 4 helices, the most significant of which is the … Continue reading Effect of Mutation in NMDA Receptor Proteins resulting in Neurological Disorders

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