Tag: Neuroscience

Neuroscience

High salt intake can lead to autism-like symptoms in infants

Joyce Chen ’23 Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 1% of individuals worldwide. Although there has been extensive research done on ASD, its primary cause remains unknown. Scientists believe that it is the result of a wide variety of heritable and environmental factors. However, recent research has indicated that an altered gut microbiome caused by a poor diet can lead to … Continue reading High salt intake can lead to autism-like symptoms in infants

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Neuroscience

Priming of long-term memory from initial experience alters future learning

Joyce Chen ’23 One of the most fascinating things about the brain is its malleability. When humans learn, whether it be in the classroom or from an experience, the brain produces new neurons so that the information can be recalled in the future. This is a process known as neuronal plasticity. Although there is plenty of research surrounding this area, there is still much more … Continue reading Priming of long-term memory from initial experience alters future learning

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Neuroscience

Differences of Cognitive Offloading Usage among Individuals Performing Short Term Memory Tasks

Sooraj Shah ’24 Recalling a lot of information at one time is possible, but not feasible. Writing information down on a paper during a class or in the grocery store, for instance, are ways to reduce the strain of memorization within an individual. This concept is further defined as cognitive offloading, which can assist in overcoming the cognitive restraints in mentally retaining information. A study … Continue reading Differences of Cognitive Offloading Usage among Individuals Performing Short Term Memory Tasks

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General Neuroscience

Bilinguals’ Ease of Lexical Access Related to the Switching of Languages

Sooraj Shah ’24 Over 43% of the United States population is bilingual and speaks more than one language. A skill fostered at a young age, bilingual speakers can converse and switch freely between multiple languages, but the root cause of why and when this occurs is not clear. A study conducted in Spain in collaboration with Stony Brook University’s Psychology Department explored the relationship between … Continue reading Bilinguals’ Ease of Lexical Access Related to the Switching of Languages

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Neuroscience

Lower reaction levels in mothers to their child result in insensitive parenting

Joyce Chen ’23 A mother’s greatest task is to provide a nurturing environment for her child to grow, blossom, and thrive in. The absence of maternal love in a child’s life will cause a strain on the bond between the mother and her child. These neglectful mothers, also known as high-risk mothers, have insensitive reactions to their children’s needs. They rarely respond to their children’s … Continue reading Lower reaction levels in mothers to their child result in insensitive parenting

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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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General Neuroscience

Compartmental function and modulation of the striatum

Sabah Bari ‘24 The striatum is one of the main input areas of the basal ganglia, a neuronal circuit necessary for voluntary movement control. It is a critical component of motor control, action selection and reward systems within the brain. Almost all elements of the brain’s reward circuit are modulated during social behavior. The striatum has two main efferent pathways. There are 2 main efferent … Continue reading Compartmental function and modulation of the striatum

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General Neuroscience

Going to College Can Delay Alzheimer’s Disease Onset

Ayesha Azeem ‘23 Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible brain disorder that progresses to destroy memory and thinking skills until one fails to complete basic tasks. Alzheimer’s most commonly begins to affect people in their mid-60s, and is currently the third leading cause of death for the elderly in the United States (NIH). A recent study conducted by Stony Brook University researchers revealed that attending college … Continue reading Going to College Can Delay Alzheimer’s Disease Onset

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General Neuroscience

Fears and How Priming Can Help Overcome Them

Yukta Kulkarni ’22 Some of the most important topics covered by neuroscience research encompass memory retention. This type of research helps explain how much information brains can retain and how easily it is learned. However, does prior learning affect the ability to learn in the future? To answer this, Cole et al. blocked protein-kinase A (PKA) and extracellular signal-related mitogen-activated protein-kinase (ERK/MAPK) within the basolateral … Continue reading Fears and How Priming Can Help Overcome Them

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General Neuroscience

Effects of distractive and target stimuli on auditory neurons within mice brains

Joyce Chen ’23 Biological organisms are naturally stimulated by their environment. To avoid being overstimulated, animals use selective attention. By simply focusing on one thing, humans and other animals can essentially drown out other irrelevant stimuli. This phenomenon requires sensory regulation, especially auditory. To gain insight on how auditory neurons react to both irrelevant and target stimuli, Stony Brook University researcher Pan-tong Yao and his … Continue reading Effects of distractive and target stimuli on auditory neurons within mice brains

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Brain

Expectation-induced modulation of metastable activity underlies faster coding of sensory stimuli

Sabah Bari ’24 Expectation is what drives the human brain to perceive our senses. Perception is connected to sensory processing, and the recognition of the stimuli is what determines how accurately and how fast individuals are able to understand it. In the gustatory cortex, the pre-stimulus activity is the anticipation of a specific taste before even consuming a food. The anticipation is a trigger to … Continue reading Expectation-induced modulation of metastable activity underlies faster coding of sensory stimuli

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Degenerative Disease

Diagnosis and management of Guillain–Barré syndrome in ten steps

Sabah Bari ’24 Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare autoimmune disease characterized by an overactive immune system that causes damage to peripheral nerves, leading to loss of sensorimotor function starting at the extremities and spreading to the torso. Some symptoms of GBS are potentially fatal, such as respiratory failure, cardiac arrhythmias, blood pressure instability, which are all directly involved with the autonomic nervous system. The … Continue reading Diagnosis and management of Guillain–Barré syndrome in ten steps

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