Category: Articles

A Calculating Mind

Posted on by Lori Jia

Discover, August 19, 2014

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Numbers make modern life possible. “In a world without numbers,” University of Rochester neuroscientist Jessica Cantlon and her colleagues observed in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, “we would be unable to build a skyscraper, hold a national election, plan a wedding, or pay for a chicken at the market.”

The central role of numbers in our world testifies to the brain’s uncanny ability to recognize and understand them—and Cantlon is among the researchers trying to find out exactly how that skill works.

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Inner Visions

Posted on by Lori Jia

Discover, August 19, 2014

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One day in 2005, a retired building surveyor in Edinburgh visited his doctor with a strange complaint: His mind’s eye had suddenly gone blind.

The surveyor, referred to as MX by his doctors, was 65 at the time. He had always felt that he possessed an exceptional talent for picturing things in his mind. The skill had come in handy in his job, allowing MX to recall the fine details of the buildings he surveyed. Just before drifting off to sleep, he enjoyed running through recent events as if he were watching a movie. He could picture his family, his friends, and even characters in the books he read.

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Doublethink

Posted on by Lori Jia

Discover, August 19, 2014

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There is nothing more humbling or more perception-changing than holding a human brain in your hands. I discovered this recently at a brain-cutting lesson given by Jean Paul Vonsattel, a neuropathologist at Columbia University. These lessons take place every month in a cold, windowless room deep within the university’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. On the day I visited, there were half a dozen brains sitting on a table. Vonsattel began by passing them around so the medical students could take a closer look. When a brain came my way, I cradled it and found myself puzzling over its mirror symmetry. It was as if someone had glued two smaller brains together to make a bigger one.

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Our Microbiome May Be Looking Out for Itself

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The New York Times, August 14, 2014

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Your body is home to about 100 trillion bacteria and other microbes, collectively known as your microbiome. Naturalists first became aware of our invisible lodgers in the 1600s, but it wasn’t until the past few years that we’ve become really familiar with them.

This recent research has given the microbiome a cuddly kind of fame. We’ve come to appreciate how beneficial our microbes are — breaking down our food, fighting off infections and nurturing our immune system. It’s a lovely, invisible garden we should be tending for our own well-being.

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Cyanobacteria Are Far From Just Toledo’s Problem

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The New York Times, August 7, 2014

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Over the weekend, an entire city was brought to its knees by pond scum.

Toledo, Ohio, gets its drinking water from the western end of Lake Erie. A bloom of bacteria formed there last week, producing a dangerous toxin called microcystin. City officials warned half a million residents against drinking municipal water. At high doses, the toxin can cause liver failure.

The microbes that terrorized Toledo, known as cyanobacteria, are actually a worldwide menace.

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