How Seasonal Time Changes Mess With Our Brains
Unraveling the neurological effects of springing forward and falling back.
The Season of Fear
We are in a season of fear. We are facing election fears just five days after Halloween. The quadrennial political election has become a quadrennial battle that seemingly threatens our existence.
Red red wine
One of the most interesting efforts targeting the development of anti-aging drugs stems from research conducted at Harvard that led to the identication of the compound in red wine (resveratrol) that accounts for its anti-aging properties. This compound is believed to activate a gene called SIRT-1, which appears to have a role in regulating lifespan…
How long-lived was your dad?
A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences led by a UCSF scientist Wen-Chi Hsueh has very interestingly revisited the subject of the genetics of human longevity. As you may know, a prominent UCSF colleague, Elizabeth Blackburn, has been in the forefront of a beatiful series of studies that have shown…
When brain injury hits home
Because my research has focused on the neuroscience of rehabilitation for several decades, I have received hundreds of email messages, letters and telephone calls from parents and grand-parents desperately seeking help for their brain-damaged or developmentally-impaired child or grand-child. Because the losses suffered from brain injury and developmental disabilities expressed in this correspondence is usually…
Marsupials and Beavers and Gliders, Oh My!
I’m in Evans Head, a beautiful small town on the north coast of New South Wales in Australia this morning, visiting an old friend Lindsay Aitkin, a retired research comrade. Professor Aitkin is still THE world’s authority on the hearing brains of marsupials – among his many other considerable accomplishments. Up to this very moment,…
“Chemofog” is REAL!!
The New York Times has just informed us all, in an April 29 article, that “Chemotherapy Fog is No Longer… an Illusion”. It’s official now, all you cancer survivors! The Voice of Authority has spoken! (Here’s the full article.) As if you didn’t already know. Seriously, the NY Times article did make the important points…
Alvaro asked a tough question: How do you define SMART?
Alvaro asked this question as a comment after a blog entry discussed recent evidence that physical exercise contributes to academic success. Alvaro, “smart”, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. You do not necessarily want a computer jockey next to you in your foxhole. You do not necessarily want a great world scholar…
Brain stimulators are a hot item in sports training…do they help?
The San Francisco Giants just happen to be the baseball team that I usually root for. Unfortunately, they’re having a terrible year, and after a 7-game losing streak (and counting) are currently deep in the cellar in the National League West. “There’s always next year” is the baseball fan’s old lament. But alas, the Giants…