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Neuroscience

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Why the First Drawings of Neurons Were Defaced

September 28, 2017

Every exquisite drawing by Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the founder of modern neuroscience, is marred by a curious mark. Here is the little-known story behind it.

The Oldest Mini-Brains Have Lifelike Young Cells

August 29, 2017

"Organoid" brain tissue models grown in a lab for two years can help scientists study a critical period of development just before and after birth.

Mini-Brains Go Modular

August 9, 2017

To create a good living replica of the human brain, your best hope may be to let “organoid” components assemble it for you.

Can Microbes Encourage Altruism?

June 29, 2017

If gut bacteria can sway their hosts to be selfless, it could answer a riddle that goes back to Darwin.

A Theory of Reality as More Than the Sum of Its Parts

June 1, 2017

New math shows how, contrary to conventional scientific wisdom, conscious beings and other macroscopic entities might have greater influence over the future than do the sum of their microscopic components.

Researchers Tap a Sleep Switch in the Brain

February 14, 2017

Powerful new experiments have uncovered some of the molecular underpinnings of sleep.

Infant Brains Reveal How the Mind Gets Built

January 10, 2017

Is the brain a blank slate, or is it wired from birth to understand the world?

A New Spin on the Quantum Brain

November 2, 2016

A new theory explains how fragile quantum states may be able to exist for hours or even days in our warm, wet brain. Experiments should soon test the idea.

The Neuroscience Behind Bad Decisions

August 23, 2016

Irrationality may be a consequence of the brain’s ravenous energy needs.

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