Brain Blog Articles
While uncommon, viral infections of the brain “can lead to transient or permanent neurologic or psychiatric dysfunction” (van den Pol, 2009). The effects of COVID-19 on the human brain is yet to be thoroughly researched. Research has found that “patients with COVID-19 often suffer from severe hypoxia and viremia, which has the [...]
The COVID-19 pandemic has had many secondary effects on society. While the immediate risks and effects of the disease are not to be taken lightly, being aware of mental health is an important part of responding to COVID-19. While it is too early to have significant research on how COVID-19 directly affects [...]
The last pandemic the world had experienced was the 2009 H1N1 (influenza) pandemic (Terry, 2020). COVID-19 is not a form of influenza, though both are novel viruses that have migrated from animals to humans and have impacted society on a global scale (Terry, 2020; ). The designation of a pandemic specifically means [...]
The human brain is commonly described in terms of computing. One might think computers outperform humans due to the speed and ease with which they handle large quantities of data. However, examples such as Shakuntala Devi and Gary Kasparov illustrate that even incredibly optimized artificial intelligence can still be outperformed by the human [...]
The wonders of day to day brain functions are not to be taken lightly. Amongst other functions, daily brain function includes prioritizing information from the five senses, managing autonomic systems, and maintaining working memory. While this is already impressive, the brain is also capable of healing itself and undergoing significant functional and [...]
One of the brain’s many superpowers is to change itself over time. Brain plasticity, or neural plasticity, refers to the concept of the brain’s ability to change both structurally and functionally (Kolb & Whishaw, 1998). Although some research showed evidence for plasticity, it was largely believed until the nineteen seventies that the [...]
The human brain is an unparalleled organ, but we have only recently begun to learn its mysteries and function. The brain is the core of who we are as both a species and an individual. It is “the seat of intelligence, interpreter of the senses, initiator of bodily movement, and controller of [...]
Both globally and in the United States, twenty percent of the population suffers from chronic pain (Goldberg and McGee, 2011; Dahlhamer et al., 2018). Opioids are one of the most common treatments for pain and have been increasingly prescribed over the past 5 years (Grosser, Woolf, & Fitzgerald, 2017). Though effective at [...]
While self-reported pain scales are low cost and non-invasive, they lack the reproducibility and objectivity of neuroimaging. Objective measures of pain are useful for both clinicians and patients as “chronic pain patients are defined as ‘difficult patients’”(Borsook, Moulton, Schmidt, Becerra, 2007). Pain is difficult to consistently communicate due to neuropsychological factors, and [...]
For the month of February, the Brain Blog we will be covering the topic of pain. One in five adults suffer from pain globally, and approximately 1 and 5 American adults suffered from pain in 2016 (Goldberg and McGee, 2011; Dahlhamer et al., 2018). As of 2019, this translated to at least [...]
