With the American Scientific Affiliation meeting coming up this week, I've got connecting on the brain. And now after catching up with the science news, I'm also thinking about the connections in the fruit fly brain. It was announced last week that scientists have taken a series of images of a fruit fly brain with enough detail to see every neuron. Of even greater interest is the ability to see every connection between pairs of neurons. Studying how neurons are "wired up" can provide insight into where specific sensory … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Fruit Flies Like a Banana… And We’re Closer to Knowing Why
neuroscience
Science Corner: Shape of My Brain
Following last week's discussion of expertise (be sure to see the comments also) comes an entirely different perspective on the subject. Sting, formerly of The Police and more recently a genre-spanning solo musician, had his brain scanned while listening to a variety of music selections. The songs were grouped by the way Sting's brain responded while hearing them. Other music comparison algorithms, like the one used by Pandora to recommend songs, rely on features of the music that are quantified in a more objective and … [Read more...] about Science Corner: Shape of My Brain
Book Review: What Your Body Knows About God, by Rob Moll
What Your Body Knows About God: How We Are Designed to Connect, Serve and Thrive. Rob Moll. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014. Summary: Explores how our neurophysiology enables us to connect to God and others and how spiritual practices, liturgies, and opportunities to serve enable us to physically as well as spiritually thrive. … [Read more...] about Book Review: What Your Body Knows About God, by Rob Moll
Trouble in Mind: Attending to the Interplay of Mind and Body in Treating Depression
Psalm 139:13-14 (NASB): For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. Trouble in mind, I'm blue But I won't be blue always 'Cause I know the sun's gonna shine in my back door someday (composed by Richard M. Jones and first recorded in 1924) … [Read more...] about Trouble in Mind: Attending to the Interplay of Mind and Body in Treating Depression
Science Corner: What really happens when you get to 100%
If you've encountered any of the marketing for the film Lucy, you know it is premised on the old canard that humans only use 10% of their brains. Even if it were true, and it isn't, it doesn't automatically follow that accessing the other 90% would enable one to see wireless data signals as shiny columns of letters or consciously control the length and color of your hair. But the appeal is understanding. We all want to believe we possess untapped potential; it allows us to believe a better life is just around the … [Read more...] about Science Corner: What really happens when you get to 100%