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Category Archives: Neuroscience
Revisiting the dress: Lessons for the study of qualia and science
When #thedress first came out in February 2015, vision scientists had plenty of ideas why some people might be seeing it differently than others, but no one knew for sure. Now we have some evidence as to what might be going on. … Continue reading
Posted in Journal club, Neuroscience, Psychology, Science
5 Comments
Autism and the microbiome
The incidence of autism has been on the rise for 40 years. We don’t know why, but the terrible burden of suffering has spurred people to urgently look for a cause. As there are all kinds of secular trends over … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Nutrition, Psychology, Science
2 Comments
A primer on the science of sleep
I’ve written about sleep and the need to sleep and how sleep is measured before, but in order to foster our #citizenscience efforts at NYU, I want to bring accessible and actionable pieces on the science of sleep together in one place, here. 1. How … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Neuroscience, Psychology, Science
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Beyond free will
Some say that every time philosophy and neuroscience cross, philosophy wins. The usual reason cited for this? Naive and unsophisticated use of concepts and the language to express them within neuroscience. Prime exhibit is the mereological fallacy – the confusion … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Pet peeve, Philosophy
1 Comment
Explaining color constancy
The brain is using spectral information of light waves (their wavelength mix) to aid in the identification of objects. This works because any given object will absorb some wavelengths of the light source (the illuminant) and reflect others. For instance, plants … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Psychology, Science
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The neuroscience of violent rage
Violent rage results from the activation of dedicated neural circuitry that is on the lookout for existential threats to prehistoric lifestyles. Life in civilization is largely devoid of these threats, but this system is still in place, triggering what largely … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Psychology, Science
1 Comment
Pascal’s Pensees, 5 years on
Before October 25th, 2010, I had no social media presence whatsoever – I wasn’t on Twitter, didn’t have a blog and G+ wasn’t around yet. Frankly, it hadn’t occurred to me before, but it was one of the requirements to … Continue reading
Posted in Conference, In eigener Sache, Neuroscience
3 Comments
Why “dressgate”* matters
At this point, we have probably all reached “peak dress”, been oversaturated by all matters dress and are ready to move on. But there is more. There is no question that “the dress” is the most viral image relevant to … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Psychology, Science, Social commentary
9 Comments
Lessons from the dress: The fundamental ambiguity of visual perception
The brain lives in a bony shell. The completely light-tight nature of the skull renders this home a place of complete darkness. So the brain relies on the eyes to supply an image of the outside world, but there are … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Psychology, Science
4 Comments
The relative scale of early visual areas
The visual system of primates comprises a large number of distinct cortical areas containing neurons that modulate their activity in response to a visual stimulus and are believed to represent different aspects of the visual scene. It has been recognized … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Science
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The social mission of perceptual research
Our perception corresponds to an idiosyncratic model of reality, not reality itself. This is easy to forget, as we all share a common outside environment in the form of external reality and process it with a cognitive apparatus that has … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Philosophy, Psychology, Science, Social commentary
3 Comments
A primer on the neuroscience of happiness
The age old question of what makes for a happy life is of great interest to almost anyone who is in fact alive. A classic answer, building on Aristotelian notions of happiness, is provided by Charles Murray who points out … Continue reading
Posted in In eigener Sache, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Psychology, Social commentary, Technology
1 Comment
SfN 2013 in San Diego
This post will document my annual pilgrimage to SfN. This year (as in 2004, 2007 and 2010), it will take place in San Diego. See here how I prepare for the event and what I recommend how to go about … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Science
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You really do need to sleep right
Two years ago, I wrote extensively why getting sufficient sleep is crucial to a good life and how to go about getting establishing sufficient levels of quality and quantity. Since then, the situation has – if anything – gotten even … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Optimization, Science, Social commentary
2 Comments
Data were analyzed using Matlab…
It is important to use the right tools for a given job. Science is no exception. In particular, given the vast amounts of data that are now routinely encountered in the field, one will want to use the best available … Continue reading
Posted in Matlab, Neuroscience, Psychology, Science
8 Comments
The need for sleep
Western culture – the US in particular – is pervaded by the notion of achievement through hard work. This has many benefits, but like everything, it comes at a steep cost. One of the things that is typically shortchanged in … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Science
14 Comments
Charlemagne was a Neuroscientist
The exploits of Charlemagne are fairly well documented and widely known. He was both the King of the Franks and the founding emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (technically, the Carolingian Empire). In this capacity, he is renowned for a wide … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Pet peeve, Science, Social commentary
2 Comments
Circadian synesthesia: Light therapy seen (heard?) in new light
Therapy with extremely bright light (10,000+ lux) has been known for a long time to bring about remarkably strong and – if done right – remarkably positive effects. It can “cure” Seasonal Affective Disorder (aptly named SAD), as well as … Continue reading
Posted in Neuroscience, Optimization, Psychology, Technology
1 Comment
#Yannygate highlights the underrated benefits of keeping foxes around
In May 2018, a phenomenon surfaced that lends itself of differential interpretation – some people hear “Laurel” whereas others hear “Yanny” when listening to the same clip. As far as I’m concerned, this is a direct audio analogue of #thedress … Continue reading →