Neuroscience

In 2015, Lucy Yung was a young industrial designer working on assistive devices for stroke victims, people with multiple sclerosis, and those with other conditions which meant they struggled with fine motor control. Her projects included…

Earlier this year, Parkinson’s disease (PD) research entered a new era when the Michael J. Fox Foundation announced a momentous scientific breakthrough—the discovery of a biomarker for PD. It meant that, for the first time ever, we can…

It has been known for decades that the vast majority of human biological differences aren’t between groups, they're from person to person. It’s weird that scientists and doctors still resort to sifting people into huge populations when…

In September, Elon Musk’s brain-implant company Neuralink announced the much-anticipated news that it would start recruiting volunteers for a clinical trial to test its device. Known as a brain-computer interface, or BCI, it collects…

Over the next six to eight months, Pearson’s OCD symptoms decreased significantly, and her brain activity triggered the stimulation less often. She told her doctors that before, she was sometimes spending eight hours a day performing…

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine.Science routinely puts forward theories, then batters them with data till only one is left standing. In the fledgling science of consciousness, a dominant theory has yet to…

A tiny array of microelectrodes underneath the cells recorded electrical activity in the gel surrounding the cells, while other electrodes directly stimulated the neurons and recorded their responses. Using a fluorescent dye to visualize…

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine.On warm summer nights, green lacewings flutter around bright lanterns in backyards and at campsites. The insects, with their veil-like wings, are easily distracted from their…

What is clear is that the brain must be able to accurately regulate how strong a mental image is to avoid confusion between fantasy and reality. “The brain has this really careful balancing act that it has to perform,” Naselaris said.…

Ann, a stroke survivor, can communicate using a digital avatar that decodes her intended speech. Photograph: Noah Berger/UCSFThere are trade-offs to both group’s approaches. Implanted electrodes, like the ones the Stanford team used,…