R. Douglas Fields – Quanta Magazine https://www.quantamagazine.org Illuminating science Mon, 16 Sep 2024 14:10:47 -0400 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2 How Our Longest Nerve Orchestrates the Mind-Body Connection https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-our-longest-nerve-orchestrates-the-mind-body-connection-20240826/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-our-longest-nerve-orchestrates-the-mind-body-connection-20240826/#respond Mon, 26 Aug 2024 14:45:37 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=140053 The post How Our Longest Nerve Orchestrates the Mind-Body Connection first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> It is late at night. You are alone and wandering empty streets in search of your parked car when you hear footsteps creeping up from behind. Your heart pounds, your blood pressure skyrockets. Goose bumps appear on your arms, sweat on your palms. Your stomach knots and your muscles coil, ready to sprint or fight. Now imagine the same scene, but without any of the body’s innate responses to an...

Source

]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-our-longest-nerve-orchestrates-the-mind-body-connection-20240826/feed/ 0 The Brain Region That Controls Movement Also Guides Feelings https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-part-of-the-brain-that-controls-movement-also-guides-feelings-20240123/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-part-of-the-brain-that-controls-movement-also-guides-feelings-20240123/#respond Tue, 23 Jan 2024 15:09:50 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=56909 The post The Brain Region That Controls Movement Also Guides Feelings first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> In recent decades, neuroscience has seen some stunning advances, and yet a critical part of the brain remains a mystery. I am referring to the cerebellum, so named for the Latin for “little brain,” which is situated like a bun at the back of the brain. This is no small oversight: The cerebellum contains three-quarters of all the brain’s neurons, which are organized in an almost crystalline...

Source

]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-part-of-the-brain-that-controls-movement-also-guides-feelings-20240123/feed/ 0 The Hidden Brain Connections Between Our Hands and Tongues https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-hidden-brain-connections-between-our-hands-and-tongues-20230828/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-hidden-brain-connections-between-our-hands-and-tongues-20230828/#respond Mon, 28 Aug 2023 14:37:12 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=129538 The post The Hidden Brain Connections Between Our Hands and Tongues first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> One day, while threading a needle to sew a button, I noticed that my tongue was sticking out. The same thing happened later, as I carefully cut out a photograph. Then another day, as I perched precariously on a ladder painting the window frame of my house, there it was again! What’s going on here? I’m not deliberately protruding my tongue when I do these things, so why does it keep making...

Source

]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-hidden-brain-connections-between-our-hands-and-tongues-20230828/feed/ 0 Why the Brain’s Connections to the Body Are Crisscrossed https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-brains-connections-to-the-body-are-crisscrossed-20230419/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-brains-connections-to-the-body-are-crisscrossed-20230419/#respond Wed, 19 Apr 2023 14:58:32 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=125087 The post Why the Brain’s Connections to the Body Are Crisscrossed first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Dazzling intricacies of brain structure are revealed every day, but one of the most obvious aspects of brain wiring eludes neuroscientists. The nervous system is cross-wired, so that the left side of the brain controls the right half of the body and vice versa. Every doctor relies upon this fact in performing neurological exams, but when I asked my doctor last week why this should be...

Source

]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-the-brains-connections-to-the-body-are-crisscrossed-20230419/feed/ 0 Neuronal Scaffolding Plays Unexpected Role in Pain https://www.quantamagazine.org/neuronal-scaffolding-plays-unexpected-role-in-chronic-pain-20220728/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/neuronal-scaffolding-plays-unexpected-role-in-chronic-pain-20220728/#respond Thu, 28 Jul 2022 13:40:51 +0000 https://www.quantamagazine.org/?p=117367 The post Neuronal Scaffolding Plays Unexpected Role in Pain first appeared on Quanta Magazine

]]> Neuroscientists, being interested in how brains work, naturally focus on neurons, the cells that can convey elements of sense and thought to each other via electrical impulses. But equally worthy of study is a substance that’s between them — a viscous coating on the outside of these neurons. Roughly equivalent to the cartilage in our noses and joints, the stuff clings like a fishing net to some of...

Source

]]> https://www.quantamagazine.org/neuronal-scaffolding-plays-unexpected-role-in-chronic-pain-20220728/feed/ 0