Guest author Elizabeth Buchen is a neuroscientist and science writer, and a member of the Lumos Labs science advisory board. Below she describes new research examining how the brain stores a spatial map of the local environment, and how this map might be updated by new information. Visit Madam Fathom to read more about the [...]
Most of the time it’s a good thing that the human brain has a great ongoing capacity to learn and change. It allows useful adaptation throughout the lifespan and the development of complex skills like language. But it’s possible that this long period of plasticity also exposes the brain to psychiatric illness such as schizophrenia. [...]
Oscar Pistorius, who lost both legs as an infant and then began running just 3 years ago, wants a spot in the 2008 Olympic 200m. Amazingly, at 21.58s he’s within 1 second of the qualifying time. He uses artificial limbs called Cheetahs (italicized to indicate speed), which, though they are just passive extensions of his [...]
