Sleep is for the weak. Or is it? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. During sleep, the brain declutters, organizes memories, and rejuvenates. But what about animals without a brain? Do they ever need a snooze? Enter the Cassiopea jellyfish. With no heart, bones, or
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Do you really need a brain to learn? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down On Science saying, maybe not—If you’re a slime mold! Those are single-celled organisms with a remarkably cooperative attitude. Individual cells come together into large colonies that appear to behave like single organisms. These
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Do crocodiles like the Crocodile Rock …or do they prefer classical? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. When you get a concussion, doctors use an M-R-I to take pictures of your brain. Remember that big hollow tube that patients lie down inside of on Grey’s
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Avoiding the dentist? Is it fear that’s keeping you away or. . . something else? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Scientists have long thought anxiety begins at the amygdala, the fear center of the brain. But a different brain part, the hippocampus, might be
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Can you trust your …eyes? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. A lot of our feelings come from what we see. Imagine how you feel looking at a colorful sunset, or a deep car scrape. But could our FEELINGS change how we SEE things? Erika
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Obey your thirst! Your brain commands it! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Meet Yuki Oka of the California Institute of Technology. He and collaborators have a thirst for knowledge. Literally! They’ve pinpointed two groups of cells in mouse brains that control thirst. Kind of
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“You can’t teach an old dog…”—how does that go? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. As you age, certain motor functions begin to slow down. You don’t move as fast as you used to, and you become a tad forgetful. Based on past studies, most
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March for women! March for science! March for…the amygdala? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. There are many opportunities today to protest the status quo. But what inspires us to march? Hannah Nam at Stony Brook University researches the amygdala. That’s the almond-shaped cluster of
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Feeling—literally—SLUGGISH? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Brains are like computer programs. Information in, decision out. For example, if hungry, eat whatever’s around. REALLY hungry? How deadly ARE those month old leftovers? But this analogy is a gross simplification, RIGHT? Meet Rhanor Gillette from the
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Want to change your mood? Try changing your voice! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science, and an experiment by the French National Centre for Scientific Research. In it, volunteers read a short story out loud while listening to themselves through a headset. But, secretly, their
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