Albert Einstein was five years old when he handled his father's compass and found himself awestruck by a powerful curiosity: what invisible forces of nature were responsible for the device's unerring ability to point northward? Many professionals report similar childhood experiences in which a new subject piqued their interest so urgently that their subsequent education [...]
Early detection of Alzheimer's or dementia is just as important as it is for any health malady: catching symptoms as early as possible means These findings were published Oct. 7 in Radiology in a study entitled Arterial Spin Labeling May Contribute to the Cognitive Deterioration in Healthy Elderly Individuals. The study found that individuals whose [...]
"Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own," said Goethe. A bold statement, but there may be some truth to it: A new Swedish study has found that when learning a new language, certain areas of the brain literally grow. The study, entitled Growth of language-related brain areas after foreign language [...]
Experts have long debated the possibility of food addiction; many believe that a substance necessary for survival cannot be classified addictive. But with the proliferation of 24-hour grocery stores, tasty but nutritionally void convenience foods and even a "foodie" culture, it can be argued that the general attitude towards food in developed countries extends far beyond [...]
Have you ever wondered why some people you know crumple when faced with a stressful situation, while others appear invigorated by it? Opinions differ on the old saying "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger," and for good reason: A new MRI brain study suggests genetics play a large role in human responses to stressful [...]
In 1959, British physicist and novelist C.P. Snow delivered a lecture called The Two Cultures, an influential think piece in which he outlined how many of the western world's problems were the result of an intellectual barrier that exists between scientific and literary thinkers. Snow wrote: "A good many times I have been present at [...]
A new Hungarian study published in the journal Current Biology has discovered through MRI that brains of dogs and humans respond similarly upon hearing vocal cues such as crying and laughter. To produce a quality MR image, the person (or animal!) must be able to lie completely still within the scanner. 11 pet dogs participated in [...]
Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, wrote an important article for Wired Magazine in 2010 about the effect that our modern culture of distraction--specifically the Internet--is having on our brains. "When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning," [...]
Ubiquitous as Facebook has become, it still feels somewhat jarring when a new MRI study is published about its possible effects on the brain. Is Facebook so all-important that medical research studies about it are now necessary? Truly though, what started out as a photo-sharing website for university students has pervaded into nearly every aspect [...]
We had a patient come in because her family doctor was concerned the aorta in her abdomen may rupture - the aorta is the largest artery in the body. The patient opted to do a Whole Body Scan instead. We found an enlarged aorta in her abdomen measuring 3.5 cm. If it is more than [...]