Name Origins
This animal inspired the name "hippocampus"
What is seahorse?
Some people can taste shapes and colors
Fact! This phenomenon, known as synesthesia, comes from a Greek word meaning "to perceive together.” People with this ability may hear, smell, taste, or feel pain in color. Others might taste shapes or experience colors or tactile sensations when in the presence of music. Although scientists are still trying to understand how this phenomenon works, they have found irregularities in the brains of synesthetes using neuroimaging studies. For example, in those who report colored hearing, visual areas of the brain show increased activation in response to sound.
Bicycle Day, celebrated on April 19th, commemorates the first synthesis of this psychedelic drug.
What is LSD?
This man survived after an iron rod went through the frontal lobe of his brain in 1848.
What is Phineas Gage?
This Professor was musician on the streets of New Orleans right out of high school
Dr. Norstrom!
This food inspired the name "amygdala"
What is almond?
People are either "Right-Brained" or "Left-Brained"
Myth! Contrary to popular belief and the hundreds of memes and images that perpetuate this myth, humans cannot easily be categorized as left or right brain dominant depending on their personalities. In fact, many talents once attributed to one side of the brain or the other, like creativity, language processing, spatial ability, and logic, require the integrated teamwork of both the left and right brain.
This term describes the pain amputees experience in a limb after it has been amputated.
What is Phantom limb pain?
This scientist was the first to demonstrate nerve cell morphology with his stain method in 1873.
What is Camillo Golgi?
This Professor's first language is Polish and was the organist at her church in both middle school and high school.
Dr. Kozlowski
The celebrity that the “concept neuron” (aka the “grandmother neuron”), a kind of neuron that individually responds to specific, complex concepts, is colloquially named after.
Who is Jennifer Anniston?
You are born with a set amount of neurons
Myth! Although the previous statement is true for many parts of the brain, there is a general consensus that humans do indeed produce new neurons in a brain region known as the hippocampus into adulthood. The hippocampus is involved in mood, memory, and reward.
This disease occurs significantly less in those who smoke cigarettes.
What is Parkinson's disease?
This researcher published the case study of Louis Victor Leborgne, "Patient Tan", and a brain area was named for his discovery.
What is Pierre Broca?
This Professor went to a high school for the performing arts for theater and favorite is sushi
Dr. Virtue!!
The dura mater, the outer layer of the meninges that surround the central nervous system, is Latin for what?
What is Tough mother?
Human brains have shrunk over the past 20,000 years
True! Scientists speculate that human brain shrinkage might be due to a number of factors:
• As populations became less aggressive, humans went through “domestication”, a process known in animals to be associated with shrinking brain sizes.
• Warmer climates caused smaller body size and thus smaller brains.
• Increased social networks are associated with smaller brain size. In other words, instead of dying out through natural selection, our smaller-brained ancestors survived with a little help from their friends.
This rare protein transmitted through animals causes neurodegenerative disease in humans.
What is a prion?
This patient was a landmark case study for anterograde and partial retrograde amnesia after undergoing a temporal lobectomy to treat his epilepsy.
What is Henry Molaison, or patient H.M.?
This Professor has logged 282 hours playing a video game called Crypt of the Necrodancer
Dr. Lim
The protein that helps separate the left from the right halves of the brain during development was named after which fictional character?
What is Sonic the Hedgehog?
All human brains start out as "female" in the womb
Fact! Females have two X chromosomes (XX), while males have one X and one Y (XY). If the Y chromosome is present, it does not begin the process of sexual differentiation until 5-6 weeks. At this stage, specific parts of the genetic code on the Y chromosome become active and cause male reproductive hormone (testosterone) production
Severing this structure can result in Alien Hand Syndrome, in which an individual's hand seems to act with a mind of its own!
What is the Corpus Callosum?
Without her knowledge or consent, this woman's cancer cells were used for research and eventually became the first human cells to survive and reproduce in a lab.
Who is Henrietta Lacks?
This Professor previously owned a coffee shop before going to graduate school
Dr. Norstrom!