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Some of the more than 100 human organs Dr. Michael Berkland was believed to have stashed over the years in a storage facility in Pensacola had been meticulously preserved. Others, like one found in a 32-ounce cup purchased at the Dodge Store in Fort Walton Beach and another stashed in a Glad brand plastic bag, were haphazardly handled. “The various different ways he stored them was very odd,” said Jeff Martin, the chief investigator for the First Judicial Circuit’s Medical Examiner’s Office. Berkland, an associate medical examiner who covered Okaloosa and Walton counties from 1997 to 2003, is believed to...

The funniest thing about the r/K divide within our species is how pervasive it is. Everywhere I look, I see aspects of it manifesting in our culture, our behavior, our history, and even our future. Here is a free abstract from an interesting study examining the “balancing selection hypothesis” of homosexuality. Let me rephrase this, so it makes more sense. There may be a gene which produces women who are more fertile, have more offspring, and want to deal with children less. At the same time it makes men more feminine (and more promiscuous, since that correlates with homosexuality). (There...

Well, what that led to was more and more concussions. Because guys are hitting each other with the crown of their helmet right there on the front of the lobe, sometimes in the head of another player. Or somebody gets kneed. His point is: You can't take this out of the game. You cannot stop people getting concussions in this game as the players are growing larger. He says, "In 1980, only three NFL players weighed 300 or more pounds." Last year, there were 352 players who weighed over 300, and three players who weighed over 350. And he says...

Jaroslav Flegr is no kook. And yet, for years, he suspected his mind had been taken over by parasites that had invaded his brain. So the prolific biologist took his science-fiction hunch into the lab. What he’s now discovering will startle you. Could tiny organisms carried by house cats be creeping into our brains, causing everything from car wrecks to schizophrenia? → more...

LONDON, May 31, 2012 (Reuters) — Bans on drugs like ecstasy, magic mushrooms and LSD have hampered scientific research on the brain and stalled the progress of medicine as much as George Bush's ban on stem cell research did, a leading British drug expert said on Thursday. The British government's former chief drugs adviser, David Nutt, reacts as he speaks during a news conference announcing the formation of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, in London January 15, 2010. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett David Nutt, a professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London and a former chief adviser on drugs to the...

Poor Phineas Gage. In 1848, the supervisor for the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Vermont was using a 13-pound, 3-foot-7-inch rod to pack blasting powder into a rock when he triggered an explosion that drove the rod through his left cheek and out of the top of his head. As reported at the time, the rod was later found, "smeared with blood and brains." Miraculously, Gage lived, becoming the most famous case in the history of neuroscience — not only because he survived a horrific accident that led to the destruction of much of his left frontal lobe but also...

Enlarge Image Old beyond years. A 3D model of merged imaging scans shows the brain areas affected by age (blue) in healthy people (left) and longterm cocaine users (right). Credit: Karen Ersche/University of Cambridge Add this to the list of reasons not to take cocaine: Chronic use of the drug may speed up the aging process. According to a new imaging study, cocaine abusers in their 30s and 40s show brain changes more commonly seen in people over 60. The finding also calls attention to the special medical needs of older drug users—a group that, until now, hasn't garnered...

From: Man Alive! A survival manual for the human mind. by Greg Swann Chapter 2. The nature of your nature. Everything I have to say about anything starts with carrying the claim back to the object. The essence of philosophical error, deliberate or not, is creative solipsism: “The nature of the thing under discussion is what I need it to be to make my argument work out.” This is useless, of course, since no amount of creative map-making will turn a mountain into a valley. The map is not the territory. If we want to make useful, cogent arguments about...

As any high school senior staring down the SAT knows, when the stakes are high, some test-takers choke. A new study finds that activity in distinct parts of the brain can predict whether a person will remain cool or crumble under pressure. The results, presented April 1 at the annual meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, offer some great new clues that may help scientists understand how the brain copes with stressful situations, says psychologist Thomas Carr of Michigan State University in East Lansing. “Sometimes you come across a study you wish you'd done yourself,” he says “This is such...

Brain research and associated advances such as brain-machine interfaces that are funded by the U.S. military and intelligence communities raise profound ethical concerns, caution researchers who cite the potentially lethal applications of such work and other consequences. Rapid advances in neuroscience made over the last decade have many dual-use applications of both military and civilian interest. Researchers who receive military funding — with the U.S. Department of Defense spending more than $350 million on neuroscience in 2011 — may not fully realize how dangerous their work might be, say scientists in an essay published online today (March 20) in the...

"The Satori Sound's motivational music has a way of ALWAYS making me feel inspired, energized, excited, positively upbeat and ALIVE!” - Sarah DeAnna - Supermodel, fitness guru, and author of Model Skinny MARINA DEL RAY, CALIFORNIA– It is now possible to have fun while you “enterTRAIN” your brain. You can fill your iPod with MP3s that motivate, energize and increase your personal potential. Artist Adam Gockel has found a way to synthesize science, sound and song. The result for his clients is an aural ascent – upward to a higher plane of performance, productivity and motivation. Are You Ready!?! is...

A 20-year-old woman has been left brain dead - after she was Tasered by police and smacked her head on the ground. Danielle Maudsley had been taken to a Florida Highway Patrol Station after being arrested for a suspected hit-and-run in September. Handcuffed, she ran out of the door. But as footage from a police cruiser dashboard camera reveals, Trooper Daniel Cole, who this week was cleared of any wrongdoing, fired a Taser's electric probes into her back. She spun, fell backwards and hit her head on the ground. Bleeding and crying she tried to get up. She then blacked...

Jaroslav Flegr is no kook. And yet, for years, he suspected his mind had been taken over by parasites that had invaded his brain. So the prolific biologist took his science-fiction hunch into the lab. What he’s now discovering will startle you. Could tiny organisms carried by house cats be creeping into our brains, causing everything from car wrecks to schizophrenia? No one would accuse Jaroslav Flegr of being a conformist. A self-described “sloppy dresser,” the 63-year-old Czech scientist has the contemplative air of someone habitually lost in thought, and his still-youthful, square-jawed face is framed by frizzy red hair...

Research into how iron, copper, zinc and other metals work in the brain may help unlock some of the secrets of degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Iron and copper appear to accumulate beyond normal levels in the brains of people with these diseases, and a new, Australian study published Sunday shows reducing excess iron in the brain can alleviate Alzheimer's-like symptoms—at least in mice. A genetic mutation related to regulating iron is linked to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. Zinc, on the other hand, appears to impair memory if its levels get too low or if it gets into...

Fossil Whale Brain Proves Paleontologist Wrong by Brian Thomas, M.S. | Jan. 27, 2012 Howell Thomas, senior paleontological preparator for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, was skeptical when a woman claimed that she found a fossilized whale brain in San Luis Obispo County, California, nine years ago. "The first thing I said when I heard about this finding was that there's just no way," Thomas told the Beatrice Daily Sun. "They brought it in, and sure enough, it's the second of two fossil whale brains [ever found]."1 He explained that "it's an amazing specimen because brains don't...

For the first time ever, stem cells from umbilical cords have been converted into other types of cells, which may eventually lead to new treatment options for spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis, among other nervous system diseases.  “This is the first time this has been done with non-embryonic stem cells,” says James Hickman, a University of Central Florida bioengineer and leader of the research group, whose accomplishment is described in the Jan. 18 issue of the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience.“We’re very excited about where this could lead because it overcomes many of the obstacles present with embryonic stem cells.” ...

1/17/2012 Internet Addiction Shows Up In the Brain Digital thrills There’s been a lot of controversy over the concept of Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD), especially as the new DSM-V prepares to launch. Some feel that there’s little evidence to warrant IAD as being recognized as an actual disorder. But others do. Earlier research has found some changes in the brain of people who are hooked on the Web, and a new study shows reductions in volume of certain areas of the brain and in its the white matter – the highways of connection between brain cells – of young people...

Studies track biochemical patterns from just after conception to old age Human brains all work pretty much the same and use roughly the same genes in the same way to build and maintain the infrastructure that makes people who they are, two new studies show. And by charting the brain’s genetic activity from before birth to old age, the studies reveal that the brain continually remodels itself in predictable ways throughout life. In addition to uncovering details of how the brain grows and ages, the results may help scientists better understand what goes awry in brain disorders such as schizophrenia...

Four ex-players sue NFL alleging brain damageReuters – 16 hrs ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four former National Football League players, including two Pro Bowl players, sued the league over brain injuries that they say left them facing medical problems years after their careers ended. Dorsey Levens and Jamal Lewis, both named to the annual All-Star Pro Bowl, as well as Fulton Kuykendall and Ryan Stewart, filed the lawsuit against the National Football League and NFL Properties LLC on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. The suits are the latest in a series filed against the NFL in recent months...

I didn't write the joke. In fact I'll bet it has been around for some time now. I just enjoyed it and made it into a graphic.Click image to see the large version...