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Speech not only consists of the words we say, but how we say them. That “how” is what is called prosody: the pitch, loudness, and timing of speech. The term prosody comes from the Greek word prosōidia meaning “song” or “melody.” Therefore, prosody is often viewed as the melody of speech. Read More…
Oligodendrocytes are a type of brain cell that play a crucial role in insulating neurons to facilitate efficient transmission of electrical signals. Similar to the rubber coating on cords, oligodendrocytes wrap around axons with a cholesterol-rich myelin structure, which speeds up the transmission of electrical impulses. Each oligodendrocyte can myelinate Read More…
The inferior olive is a beautifully squiggly structure found in the brainstem. The brainstem connects the spinal cord to the brain and contains three major regions: the midbrain, pons, and medulla. Within the medulla, there is an inferior olivary nucleus, or inferior olive, on each side. These inferior olives are Read More…
Meta-analysis refers to a research process. You might think of it as a ‘Cliff’s Notes’ summary that compiles, evaluates, and synthesizes all of the individual research reports that were completed by the others. Using statistics, a meta-analysis synthesizes the findings of multiple similar scientific studies to produce an overall result. Read More…
The cortex has many folds, just like how an origami flower has many folds. This helps increase the brain surface area by tightly packing in neurons. “Origami Lotus Flowers” by Dominic’s pics is licensed under CC BY 2.0. The cerebral cortex, also called “the cortex,” is a highly organized layer of tissue that Read More…
Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS) is a neurodegenerative disease first described in 2001 that is caused by a mutation or change to a gene on the X chromosome. The X chromosome is the section of DNA that determines biological sex. Biological females typically have two X chromosomes (one from their Read More…
Escrito por Cristina (Yi) Peng Editado por la Dra. Hayley McLoughlin Traducción: Dra. Frida Loria La Escala Internacional Cooperativa de la Ataxia (del inglés International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale, ICARS) es una escala que se utiliza para evaluar el grado de discapacidad en pacientes con ataxia cerebelosa. Fue desarrollada en Read More…
Drosophila melanogaster is the scientific name of the common fruit fly. Yes, the ones flying around your green bin on a hot summer day. You may be surprised to learn that it is a commonly used model organism in biomedical research and has made significant contributions to many fields of Read More…
Induced pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs are adult stem cells that can be transformed into different types of tissues or organs. This research can be used to study different disease mechanisms. Many multicellular organisms like us come from a fertilized egg cell, the zygote, which divides into more and more Read More…
The nervous system is made up of two main components: the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and the spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system, which consists of nerve cells that branch off the spinal cord and connect the central nervous system to the rest of the Read More…
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