The “Gender in the brain” Series: Gender Identity

A scientific approach to the ongoing debate on queer theory In recent years polarization has been opening up a deep rift in society brought on by a lack of communication, consensus, and empathy. This occurs in politics, football team supporters, choices regarding pizza toppings or gaming consoles, and importantly, among minority collectives. It is here...

Can we assume our brain tells the truth?

Introduction The brain completely controls how we experience life. It processes information, provided by sensory organs, to shape our reality. This reality, however, is not always correct. The brain receives an excessive and often incomplete amount of information from its environment. To process this efficiently, it cuts some corners, ignores some information and replaces it...

The brain actively forgets

We all know the struggle of trying to study for a hard test and the mental power we invest in recalling the information during the test. It feels as if learning and recalling are very intensively active processes. But, what if I ask you to remember the moment you met your kindergarten best friend? Probably...

Official ”Brain Awareness Week 2019” Partner

Exciting news hit our mailbox a few days ago. We became an official partner for Brain Awareness Week 2019, an international campaign to raise awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research! Brain Awareness Week 2019 runs from the 11th until the 17th of March 2019. Stay tuned to find out what we'll be doing...

A saliva test can distinguish between ASD and non-ASD children

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterised by social and communication deficits. We refer to it as a spectrum, because not every case demands the same amount of support and the deficits are also variable. We've published a short introduction to ASD during ASD Awareness Week, so have a look if...

The glue of the brain: the great unknown

The importance of glial cells.

Human vs rat dendrites: what’s the difference?

A lot of things happen in your brain and a lot of interesting things happen just on its surface or what we call the cortex. Most of our cognitive capabilities lie on the cortex of the brain, so it is easy to suspect that perhaps the human cortex might differ from that of rats for...

Breast milk is important for brain development of pre-term babies

You've heard it before a thousand times: breastfeeding is really important for babies - especially, if it's your baby. Breast milk contains a variety of different molecules that provide the baby with energy and protection against pathogens. The molecules in the milk help the baby grow, and most importantly, they help the brain develop normally....

Non-neuronal cells in the brain are essential for movement learning

We’ve always been told that the brain contains billions of neurons, which, of course, have an essential role in all the processes that take place in our heads. However, sometimes we fail at realising that there are more types of cells living there and we underestimate their role in neuronal processes. These non-neuronal cells are...

Mood stabilisers: How do they work?

You've heard of mood stabilisers before when Lola introduced Bipolar Disorder. Mood stabilisers are the most common treatment of bipolar disorder and they aim to alleviate the elevated mood and increased energy observed in bipolar disorder patients, also known as mania. But, how do these drugs work? A recently published study summarised the mechanism of...

You should watch “The Brain with David Eagleman”

Neuroscience is like the one person in your life you can't stop loving, but you really don't know why; you just love everything about them. Anything that reminds you of them or will let you get to know them a bit better gets you excited. Well, it's the same with neuroscience, it's just I get...

Meet a Neuroscientist: dr. Mechiel Korte

Meeting a Neuroscientist is probably one of the best things you can do in your life! This time we interviewed dr. Mechiel Korte, who's studying neuro-immune interactions. It has been a really interesting (and extremely inspiring!) experience to meet him and talk to him in the last couple of years! I hope you'll enjoy this...