Yoga is a mind and body practice origins from ancient India with a 5,000-year history. It’s also one of the most ancient eastern strength techniques that combine physical postures, breathing exercises, and spiritual contemplation(meditation). In more recent years, it has become popular as a form of physical exercise and a self-mind exploration as it enhances…
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Synesthetes and their Arts
Synesthesia refers to the phenomenon in which stimulation of one sense modality gives rise to a sensation in another sense modality (Harrison and Baron 1994). I know it sounds tedious and confusing. To put this definition into plain and simple terms, a few concrete examples might help. Imagine seeing waved colors when listening to your…
You are “Learning” When Sleeping
Have you ever thought of how wonderful it would be if I can remember the vocabularies or formulas or other textbook materials by eating the paper? I have to admit that I dreamed about this many times when preparing for standardized exams and other test. Apparently, we as humans are not able to convert something…
The Subjectivity of Taste
When reading the Escoffier chapter of Proust Was a Neuroscientist by John Lehrer, something that caught my eye was the experiment on wine tasters run by Frederic Brochet. It was astonishing that established wine tasters were unable to tell the difference between an ordinary wine from the more refined wines. Simply re-labeling cheap wine as…
Caffeine Codependence
As a college student, I am no stranger to late nights, early mornings, seemingly endless work, and not enough time to do it all. What’s the result of this? We prioritize the work over sleep and rely on coffee to get us through the day. I never really understood how caffeine works, I just remember…
Microtones and microtonal music
Microtones are musical notes, or music intervals, smaller than semitones. This means anything from quarter tones and onwards. (microtones, 2017) Music composed of microtones originated from the Sumerians and it is part of middle eastern music. (microtones, 2017) The interesting thing about microtones is that for most people when they hear it, it sounds out…
Secrets of the Eye
Recently in class we watched the documentary, “Secrets of the Mind,” which features scientist V.S. Ramachandran, who is known for his extensive experiments and theories in behavioral neurology. Most popularly known for developing the mirror box, a device created to help amputees who suffer from phantom limb syndrome, Ramachandran also developed theories about blind sight…
Magenta Doesn’t Exist?
Recently in class we learned about the mantis shrimp and its ability to see color like no other animal on the planet. Mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda) are brightly colored crustaceans that live on reefs. They are commonly known among fisherman as “thumb splitters” because of their hammer-like claws which can deliver blows that accelerate as fast…
Video games on the Brain
Technology has expanded the canvas upon an artist’s ability to express their stories. Videogames prove to be an art form that can solely exist in the digital space and demonstrates a collision of art and science. Our brain interprets these artists’ creations in many ways, both presenting itself as beneficial, yet also damaging to the…
We Love Pretend Play!
I just met my 5-year-old niece recently at a family gathering, and she loves pretend play. She designed different scenarios for me to participate in together with her as different characters in stories and act out the plot she wanted to experience. While playing with her, I recalled the fact that I also loved and…