Dance can be defined as a unique set of movements that coincide with the rhythm of the music. Professional dancers train approximately six to seven hours a day for 6 days a week, and even more time is dedicated for rehearsals when there are upcoming performances. On performance days, after warming up, professional ballerinas will attend…
Food and Brain Health
Let’s talk about food. It’s not an unpopular opinion to like, or even be obsessed with food. And most people strive to eat the things that they find the most delicious. Also, most everyone knows that foods that are processed and high in fat are not the best for your body. However, I found it…
How do we taste?
In the chapter 3 Auguste Escoffier, The Essence of Taste from the novel Proust was a neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer, the famous discovery of a fifth taste is explained. Kikunae Ikeda discovered that the tongue is not only able to taste food that is sour, bitter, sweet, and salty but as well umami, which means…
Music and Memory
Honestly, I don’t think most people can say that they know their favorite song with 100% confidence, but for the sake of this blog post, let’s pretend that if you are reading this, you are able to come to a decision. Encoded along with the lyrics and/or music are experiences, memories, and researchers have found…
The Lullaby Effect
Music can have a special and unique effect on us like no other. For me, I am constantly surrounded by music. Whether I am getting ready for the day, studying for exams, or just hanging out with my friends, I am almost always listening to music. Even right now as I am typing this blog…
Axon Power: Extending Lives Through Head Transplants
The axon is one of the most crucial elements of a nerve cell. As human beings, we rely on the axon to make sense of the world around us—to feel and make connections between our external and internal environments—and to allow our body to communicate with itself. Through an amazingly well-coordinated regulation of sodium and…
Hypnosis… not just a party trick
After hearing about Emily’s presentation about dreams and other forms of reality I was reminded of the time I was placed under hypnosis. The night after graduation my school hosted a party at our local recreation center. There were games, indoor rock climbing, and even a hypnotist. I’ll admit I’ve always been a skeptic when…
Neurocinematics: Your Brain on Movies
Lately I’ve been watching a lot of movies and TV shows, either by myself, with my family or with my friends (through Facetime or Netflix Party). This made me wonder how movies affect our brains. I would consider cinema the most advanced art form: it is visual as well as auditory, it takes years and…
Why do we like music?
Humans love music. We listen to it in the car, while we are working out, or when we are in need of a mood booster. But have you ever considered why? Music is simply just a bunch of instruments playing simultaneously in the same key to the same beat, sometimes with someone saying strings of…
Art Therapy, Traumatic Brain Injuries & Depression
One day during my junior year of high school, on our walk down to the soccer field, my best friend told me that a fellow teammate had just been diagnosed with a concussion. What was originally supposed to be a mild head injury, eventually turned into over nine months of recovery and the loss of…