What is Reality?

Our brains are easily tricked by simple drawings, pictures, and works of art. Sometimes we may see objects that are absent and other times, we may fail to see objects that are present. Our brain constructs our reality by taking in information collected from our senses and transforming them into a world based on its…

Alzheimer’s Disease: A Worldwide Crisis

            Ever since I was young, there have always been instances of neurodegenerative disease in my family. My great-uncle has suffered from Parkinson’s disease for many years and though Parkinson’s is very debilitating, he has lived with it for a quite a while and embraces it as a part of his identity. He continues to live…

Music on the Brain

Whether it is eating a healthier diet or exercising more frequently, we often dwell on ways to improve our physical health and preserve our wellbeing. However, we never tend to think about our brain’s health or the effects of our actions on such a dominant muscle—often overlooking the importance of our mental health. Similar to…

Art and Its Effect on Anxiety and Mental Illness

Although he is well-known for paintings such as The Starry Night and Cypresses, artist Vincent van Gogh’s life was not as bright and beautiful as his canvases made it seem. Van Gogh suffered from a variety of mental disorders throughout his lifetime, including depression and mania. What most people do not know, however, is that some of Van Gogh’s…

Beauty and Brains

When I was younger, my parents took my twin sister and me to Rome, Italy. When I arrived, the only things on my mind were pizza, pasta, and gelato, but one event of this trip that has always stuck with me was visiting the Sistine Chapel. I remember craning my neck to see the intricate…

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…

A Spectrum Beyond the Eye

            One topic in this class that immediately intrigued me was tetrachromacy. I’ve always had the question of “What if what I view as blue, someone else views it as what I see as purple?”. A question like that may sound ridiculous to an adult who has had no background in the dynamics of vision…

Alcohol, the Brain, and Relationships

Researching the impact that alcohol can have on the maintenance of relationships is an important topic because alcoholism is a prevalent issue in our society that is affecting many people. This could possibly be prevented through further research on the effects that alcohol can have directly on relationships, as well as educating the public on…