Category Archives: Inside the Brain

The hidden history of lobotomy’s non-inventor

March 25, 2012 – 12:40 pm

A fascinating snippet on the notorious supposed inventor of the frontal lobotomy, Egas Moniz, from an article in the Polish Journal of Neurology and Neurosurgery: Egas Moniz: a genius, unlucky looser or a Nobel Committee error? Neurol Neurochir Pol. 2012;46(1):96-103. Lass P, Sławek J, Sitek E. Portuguese neurologist António Egas Moniz is one of the [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Remembering | Comments (1)

Neurotoxic e-waste recycling

March 22, 2012 – 2:36 pm

The Lancet has an extensive news piece on how the recycling of old electronics in developing countries may be a serious neurological risk owing to the high levels of neurotoxic chemicals in modern electronics. “The recycling of e-waste is big business in developing countries”, explains Javier Carod-Artal (Virgen de la Luz Hospital, Cuenca, Spain). “But [...]

By vaughanbell | Comments (1)

A thread of hope from a shooting

March 16, 2012 – 8:39 am

No-one knows why Steven Kazmierczak snapped. When he kicked his way into a packed lecture hall in Northern Illinois University, shooting dead five students and injuring 21 more, those who knew him expressed surprise that he was capable of such brutal violence. He killed himself at the end of the spree, meaning his motives remain [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Integrating | Comments (3)

A non hysterical view of ‘cheerleader hysteria’

March 1, 2012 – 11:56 pm

I’ve written an article for the Discover Magazine blog The Crux about mass hysteria and conversion disorder in light of the not-very-good-coverage given to the issue after a group of cheerleaders with unexplained neurological symptoms made the headlines. The New York Times described the situation as a ‘nutty story’ and said hysteria is ‘not supposed [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Integrating | Comments (2)

Dinner table neuropsychology

February 28, 2012 – 6:30 pm

Common sense or ‘folk psychology‘ is what your average person in the street uses to make sense of human behaviour. It says people have affairs because their relationship is unsatisfying, that people steal because they want money and that people give to charity because they want to help people. Scientists tend to say ‘well, it’s [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Theory | Comments (4)

Filming the rabbit hole

February 27, 2012 – 7:59 pm

I’ve just managed to watch a few editions of Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia, an online documentary series about mind altering drugs, and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the programmes. If you think hearing about other people’s drug experiences is about as interesting as watching someone staring at the wallpaper, you’ll be pleased to hear that [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Togetherness | Comments (1)

Moments of the self

February 20, 2012 – 1:15 am

A study just published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences gives a wonderful example of the little recognised complexity of epileptic seizures. The article describes three cases of people who take their clothes off during seizures and discusses the potential legal consequences of engaging in such behaviour when it was caused by epilepsy. However ‘Case [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Togetherness | Leave a Comment

Of both lovers and epilepsy

February 14, 2012 – 12:53 am

Saint Valentine is the patron saint of both lovers and epilepsy – sadly, a little known fact. There is one wonderful example of this divine coupling, however, where the passionate saint appears alongside EEG traces on 1998 postage stamp from Italy. This description is from a brief 2003 article from the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Togetherness | Comments (1)

Individual ecstasies: the revelatory experience conference

February 12, 2012 – 6:52 pm

On March 23rd London will host a unique conference on the neuroscience, psychiatry and interpretation of revelatory visionary experiences. It’s been put together by Quinton Deeley from our research group at the Institute of Psychiatry and brings together cognitive neuroscientists, anthropologists, religious studies scholars, psychologists and psychiatrists to discuss different ways of understanding ‘revelatory experiences’. [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Theory, Togetherness | Comments (10)

Before you hit the ground there’s a moment of bliss

February 11, 2012 – 2:32 am

I’ve just found this amazing bluesy hip hop track by George Watsky and the GetBand about having an epileptic seizure in front of a girl you’re trying to impress. As well as being an astute observation of the experience of seizure it’s defiant, fast and funny and Watsky just rolls through the rhymes. You don’t [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Togetherness | Comments (2)

goCognitive 2.0

February 4, 2012 – 1:30 pm

We’ve reported before on the Univeristy of Idaho’s goCognitive project. It’s a enticing collection of videos and demonstrations, including many guest spots by the glitterati of cognitive neuroscience. The site has more free video content in cognitive neuroscience than before – and it is more easily accessible as well. Check it out

By tomstafford | Also posted in Linkage | Comments (1)

A medical study of the Haitian zombie

January 11, 2012 – 12:18 pm

We hear a lot about zombies these days – in films, in music and even in philosophy – but many are unaware that in 1997 The Lancet published a medical study of three genuine Haitian zombies. The cases studies were reported by British anthropologist Roland Littlewood and Haitian doctor Chavannes Douyon and concerned three individuals [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Togetherness | Comments (13)

A relationship through brain injury

January 10, 2012 – 12:14 am

The New York Times has an excellent article on the challenges faced by couples after one member survives brain injury. Carers sometimes say that, after brain injury, their partner is emotionally unresponsive, emotionally unstable or that their ‘personality has changed’. This can lead to a strain on the relationship that far outlasts the ‘obvious’ effects [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in Togetherness | Comments (2)

Graffiti brain collision

January 9, 2012 – 7:33 pm

An unfortunate case of a high-impact graffiti-based neurotrauma recorded this afternoon in Bogotá on the corner of Carrera 14 and Calle 26 near the Cementerio Central.  

By vaughanbell | Leave a Comment

Christmas brain lectures available worldwide

January 7, 2012 – 7:21 pm

This year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures were a fantastic trip through neuroscience and the brain – and you can now watch them online from anywhere in the world. The Christmas Lectures are a traditional event where a leading scientist is chosen to present the latest developments in a fun and engaging way to a lecture [...]

By vaughanbell | Also posted in News | Comments (4)

Anesthesia as a consciousness scalpel

January 4, 2012 – 11:44 pm

I’ve just written a piece for the Discover Magazine blog The Crux about a new study that used anaesthetics to “put people under” and test the limits of their conscious mind even after they’d stopped responding to the outside world. Doing psychology experiments on people undergoing anaesthesia is not a new idea but it has [...]

By vaughanbell | Comments (3)
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