How Damaged Are NFL Players’ Brains?
More and more retired football players are sliding into brain scanners — and the data will probably show up in court. The New Yorker (online)
The Disease Olympics
The massive rise of patient advocacy in the US has led to an aggressive, if inadvertent, contest between disease-specific lobbyists. Does this “disease olympics” threaten the basic research enterprise? Nature Medicine (cover story)
Brain Fixes
Re-wiring the brain to battle seizures, blindness, deafness, paraplegia and dementia. Popular Science (cover story)
Fish-Bowl Neuroscience
Tiny fish trapped in a virtual world provide a window into complex brain connections. Nature (with audio/video pieces)
Genomes Aren’t So Scary
People are smarter and more resilient than ethics debates give them credit for. Slate
Why Does Music Move Us So?
Our cognitive connection to music may have evolved from an older skill: the ability to glean emotion from motion. Only Human
Re-Awakenings
When she was 18 years old, a young lawyer began to crave sleep. How a team of researchers dug up an old theory to find a mystery chemical in her brain — and a cure. The Last Word on Nothing
The Roots of Resilience
In 1986, Elizabeth Ebaugh was abducted, raped and thrown over a bridge. How did she manage to bounce back? How does anybody? Nature
The Constant Gardeners
Once thought to be passive sentinels, the brain cells known as microglia now seem to be crucial for pruning back neurons during development. Nature
The Ovary Bank
A controversial technology allows women to freeze thousands of eggs to delay child-bearing, menopause or both. Could ovarian tissue freezing really stop the biological clock? New Scientist
Head Case
In 2009, fMRI made its debut in court. Is the technique ready to weigh in on the fate of murderers? Nature (*with podcast)
Body Conscious
When it comes to artificial intelligence, the brain isn’t everything. New Scientist
Our Body the Ecosystem
Studying our natural skin bacteria could help doctors cure diseases that affect millions. Popular Science
Genomics Revolution(s)
DNA sequencing is changing the way we do medicine. It may force change in the way we do business. ONE
Shelf-Preservation
A few researchers are tapping century-old brain tissue for clues to mental illness. Scientific American
Shades of Grief
When does extreme mourning become a mental illness? Scientific American
A Raw Nerve
A recently discovered gene involved in Lou Gehrig’s disease could lead to cures for the neurodegenerative condition. Or at least that’s what the newspapers said. Nature Medicine (*with podcast)
An Ear for Poetry
In his strikingly lyrical work, poet Frank Gallimore pays tribute to the culture in which he was raised — a culture, he fears, that may soon die out. Johns Hopkins Magazine (CASE Gold Medal Winner)
Shaken, Not Stirred
Hagia Sophia has stood four-square in Istanbul for more than 1,500 years. In a region notorious for earthquakes, what’s keeping this venerable building standing? Nature
