Bodies...The Blog

Do Teens have the Brain Power to Predict Success?

6-14-11

Gregory Berns and Sara Moore from the Center for Neuropolicy at Emory University have made a breakthrough in a phenomenon that has had us all scratching our heads: Why do certain songs get stuck in our heads? They have concluded that the strength of brain activity in teens could predict which songs would sell over 20,000 copies and which songs would not as calculated by Nielsen Standards. Labs show that 90% of the songs that received a weak neural response sold fewer than 20,000 copies. [1]

Life with a Visual Impairment

6-11-11

Many people can close their eyes and imagine what life would be like if they were unable to see, but actually having a visual impairment is not that simple. Those with a visual impairment usually have some kind of residual visual, even if it is not very useful. Perceptions of light, peripheral vision, or blurry vision are just a few things that may be different for a person with a visual impairment. Only one out of ten people with a visual impairment use Braille, while others use large font.

Headaches: From Harmless to Severe

6-9-11

Headaches are extremely common and have been experienced by most people at one time or another. The majority of headaches are tension headaches, which are irritating, but harmless. It is rare that people experience headaches that can be associated with severe, potentially life-threatening, neurological diseases such as meningitis, aneurysms and brain tumors.

Multiple Sclerosis

6-7-11

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, inflammatory disease that attacks the central nervous system. The fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to scarring. The beginning of the disease usually occurs in young adults, most commonly in women. In the United States today, there are 400,000 cases of MS, with 200 additional people diagnosed each week.