Author archives: José Ramón Alonso

Transcranial direct current stimulation and depression

Transcranial direct current stimulation and depression

NeurobiologyNeuroscience

By José Ramón Alonso

Depression is a psychiatric and psychological diagnosis that describes a temporary or permanent mood disorder characterized by feelings of dejection, unhappiness and guilt. Depressed people show a low mood and an aversion to activity and are characterized by sadness, difficulty thinking and concentrating, and a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping […]

Coronavirus in the brain

Coronavirus in the brain

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

To date, more than 50 million people have been infected with the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and more than 1,2 million have died. It is a global problem, affecting everyone, but we are still learning how it infects, how it behaves, what causes harm to humans. The virus is spread by the droplets produced by an […]

Smelling armpits

Smelling armpits

BiochemistryNeurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Body odor is present in all mammals, including of course humans. It has a clear genetic basis, although it is modulated by different conditions, both normal and pathological. Interestingly, although it is believed to have an important communicative function and to be involved in sexual attraction, body odor is considered unpleasant by most people, which […]

Interleukin-35 and autism

Interleukin-35 and autism

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

The cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is not known yet, but it is clear that there is a complex interaction between many genes and many environmental factors. Autism affects not only those aspects that are used for diagnosis: social interaction, communication, and restricted and repetitive behaviors, but also many other factors related to the […]

Maternity and autism

Maternity and autism

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Research on autism is addressing some of the many issues that are pending and one of them is the situation and perspectives of the rest of the family: fathers, mothers, siblings, grandparents… A recent study examines some aspects of women with autism who have had a child with ASD, compared to women without autism who […]

Corpus callosum and autism

Corpus callosum and autism

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

The complexity of the brain stems from its connectivity. This is evidenced by the disproportionate increase in the volume of white substance throughout primate evolution even though the “grey matter” is the one that takes the fame; that is, there are more and more “wires” connecting the different cortical regions over long distances according to […]

Myelin and autism

Myelin and autism

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Myelin is a lipid-rich substance that surrounds the axons of the neurons, which would be like the “wires” of the nervous system. This fatty structure serves to insulate the axons and to increase the speed with which electrical impulses, the so-called action potentials, pass along the axon. The myelinated axon can be compared to an […]

Sex and the brain

Sex and the brain

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

An interesting question is whether the brains of gay and straight people are the same or different. One study found that they are slightly different and that the brains of gay men, in the aspects analyzed, are more similar to those of heterosexual women. This would support the idea that sexual orientation is a biological […]