“So the goblins came. They pushed their way in and pulled baby out, leaving another all made of ice” Maurice Sendak, Outside over there. Fairy tales are stories, often with an evolution of centuries, that form a mutable and difficult to define genre, with a close relationship to folk tales. The functions of fairy tales […]
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 […]
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 […]
Why do some songs succeed and others fail? Some researchers believe that a key factor is their involvement with our personal universe: if they foster feelings of social connection, they get the approval of the public; if not, they are ignored and forgotten. If that were true, songs that fit that personal pattern should fall […]
Many people think of their brain as a computer full of microchips and wires, as a storehouse full of memories and learned things, as a clock with millions of mechanisms intimately intertwined with each other, so it is incredible to think that someone can live with much less than that, with only one brain hemisphere […]
Some people with autism do not get used to certain stimuli as normotypical people seem to do without problem. This would fit in with what in neuroscience, particularly in learning and memory issues, is called habituation. Habituation is a process by which, when faced with a repeated stimulus, the response is less and less intense […]
The relationship between siblings is, for most people, the longest they will ever enjoy. It is fundamental for many of us, but especially for children, who live together regularly with their brother or sister, and where the fraternal relationship is part of daily life, of play and leisure, of learning basic skills, of emotional development […]
Families with members with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are easy prey for scam artists who offer them magical solutions and therapies not backed by science. Many of these pseudotherapies are included in the so-called alternative medicine, a misnomer because they are not medical treatments and do not meet the same criteria required of a medicine: […]
Emotion recognition is the process of identifying human emotions. This is something that humans do automatically but computational methodologies have also been developed. Humans show universal consistency in recognizing emotions but also show a great deal of variability between individuals in their abilities. Whether persons with autism are able to recognize human emotions as well […]
Ladybugs are beautiful beetles and many present what is called an aposematic coloration, bright and striking colors that warn: do not eat me, I am dangerous. When they are disturbed, they defend themselves with legs and jaws, expel a poison and their brightly colored elytra with black dots are a warning to anyone who tries […]