Author archives: José Ramón Alonso

Draw a Scientist!

Draw a Scientist!

EducationSociology

By José Ramón Alonso

Researchers do not know what influences have the stereotypical images of scientists, if any, on children’s perception of science. The most common technique for assessing children’s perceptions of scientists is the Draw-a-Scientist Test (DAST). David Wade Chambers firstly proposed it in 1983 , and its main aim was to identify at what age the stereotypic […]

Change your flavor

Change your flavor

BiologyHealthNeurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Flavor is a brain construction: we have olfactory and taste receptors and our central nervous system combines both types of information in what we call flavor. Malaria is an infectious disease affecting humans and other animals caused by parasitic protozoans belonging to the Plasmodium genre. It is transmitted by the bite of the female Anopheles […]

Endorphins and tearjerker movies

Endorphins and tearjerker movies

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Group activities like dancing, laughing, and singing, release endorphins in the brain. These endogenous opioid neuropeptides produce a feel-good sensation, increase pain tolerance acting as analgesics, and presumably help to form stronger bonds between members of the group. One conceivable explanation for our amusement of comedy might be that it makes us laugh, and thus […]

Robotic playmates

Robotic playmates

HealthRobotics

By José Ramón Alonso

Autism spectrum disorders are a group of developmental disorders that cause lifelong disabilities. They affect people’s ability to communicate, to interact with others and to understand social cues. Affected persons have difficulties recognizing body language, making eye contact, and understand other people’s emotions, symptoms that hurt the individual’s ability to function socially, at school or […]

Trident whiskers

Trident whiskers

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Whiskers or vibrissae are a type of mammalian hair characterized, anatomically, by their larger, thicker and stiffer morphology, large and well-innervated hair follicle and by having a definite projection in the somatosensory cortex of the brain, forming the so-called “barrels”. The ‘barrels’ of the barrel field are regions within cortical layer IV that are visibly […]

Parasite plant check

Parasite plant check

Plant biology

By José Ramón Alonso

Cuscuta (dodder) is a genus of about 200 species of obligate parasitic plants. They use airborne volatile organic compound cues to locate their host plants and then, they produce feeding structures named haustoria that penetrate into the vascular system of the host plants and suck their sap exploiting their carbohydrates, nutrients, and water. They also […]

Rabid aggression

Rabid aggression

BiologyMedicineMicrobiologyNeurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Rabies is a fatal viral disease largely transmitted to humans by infected animals—predominantly from domestic dogs. The contagion is usually through the saliva from rabid animals. The disease is entirely preventable through prompt administration of post-exposure prophylaxis to bite victims and can be controlled through widely applied vaccination of domestic dogs. Yet, rabies is still […]

Is GABA a link between gut and brain?

Is GABA a link between gut and brain?

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

The human microbiota is the community of microorganisms that resides in our body. They are found in a number of organs and biofluids, including the skin, mammary glands, placenta, seminal fluid, uterus, ovarian follicles, lung, saliva, oral mucosa, and conjunctiva, but the most abundant group resides in the gastrointestinal tract. This complex community has been […]

Fatal attraction

Fatal attraction

BiologyHealth

By José Ramón Alonso

«Mosquito» is one of the few words, together with «guerrilla», «adobe», «cigarrillo» and some others that Spanish culture has brought to other languages. I am not sure whether we should be proud of this legacy. The «little fly» is one of humanity most dangerous and terrible enemies. Many species of mosquitoes act as vectors of […]