Generally regarded as the center of the nervous system in most living beings.
Questions tagged [neurology]
134 questions
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Is suicide through thought possible?
Moult studies have shown the control power our brain has.
From relaxing yourself, to decreasing your breathing rhythm and auto-hypnotizing yourself to sleep (all three of which I have experienced), we have a lot of control on our bodies and…
ChrisR
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Are left-handed people smarter or more creative?
I frequently hear that left-handed people tend to be smarter or more creative. For example, a disproportionate number of musicians, presidents, and doctors are left-handed. Does being left-handed give you these traits or is it a correlation due to…
user906
15
votes
1 answer
Can headbanging cause brain damage?
I'm not personally a fan of headbanging, but a friend of mine recently suggested they had brain damage from too many heavy metal concerts, and the suggestion got me thinking. A quick survey of my friends seems to indicate this is a widely held…
user1457323
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Do Valkee bright light headsets reduce SAD symptoms?
This is old news in Finland by now, but I don't know if these products are well known elsewhere yet.
The idea of Valkee headsets is bright light therapy with a twist—the light is channeled through the ear canal, directly to the brain. It should…
StackExchange saddens dancek
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Do firstborns have a higher IQ?
I've seen number of articles telling about the fact that firstborns are more likely to have higher IQ than their sibilings.
Sources:
Research Finds Firstborns Gain the Higher I.Q.,
Study: Older Siblings Have Higher IQs,
First-borns 'really do have…
Infinity
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13
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Is it dangerous to wake a sleepwalker?
Source
It seems to be a common belief that you should
never wake up a sleepwalker
From Wikipedia - Sleepwalking:
There are conflicting viewpoints on whether it is harmful to wake a sleepwalker.
Some experts say that sleepwalkers should be…
Oliver_C
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13
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Will rats given the ability to artificially stimulate their pleasure centers starve to death?
There's a widely-held belief [example] that a rat will starve itself to death if given a lever to press that will stimulate some "pleasure center" via electrodes implanted in its brain. Supposedly, the rat gets so fixated with pressing the lever…
bubba
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13
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1 answer
Does eating grains cause alzheimer's?
Dr. David Perlmutter argues that grains are [the/a?] cause of Alzheimer's disease and brain degeneration in general.
He says eating grains can lead to dementia, chronic headaches, depression, epilepsy and other health problems.
"Even healthy ones…
Ben
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Can drugs cause permanent neurological change?
Over the weekend I saw the movie Limitless.
In that, the main character takes a drug, and he says that because of his prolonged usage of the drug, his synapses changed permanently.
This is not the first time I have heard such a…
Itai Sagi
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Is the Eye of Horus symbol based on the human brain?
The Eye of Horus is an ancient Egyptian symbol and hieroglyph ().
A thread on the site International Skeptics Forum introduces a claim found on Facebook:
The following image shows the Egyptian Eye of Horus (or Eye of Ra) and how how it precisely…
edelwater
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12
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1 answer
Can dogs love their owners?
A common assumption about household pets is that there is a mutual endearment between owner and pet. Searching the internet finds handfuls of people asking the same question and there are plenty of editorial comments on whether our fluffy friends…
MrHen
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2 answers
Do we dream every night?
Tell someone you don't dream at night, and you'll often get the reponse, "Oh, didn't you know we dream every night? It's just that we forget our dreams". This is usually said as if it's a scientific fact. But it seems like it would be almost…
Jack M
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12
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Are male and female brains connected in a completely different manner?
I found this claim on Focus, an Italian pop-sci magazine:
Le reti di connessioni cerebrali nel cervello dei maschi (in alto) e in quelle donne (in basso): in blu sono visibili i collegamenti all'interno dello stesso emisfero, in arancione quelli…
Sklivvz
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Is it possible to solve problems without active thinking?
I am a mathematics major and I constantly hear people (including my professors) saying that when you are not actively thinking about a given problem and playing tennis for instance your subconscious keeps thinking about it.
When I take a rest after…
Xena
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Are the diagnostic criteria of brain death reliable?
There is a large number of sites - particularly fundamentalist Christian sites - claiming that the people who meet the diagnostic criteria for brain death are, nonetheless, capable of recovering.
For example:
The Truth about Organ Donation: No such…
johnny1723
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