Penn NeuroKnow 🧠
@pennneuroknow.bsky.social
Weekly neuroscience blog written by PhD students at the University of Pennsylvania breaking down the brain for everyone to understand. Visit our blog: https://pennneuroknow.com/
This week on America's Next Top (Animal) Model: could an adorable little lemur provide answers about aging and Alzheimer's disease? Tune into this week's post by @nitarome.bsky.social to find out: pennneuroknow.com/2026/10/20/t... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
The gray mouse lemur: A tiny primate with big potential
Learn how this adorable little lemur may help us understand what happens to our brains as we age.
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While "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet", how can you tell it's a rose and not a lilac? This week's article by Lucas Tittle explains how the brain is able to parse out and identify different smells. Check it out here: pennneuroknow.com/2026/10/13/o... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
One of these is not like the other: separating smells in the brain
The world is full of smells, and your brain needs to figure out how to tell them apart. Dive into how the brain is able to recognize different smells and how those differences are stored.
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Does splashing water on your face when you're upset actually help? This week's post by Stephanie Uroda dives (pun intended) into how submerging your face in cold water may actually calm your nervous system during stress! Learn more here! pennneuroknow.com/2026/10/06/w... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
When stress takes the plunge: The brain’s drive response
Stress triggers many uncomfortable physiological and psychological responses in our bodies. It turns out that activating a simple, unrelated survival reflex called the dive response may bring some …
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Can visualizing your goals actually increase your chances of success? In this week's post, Meagan Olson explores whether successful manifestation of your goals is magic, or if it could ultimately be due to the power of the brain. pennneuroknow.com/2026/09/29/n... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Neuroscience or pseudoscience? Demystifying manifestation
Is manifestation really magic, or can neuroscience explain why it sometimes seems to work? Let’s look beyond the mysticism and into the brain.
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Did you know that scientists can grow brain tissue in the lab? While these "brain organoids" usually last for a short time, some scientists have figured out how to keep them around longer! Read Sophia Castellani's post to learn more! pennneuroknow.com/2026/09/22/n... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Neurodevelopment in a dish: Lab grown brains that know what time it is
A recent study from Harvard made a groundbreaking achievement of maintaining brain organoids in the lab for over five years! Interestingly, these lab grown brains develop much like human brains. Co…
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Time to break out your tap shoes! This week's post by Allison Fultz leaps into how repetitively dancing can change the brain and explores how some of these effects may explain the benefits of dance therapy. Learn more here: pennneuroknow.com/2026/09/15/j... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Just dance, it’ll be okay!
Consistent dance training changes the brain at anatomical and cellular levels. Read on to learn more about these changes and how several physical and mental health conditions have been treated usin…
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Pregnancy puts A LOT of stress on the mind and body, and recovery postpartum often brings its own challenges. This week's post by Sophia Rueda explores how pregnancy alters the brain and how some changes may lead to postpartum depression pennneuroknow.com/2026/09/08/b... #PsychSciSky #SciComm🧠🟦 🧪
Beyond the baby blues: The neuroscience of postpartum depression
Postpartum depression affects one in seven mothers—yet we rarely talk about why it happens. Here is the science that deserves to be part of the conversation.
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This one is for the chocolate lovers. Some scientists are researching if dark chocolate can be good for your brain health (on top of the clear benefit of it bringing joy). Read more about it in this week's post by Carly Seligman: pennneuroknow.com/2026/09/01/c... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Can chocolate make you smarter?
I have some good news for all my fellow chocolate lovers out there: chocolate might help your brain function better!
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Have you heard that it's a bad tick season? Lyme disease is a tick borne illness, and some people keep having symptoms even after treatment. A new study might help explain why! Learn more in this week's post by Stephen Wisser: pennneuroknow.com/2026/08/25/a... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
After the antibiotics: When Lyme disease persists
Lyme disease, a tick-transmitted infection, is commonly treated with antibiotics. However, some people experience debilitating neurological symptoms even after treatment. Let’s explore the controve…
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If you've heard of homing pigeons, you may know that historically they were used as messenger birds. But have you ever wondered how pigeons know where to go? Turns out, pigeons may use magnetic fields to navigate! Learn more in this week's post by Andrew Nguyen: pennneuroknow.com/2026/08/18/m...
Magnetic compasses help pigeons navigate in the dark
Finding your way home in the dark can be challenging, but pigeons have developed surprising navigational strategies to sense magnetic fields to make it home safe.
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Moving cargo in neurons is a precise process and pace matters. Learn how moving cargo too fast is caused and what happens to neurons as a result in this week's post by Carris Borland: pennneuroknow.com/2026/08/04/f... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Faster is not always better: How a faster kinesin motor does more harm than good
Moving cargo along axons requires extreme precision, where timing and pacing are just as critical as raw function. Moving too fast or too slow cause problems. This article explores how a KIF1A moto…
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Have you ever felt the urge to yawn after watching someone else yawn? Learn about neuroscientists' main theory behind contagious yawning in this week's post by Hayley Lenhard: pennneuroknow.com/2026/07/28/c... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Caught a case of the yawns?
Can you make it through this article without yawning? Scientists are still trying to understand the neuroscience behind contagious yawns. Let’s discuss the most prominent theory.
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While Claude, ChatGPT and other generative AIs are doing the work, what's happening in your brain? Explore the discussion around AI use – from a neuroecientific perspective, of course – in this week's post by Victoria Subriitzky Katz: pennneuroknow.com/2026/07/21/m... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
My buddy Claude, friend or foe?
While Claude, ChatGPT and other generative AIs are doing the work, what’s happening (or not happening) in your brain?
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How did dogs become man's best friend? Dive into the neuroscience behind domestication in this week's post by Eve Gautreaux pennneuroknow.com/2026/07/14/b... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Becoming man’s best friend: Biology’s survival guide for animals in a world with humans
Many animals have evolved to coexist with—or even rely on—humans. A few key changes in neurobiology may explain how evolution has shaped dogs and other animals into human companions.
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Lower oxygen at high altitude poses danger to climbers, but some populations have adapted. Explore the differences in the brain and body that offer protection from these harsh environments in this week's post by Emma Fischer: pennneuroknow.com/2026/07/07/o... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Out of thin air: The brain at high altitude
Lower oxygen at high altitude poses a serious danger to climbers, but some populations have adapted to thrive in these conditions. What differences in the brain and body confer protection to inhabi…
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Acquiring hearing loss later in life is one of the strongest risk factors for dementia. One overlooked community in dementia research could provide new insights: early-deafened people. Learn more in this week's post by Anna Kasper: pennneuroknow.com/2026/06/30/t... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
The missing community in the link between hearing loss and dementia
Acquiring hearing loss later in life is one of the strongest risk factors for dementia, a condition that affects cognitive abilities, like memory, in aging adults. Yet as researchers attempt to und…
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Dementia is associated with physical changes in the brain yet not everyone with these changes experiences symptoms. Find out how some scientists believe an active mind can prevent dementia symptoms in this week's post by @catrinahacker.bsky.social: tinyurl.com/y8v2u2dc #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Use it or lose it: How a lifetime of challenging our brains may slow the onset of dementia symptoms
Not everyone whose brain shows physical changes associated with dementia experiences symptoms. Some scientists believe that a lifetime of keeping our minds active may make our brains more adaptable…
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Similar to people solving the same puzzle in different ways, neurons can perform the same job but through different wiring! Discover how crabs can help study neurons’ unique wiring and why it matters in this week’s post by Lucas Tittle: pennneuroknow.com/2026/06/16/a... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
All roads lead to Rome: How neurons use different strategies for the same result
Have you ever wondered why, in some cases, people respond differently to the same thing? The answer might lie in crabs! Scientists studying crabs found that neurons doing the same job can be wired …
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Ever wondered why the human brain is wrinkly? Explore how evolution solved a space problem by folding the human brain into a groovy organ that makes human thought possible in this week's post by Meagan Olson: pennneuroknow.com/2026/06/09/g... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Gyrification: How the brain gets groovy
Why is the human brain wrinkled, rather than smooth like the brain of a mouse? Explore how evolution solved a space problem by folding the cerebral cortex, creating the ridges and grooves that help…
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Staying healthy is about more than just eating from each group on the food pyramid. Learn how your diet, specifically favorite protein sources, play a role in your long-term brain health in this week's post by Stephanie Uroda: pennneuroknow.com/2026/06/02/t... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Trust you gut: How your favorite protein source may contribute to Parkinson’s disease
Staying healthy is about more than just eating from every food group on the food pyramid. Your diet may also play a role in your long-term brain health, including your risk of developing Parkinson’…
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The same drug can have different effects depending on the dose, but it's not as simple as "more drug, stronger effect". Learn how neuroscientists are exploring the effects of micro-dosing in this week's post by Sophia Castellani: pennneuroknow.com/2026/05/26/t... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
This is your brain on drugs, but at different doses
Why does the same drug act so differently depending on the dose? The brain does not always respond in a simple “more drug, stronger effect” way. Neuroscientists have recently begun to explore that …
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Have you ever been reminiscing over a fond memory and felt a rush of bittersweet emotions? Learn more about the neuroscience behind nostalgia in this week's post by Allison Fultz: pennneuroknow.com/2026/05/19/t... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
The neuroscience of nostalgia
Have you ever caught yourself reminiscing over a fond memory and felt a sudden rush of emotions? Keep reading to learn more about what (and where) in your brain contributes to this experience and t…
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Your brain does not fall asleep as a whole all at once. Instead, different brain regions fall asleep at different times. Learn how your brain dims the lights neighborhood by neighborhood in this week's post by Sophia Rueda: pennneuroknow.com/2026/05/12/l... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Lights-out in your brain: Sleeping one region at a time
Your brain does not fall asleep all at once, but rather different brain regions fall asleep at different times. That’s why you forget parts of that TV show you watched last night as you were fallin…
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Have you ever had a nagging cough and wondered what is a cough anyway? Find out how our brains are involved in coughing and how cough medicine works to provide relief in this week's post by @nitarome.bsky.social: pennneuroknow.com/2026/05/05/a... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Ahem, ahem… Let me tell you about coughing
Ever had a stubborn cough? Wonder why it won’t just go away? Cure your curiosity and learn about why we cough, how the brain is involved, and how cough remedies work.
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Why do your limbs go numb or "fall asleep" in certain positions? Find out the reason behind this "pins and needles" sensation in this week's post by @neuromelody.bsky.social : pennneuroknow.com/2026/04/28/p... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Pins and needles
Why do your limbs go numb or “fall asleep” after sitting in the wrong position?
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Tool use is often seen as a trait unique to humans, but we aren't alone. Explore how diverse species use tools and what that may reveal about intelligence across the animal kingdom in this week's post by Victoria Subritzky Katz: pennneuroknow.com/2026/04/21/c... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Clever creatures and the tools they use
Tool use is often seen as a defining human trait, but animals from chimpanzees to crows also use tools. Explore how diverse species use tools and what that may reveal about intelligence across the …
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What can rats playing hide-and-seek tell us about the brain? Learn more in this week's post by Abby Lieberman: pennneuroknow.com/2026/04/14/p... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Play on the brain
What can rats playing hide-and-seek tell us about the brain?
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Have you ever walked into a room and then completely forgotten why you went there in the first place? Find out how a small part of your brain is responsible for derailing your train of thought in this week's post by Serena Chen: pennneuroknow.com/2026/04/07/w... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
“What was I doing again?” The neuroscience behind losing your train of thought
Have you ever walked into a room, been momentarily distracted, and then completely forgotten why you went into that room in the first place? You may be surprised that a seemingly small part of your…
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Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Find out how our brain may be operating in the background to mediate our physical endurance in this week's post by Emma Noel: pennneuroknow.com/2026/03/31/h... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
How our brains may influence our physical endurance
Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Find out how our brain may be operating in the background to mediate our physical endurance.
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Heated rivalries don't just happen on the ice. One early rivalry shaped modern neuroscience, but a new discovery suggests that the "loser" might have been onto something. Learn all about it in this week's post by Stephen Wisser: pennneuroknow.com/2026/03/24/t... #PsychSciSky #SciComm 🧠🟦 🧪
Tunnels between neurons: How dendritic nanotubes are reopening an age-old debate
Most neurons communicate by releasing chemicals across a small gap. But newly discovered tube-like structures are causing neuroscientists to reconsider whether direct connections between neurons ma…
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