Web Links

  1. The Whole Brain Atlas has images of normal and diseased or damaged brains. The HOPES Brain Tutorial will help you visualize how the brain is organized. The final segment, Build a Brain, is best.
     
  2. The History of Psychosurgery, from trephining (drilling holes in the skull to let evil spirits out) to lobotomy to more recent experimental attempts, is the subject of this sometimes less than professional but very interesting Web site . At Lobotomy’s Hall of Fame you will learn, for example, that sisters of the playwright Tennessee Williams and President John F. Kennedy both had lobotomies (the story that Frances Farmer had a lobotomy turned out to be a fabrication).
     
  3. How the Brain Works provides an interactive tour of brain functions and the areas responsible.
     
  4. The Dana Foundation’s BrainWork offers regular updates on the latest findings in neuroscience research.
     
  5. Genetics Home Reference gives a good description of periventricular heterotopia and its genetic causes. The National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome has information and statistics on the disorder.
     
  6. Read the original news articles about the NFL Player Settlement, the judge’s modification, the Institute of Medicine’s report on youth concussions, and the study of brain damage in soccer players.
     
  7. Read the news article about the use of carbon-14 nuclear fallout to document human adult neurogenesis.
     
  8. The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami School of Medicine has summaries of basic and clinical research on central nervous system damage. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation site provides information about spinal cord damage research. The National Institutes of Health’s Stem Cell Information site is a good resource for information about stem cells and their potential.
     
  9. BrainGate Lets Your Brain Control the Computer is a video explanation of the BrainGate system, which shows the patient controlling a computer and a prosthetic hand. A second video shows a paralyzed woman controlling a robotic arm to drink coffee. (2 min)