Campus Queries is a series in which Daily Bruin readers and staff present science-related questions for UCLA professors and experts to answer. Q: Where did dogs come from? A: If dogs seem preternaturally suited to humans, that’s because they are. Dogs emerged as a different subspecies from gray wolves about 20 to 30 thousand years […]
Category Archives: Science & Health
UCLA Neurosurgery chair elected to National Academy of Medicine
A UCLA professor was elected to the National Academy of Medicine on Monday. Linda Liau, the chair of neurosurgery in the David Geffen School of Medicine, was elected to the academy for her achievements in studying the immunology of brain tumors and designing clinical trials of vaccines for glioblastomas, according to the National Academy of […]
Do computers dream of algorithmic sheep? Symposium takes deep dive into dreams.
UCLA researchers are integrating artificial intelligence and psychoanalysis to unearth the mechanisms and purpose of human dreaming. Researchers gathered at The Science of Dreams symposium Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the neuroscience and quantification of human dreaming. Mark Blagrove, a visiting psychology professor from Swansea University, said dreams occur during the rapid eye movement, or […]
Researcher investigates potential treatment for paralysis, draws mixed reactions
This post was updated Oct. 19 at 5:08 p.m. Reggie Edgerton never intended to make a man with paralysis walk. In fact, the first time one of his patients moved his legs in 2013, the professor of neurosurgery thought there must have been a mistake. “We thought, ‘This is crazy,’” Edgerton said. “Maybe the person […]
Study finds schizophrenia may affect perception of smiles and other social cues
The brains of people with schizophrenia may respond differently to social rewards than those of neurotypical individuals, according to a recent study by UCLA researchers. Junghee Lee, the study’s first author and an assistant research psychologist at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, said the findings could eventually translate into a treatment […]
Chemistry professor named first ever Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair
A UCLA chemistry professor was selected as the first person to hold UCLA’s Kenneth N. Trueblood Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry. Neil Garg was selected to hold the chair Friday, according to the chemistry department’s website. Established in 2017, the chair was funded by a gift from Kenneth and Jeanie Trueblood’s estate. The dean […]
UCLA researchers test potential autism treatment on mice
UCLA researchers successfully tested a potential treatment for visual deficiencies associated with autism by manipulating malfunctioning neurons in mice. The team of researchers studied the mechanisms behind fragile X syndrome, one of the most common genetic causes of autism and identified the deficit neurons that impaired the mice’s ability to process visual information. Through treating […]