MDMA, better known as ecstasy, molly, or one of a number of other street names, is a stimulant drug with unique prosocial effects. In this video, I discuss the current understanding of how MDMA acts on the brain to produce its effects ..read more

A brain aneurysm is a weakened area in the lining of a blood vessel in the brain where blood accumulates, causing a bulging of the blood vessel wall. Most brain aneurysms do not cause any symptoms, but a ruptured aneurysm can lead to bleeding into the area surrounding the brain—a dangerous condition known as subarachnoid hemorrhage. In this video, I discuss the characteristics, formation, rupture, and treatment of brain aneurysms ..read more

Devon had been a superstar student in high school, and by the time she was a freshman in college she already had her career path to becoming a physician mapped out. She was intelligent, ambitious, and seemingly destined for success. But by the end of her very first semester at college her life was in complete disarray. She appeared haggard and disheveled, was failing all of her classes, and displayed a paranoid mistrust of everyone around her. Devon’s transformation began about mid-way through her first semester when she started to lose interest in academics—and everything else, it seemed; som ..read more

Bell’s palsy is a disorder characterized by facial weakness or paralysis, typically on one side of the face. It results from the dysfunction of cranial nerve VII, the facial nerve, but the cause of the facial nerve dysfunction is unknown. In this video, I discuss the symptoms, possible causes, and prognosis for Bell’s palsy ..read more

Tinnitus, sometimes called “ringing in the ears,” involves hearing a sound that cannot be linked to an external stimulus. In this video, I discuss nervous system mechanisms that might underlie tinnitus ..read more

Where is the spinothalamic tract? The spinothalamic tract is a collection of neurons that carries information to the brain about pain, temperature, itch, and general or light touch sensations. The pathway starts with sensory neurons that synapse in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. Next, neurons extend from the dorsal horn and decussate, or cross over to the other side of the spinal cord, before traveling up the spinal cord, through the brainstem, and to the thalamus. These neurons synapse with neurons in the thalamus, which then carry the information to the somatosensory cortex. See below f ..read more

Ketamine is an anesthetic, analgesic, antidepressant, and recreationally used drug. In this video, I discuss hypotheses about how ketamine produces its effects ..read more

Where are the olivary nuclei? The olivary nuclei are found in the pons and medulla oblongata, which are major parts of the brainstem. The olivary nuclei consist of the superior olivary nucleus and the inferior olivary nucleus. These are both paired structures, with one superior and one inferior olivary nucleus found on each side of the brainstem. The superior olivary nuclei are located in the pons, and the inferior olivary nuclei are found in the medulla. The superior olivary nuclei and inferior olivary nuclei are typically subdivided into collections of smaller nuclei. What are the olivary nu ..read more

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a neurological condition linked primarily to repetitive head trauma. In this video, I discuss what happens in the brain during CTE ..read more

Motor neurons are neurons that carry information from the brain or spinal cord to regulate activity in muscles or glands. In this video, I will discuss upper and lower motor neurons. I’ll cover their functions and discuss the syndromes that result from damage to motor neurons: upper motor neuron syndrome and lower motor neuron syndrome ..read more