In Print

Graham Ramsay

Probability Pegs Brain Activity
Like most things in nature, neurons are subject to a mix of deterministic and random forces. Yet the methods used by most neuroscientists have not adequately accounted for that randomness. In the late 1990s, Emery Brown developed a mathematical filter that essentially interprets the observed behavior of individual neurons through the lens of its previous behavior. Now they present a design for a mathematical filter that could help to improve brain-driven prosthetic devices to be used by people with spinal cord injuries or neurodegenerative diseases.

Upcoming

Colloquium on the History of Psychiatry and Medicine

Thursday, December 20
4–5:30 p.m.

Speaker
• Scott Podolsky

Lab Works

A multimedia site featuring Harvard Medical research.

Science Progress

A new HMS site tracing progress in health care through funding, science, and discovery.

Spotlight

Courtesy AAMC

Schwartzstein Wins AAMC’s Glaser Award
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has honored Richard Schwartzstein with the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award, given for significant contributions to medical education. As part of the award, he received a $10,000 grant, and as the nominating institution, HMS will receive an additional $2,500 for teaching activities.

Student Scene

Jeff Cleary

Corn Fed and Fed Up
Responding to the argument by Michael Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Tarayn Fairlie says the U.S. Farm Bill’s support for the corn crop goes a long way toward boosting childhood obesity, which she deals with everyday as a pediatrician in training.

StudenTalk

Personal takes on issues inside and outside the classroom.