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All Things Brain: Click on BrainFacts.org

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


The Decade of the Brain stretched from 1990 to 1999.

But, in reality, it never ended.

The continuing celebration of all things brain extends, once more, with the unveiling of a mammoth Web site devoted to neuroscience.


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Brainfacts.org—funded with $1.53 million project over six years by the Gatsby and Kavli Foundations—amasses basic information from leading organizations, ranging from the National Institutes of Health to the International Brain Research Organization in France, chronicling both how the brain works as well as major brain diseases. The information is intended for parents, educators, students and policymakers. The Society for Neuroscience is the third partner in the collaboration.

When a new discovery emerges, the site, vetted by scientists, will deploy background information about the new findings, in addition to links to media reports. The site, however, is not a news aggregator.

BrainFacts.org has plans to expand its content. In September, neuroscientists will start blogs, which will enable interaction with readers.

Source: BrainFacts.org

 

Gary Stix, Scientific American's neuroscience and psychology editor, commissions, edits and reports on emerging advances and technologies that have propelled brain science to the forefront of the biological sciences. Developments chronicled in dozens of cover stories, feature articles and news stories, document groundbreaking neuroimaging techniques that reveal what happens in the brain while you are immersed in thought; the arrival of brain implants that alleviate mood disorders like depression; lab-made brains; psychological resilience; meditation; the intricacies of sleep; the new era for psychedelic drugs and artificial intelligence and growing insights leading to an understanding of our conscious selves. Before taking over the neuroscience beat, Stix, as Scientific American's special projects editor, oversaw the magazine's annual single-topic special issues, conceiving of and producing issues on Einstein, Darwin, climate change, nanotechnology and the nature of time. The issue he edited on time won a National Magazine Award. Besides mind and brain coverage, Stix has edited or written cover stories on Wall Street quants, building the world's tallest building, Olympic training methods, molecular electronics, what makes us human and the things you should and should not eat. Stix started a monthly column, Working Knowledge, that gave the reader a peek at the design and function of common technologies, from polygraph machines to Velcro. It eventually became the magazine's Graphic Science column. He also initiated a column on patents and intellectual property and another on the genesis of the ingenious ideas underlying new technologies in fields like electronics and biotechnology. Stix is the author with his wife, Miriam Lacob, of a technology primer called Who Gives a Gigabyte: A Survival Guide to the Technologically Perplexed (John Wiley & Sons, 1999).

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