Ask Oliver Sacks: What are Lewy Bodies?
What is the relationship between Lewy Body Dementia and hallucinations? Read on...
Ask Oliver Sacks: How do Hallucinations Differ from Phantom Limb?
Are the visual or auditory hallucinations in blind or deaf people analogous to sensations in a phantom limb? Read on...
Hallucinations and the Cheating Brain
There is disappointment in the air. I am asked “what goes on in the brain when you hallucinate?” And my reply, however enthusiastically delivered, invariably falls short of expectations. Read on...
Huge Black Hole Discovered
Astronomers at the University of Texas have discovered what may be the most massive black hole yet. The unusual black hole is 17 billion times the size of the Sun and makes up 14 percent of its galaxy's mass. Galaxy NGC 1277 lies 220 million light-years away in the constellation Perseus. The galaxy is tiny, only ten percent the size and mass of our own Milky Way. But the black hole is more than 11 times as wide as Neptune's orbit around the Sun. Read on...
Purple Octopuses on Parade
In my experience, Oliver Sacks always brings a story, and this time it was early in our conversation for the World Science Festival that he showed once again he has so many stories to tell. Read on...
A Flash of Hallucination
As a medical student 30 years ago, I met a physician with a tumor deep in his right frontal lobe that caused seizures. During his seizures, his left arm became stiff, but this was preceded by "the feeling of extreme embarrassment, as though I had made a very foolish remark." Read on...
When Abnormal is Normal
As the girl who cried and thrashed through her first tattoo- of a bleeding heart flower—I always have been a very sensitive person. Besides being quite emotive, I possess a very responsive nervous system, and all my life have depended heavily upon my visual and tactile senses to understand the world around me. Read on...
What is Migraine Aura?
Migraine aura is the collective name given to the many types of neurological symptoms that may occur just before or during a migraine headache. Said to be experienced by 1 in 5 migraineurs—20 to 30% of people—aura is a fully reversible neurological syndrome, which can develop over 5 minutes and last for up to 2 hours. Read on...
Going Up with Oliver Sacks
My mind keeps returning to the night of Dr. Oliver Sacks and John Hockenberry’s discussion but especially to a scene soon after the talk. My mother and I found ourselves stuffed inside the Cooper Union elevator with Dr. Sacks himself and the equally esteemed astronomer Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson for whom the crowd had given an audible swoon just moments before when he stood to ask Dr. Sacks a question. Read on...
Oliver Sacks—The Justin Bieber of Neurologists
“The Justin Bieber of Neurologists”—that’s how NPR’s John Hockenberry, noting that the World Science Festival program, “Hallucinations with Oliver Sacks,” had sold out in a matter of hours, described the celebrated doctor and best-selling author. Read on...
Uncharted Territory
Just around the corner from the head shops that line St. Marks Place, the Cooper Union still houses the very stage where the likes of Lincoln, Mark Twain, the leader of the Lakota Sioux, and Susan B. Anthony spoke to presumably packed houses about the most vital issues of their day. Read on...
The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene Nominated for Prestigious Book Award
On Tuesday, September 25, the Royal Society announced its nominees for the 2012 Winton Prize for science books, and among them was The Hidden Reality by physicist and WSF co-founder Brian Greene. The Winton Prize, established in 1988, recognizes the authors of science books written for lay audiences. Read on...
