April 30, 2012

Welcome to Brainwaves

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

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Welcome to the new Brainwaves blog. I am an associate editor at Scientific American, where I assign, edit and write articles for the magazine and website, mostly about neuroscience and psychology. I also frequently edit and write articles about health, biology, evolution and animal behavior.

Here at Brainwaves I plan to focus on the brain and mind, but I expect I'll end up telling all kinds stories about science and the natural world. I am also interested in how science intersects art and popular culture.

Coming up, a series on Brainwaves called "Know Your Neurons," which will explore the great diversity of brain cells in the animal kingdom. Science journalists - this one included - often write about "neurons" as though only one kind of brain cell exists. But there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of distinct types of neurons with unique structures and functions.

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