Month: March 2014

Investigating neural patterns in the younger siblings of autistic children – Recap of talk by Dr. Charles Nelson

The Talk: A Cognitive Neuroscience Approach to the Early Identification of Autism In Plain English: A scientist investigates the patterns of neural wiring in infants whose older siblings have autism The Speaker: Charles Nelson of Boston Children’s Hospital The Sponsor: Simons Center for the Social Brain at MIT What it covered: Dr. Charles “Chuck” Nelson …

How to find a planet that could hold life – Recap of talk by Dr. Sara Seager

The Talk: Exoplanets and the Real Search for Alien Life In Plain English: Astrophysicist on the Search for Planets that Could Harbor Earth-like Life The Speaker: Sara Seager of the MIT Physics Department The Sponsor: MIT Presidential Fellows/Sidney-Pacific Distinguished Lecture Series What it covered: Dr. Sara Seager is an astrophysicist and MacArthur Foundation Fellow who …

Asleep by Molly Caldwell Crosby: A great epidemic history story, up until the last chapter

The book: Asleep: The Forgotten Epidemic that Remains One of Medicine’s Greatest Mysteries by Molly Caldwell Crosby (2010) What it’s about: Asleep is the story of the encephalitis lethargica epidemic that followed in the wake of the 1918 flu. Encephalitis lethargica is mainly known by the nickname “Sleeping Sickness”, but shouldn’t be confused with African …

Neurodiversity & Disability Rights in the Autistic Civil Rights Movement- Recap of talk by Ari Ne’eman

The Talk: “Autism, Neurodiversity, and Disability Rights: Then and Now” In Plain English: Disability advocates are in the middle of an ongoing struggle to ensure civil rights for autistic individuals, and hardly anyone has seemed to notice. The Speaker: Ari Ne’eman, president of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network The Location: Harvard Law School Project on Disability …