Magazine Issue - November 2014 | Face Perception

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November 2014

Cover Story

Kerry Grens | Oct 31, 2014

Once dominated by correlational studies, face-perception research is moving into the realm of experimentation—and gaining tremendous insight.

Features

Neuroprosthetics

Eric C. Leuthardt, Jarod L. Roland, Wilson Z. Ray | Oct 31, 2014

Linking the human nervous system to computers is providing unprecedented control of artificial limbs and restoring lost sensory function.

2014 Life Sciences Salary Survey

Jyoti Madhusoodanan | Oct 31, 2014

This year’s data reveal notable variation in compensation for life scientists working in different fields, sectors, and regions of the world.

Contributors

Meet some of the people featured in the November 2014 issue of The Scientist.

Editorial

Cerebral Sleuths

For neuroscientists, experimental results converge to help crack the case of how the brain functions.

Speaking of Science

November 2014's selection of notable quotes

Freeze Frame

Caught on Camera

Selected Images of the Day from www.the-scientist.com

Notebook

The Devil’s Details

With the iconic Australian marsupial carnivore on the brink of extinction, Tasmanian researchers race to unlock the immunological mysteries of a disease threatening the species.

Brain Massage

Researchers may be able to improve memory by discharging magnetic pulses on the skull to alter the neural activity at and beneath the brain’s surface.

Seal Stowaways

Pathogen traces recovered from Peruvian mummies suggest tuberculosis-causing bacteria rode from Africa to South America in pinnipeds.

Uncommonly Rare

How one of the rarest neurodegenerative diseases could lend insight into ubiquitous neuroprotective processes

Thought Experiment

The Ever-Transcendent Cell

Deriving physiologic first principles

Critic at Large

Enhanced Enhancers

The recent discovery of super-enhancers may offer new drug targets for a range of diseases.

Modus Operandi

Light-Operated Drugs

Scientists create a photosensitive pharmaceutical to target a glutamate receptor.

The Literature

Rhythmic Rewiring

Circadian neurons in fruit flies form synapses with different, noncircadian brain regions depending on the time of day.

Mixed Signals

Individual neurons in the dorsomedial striatum integrate responses to sight and touch.

Mitochondria Munchers

Glial cells consume mitochondria released by neurons in the optic nerve.

Profile

Brains in Action

An inspiring lecturer turned Marcus Raichle’s focus from music and history to science. Since then, he has pioneered the use of imaging to study how our brains function.

Scientist to Watch

Takaki Komiyama: Circuit Seeker

Assistant Professor, Neurobiology Section, University of California, San Diego. Age: 35

Lab Tools

Mouse Traps

How to avoid pitfalls in assays of mouse behavior

White’s the Matter

A basic guide to white matter imaging using diffusion MRI

Next-Gen Sequencing User Survey

Outsourcing is still the rule and data analysis, the bottleneck.

Careers

The Rules of Replication

Should there be standard protocols for how researchers attempt to reproduce the work of others?

Reading Frames

Walking with Whales

The history of cetaceans can serve as a model for both evolutionary dynamics and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Capsule Reviews

Leonardo's Brain, The Future of the Brain, Dodging Extinction, and Arrival of the Fittest

Foundations

The Body Electric, 1840s

Emil du Bois-Reymond’s innovations for recording electrical signals from living tissue set the stage for today’s neural monitoring techniques.