mri

Juggle Balls, Not Numbers!

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 20:30:03 +0000

We see a great deal of juggling of numbers these days. Various agendas are pushed by manipulating COVID vaccination effectiveness rates, the supposed successes of treatments with hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin and even number of hospitalizations. Sometimes the twisting of numbers is deliberate but sometimes it just the result of a lack of mental dexterity. Could such dexterity be improved by some actual juggling? Let’s take a look.

MRI Scans and Smoking

emily.shore@mcgill.ca — Tue, 23 May 2017 17:52:27 +0000

Our brains are pretty smart! A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan revealed that an MRI scan can detect the likelihood of a smoker being able to quit smoking. The researchers had heavy smokers watch a series of commercials about quitting smoking while undergoing MRI scans. The scans of smokers who eventually managed to quit smoking or who smoked less in the following month showed more activity in the medial prefrontal cortex of the brain, a region thought to be predicative of behavioural change.

MRI

Joe Schwarcz PhD — Sat, 20 May 2017 22:44:18 +0000

During Magnetic Resonance Imaging the patient is placed inside a giant magnet and is exposed to radio waves. Hydrogen nuclei in the body behave as tiny magnets and orient themselves with the external magnetic field. They are forced out of alignment by radio waves and the time it takes for them to realign gives clues to disease processes. The term “nuclear” referred to the nucleus of hydrogen atoms and had nothing to do with radioactivity. Public fear of radiation forced the name change from “Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging” to “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).”