Touchpoint 1
How Placebo Effects Work to Change Our Biology & Psychology | Huberman Lab
What is it?
A recent podcast episode looked into the impact of placebos on patients. If patients were told they were being given a higher dose, the impact was greater. It even worked on cancer symptoms, although it did not impact tumor size.
Potential message to students:
Do you believe in mind over matter? If the mind thinks it’s getting the right medication, does it help with the process of healing? What other placebos do you think would work?
Touchpoint 2
Will these reprogrammed elephant cells ever make a mammoth?
What is it?
Colossal Biosciences wants to re-introduce woolly mammoths to planet earth or at least modify an elephant’s genes to have the trait of a mammoth. They just converted elephant cells to an embryonic state, which puts them one step closer to genetically modifying some elephants.
Potential message to students:
Is this a good idea or a bad idea? Is there a reason we need mammoths in the 2020s? Do you think animals brought back from extinction is a good or bad idea? Do you think they would throw off the current balance of nature?
Touchpoint 3
Lack of Focus Is Proof of an Intricate Brain
What is it?
How does a human still focus on a task or conversation when there are a ton of noises and distractions around them? Turns out the brain can focus more on relevant information and tune out any distractions. Current research not only tells us more about cognitive flexibility, but what we might do in the future to improve concentration and remove issues like ADHD.
Potential message to students:
Do you think different parts of the brain (one for focus and one to tune out distraction) are working together to help us concentrate? Do you think multiple parts of the human brain cooperate to do singular tasks? Do you think there is anything the brain does that does not take cooperation between different parts?