Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Neuron

  • The intricate forest of the neuron

    Silvia MainaTorino, Italia Entering the room, I was welcomed by some small and attractive ink drawings. In the first, like a genealogical tree or a medieval miniature, thin branches stretched to fill the frame. In the second, waves of sea anemones wrapped into the algae that populates the sea floor. The exposition, entitled Organisms and…

  • Forever young: The history and promise of young blood therapeutics

    Kelly ChenBirmingham, Alabama, United States Two mice waddle in unison. They eat together, drink together, and nest together. Their closeness is no act of nature—for on closer inspection a delicate line of sutures is seen connecting them from forelimb to hindlimb. They are linked by parabiosis, the surgical joining of two organisms. Parabiosis was first…

  • Rewiring the brain

    Paul RoopraiHamilton, Ontario, Canada Approach as a medical illustrator The modern-day perception of mindfulness and meditation is inextricably linked to the mind, which is associated physically with the brain. The rendering of the brain at the top of the poster represents the biological processes that mindfulness promotes in the brain. The renditions of the neuron…

  • Events of the day – The date I will never have

    Michael WynnSalem, Oregon, USA My medical writing is informed by my fascination with how humans accept and sometimes deny reality. Events of the dayTomorrow I will tell Mr. Smith,who is compulsively tidy,that he has Parkinson’s disease, and say “epilepsy” to Mr. Alexander,the 27-year-old truckerwho might have to pull over at 28, before I listen to Ms.…