FROMTHE EDITOR
A Matter of Opinion
BY BILL GLOVIN Editor-in-Chief
EMERGING IDEAS IN BRAIN SCIENCE
I n April 2014, Cerebrum posted an article titled: “ Equal ≠ The Same: Sex Differences in the Human Brain,” by Larry Cahill at the University of California, Irvine. Soon after, six female academicians presented their point of view. “Why Males ≠ Corvettes, Females ≠ Volvos, and Scientific Criticism ≠ Ideology began with: “We welcome this opportunity to correct some of the misapprehensions and mischaracterizations in this account and present a more nuanced view of the relations among sex, brain, and gender.” This issue’s cover story offers a fresh, updated look at what is still a provocative and debatable topic. One of my advisers, the late pioneering endocrinologist Bruce McEwen, recommended we invite Catherine Woolley at Northwestern, who had long ago stood out in his Rockefeller University lab as a graduate student and who had since gone on to acclaim for groundbreaking research on estrogen-driven plasticity. Her article aptly begins with, “Sex differences in the brain are real, but they are not what you might think.” My hope is that Woolley’s article, and my podcast with her, will help you form your own thoughts. We are also fortunate to have a leader in the field of big data, Vince Calhoun, take on a topic that has enormous potential to alter neuroscience and mental health: big data neuroimaging. As imaging and computer power continue to evolve, Calhoun—founding director of the tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science in Georgia — examines the origins of the field and neuroimaging’s potential to solve issues within neuroscience and mental health. He can also be heard on an episode of our podcast . Other features in this issue include articles on psychedelics to treat depression, the impact of diet on the brain, and the new field of environmental neuroscience. Our neuroethics column tackles some of the dangers of legalized marijuana—especially as those dangers concern developing brains. Our new Clinical Corner column offers a resident’s first-person account of treating a patient with a new noninvasive surgical procedure called focused ultrasound. These are indeed challenging times for science and medicine. As Covid-19 continues to rage, a rollout of a vaccine cannot come fast enough. Finding ways to slow it down, deal with its aftermath, and defeat it completely will continue to dominate our thoughts. Stay well. l
Bill Glovin Editor-in-Chief Seimi Rurup Assitant Editor
Podcast
Brandon Barrera Editorial Assistant
Carl Sherman Copy Editor
Carolyn Asbury, Ph.D. Scientific Consultant
Bruce Hanson Art Director
Cerebrum is published by the Charles A. Dana Foundation, Incorporated. DANA is a federally registered trademark owned by the Foundation. © 2020 by The Charles A. Dana Founda- tion, Incorporated. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro- duced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publish- er, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in articles. Letters to the Editor Cerebrum Magazine 505 Fifth Avenue, 6th Floor New York, NY 10017 or cerebrum@dana.org
Letters may be edited for length and clarity. We regret that we cannot answer each one.
4 DANA FOUNDATION CEREBRUM | Winter 2021
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