<![CDATA[OLAV KRIGOLSON - BLOG]]>Fri, 25 Apr 2025 11:21:26 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Talk for the Neuroscience Club at Indiana University!]]>Fri, 25 Apr 2025 02:58:00 GMThttps://www.olavkrigolson.com/blog/talk-for-the-neuroscience-club-at-indiana-universityI was so excited to give a talk at my Alma Mater Indiana University last week! Here is the link to the slides and I have rerecorded it for the podcast.

TALK SLIDES
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]]><![CDATA[Dr. Cameron McCrodan!]]>Tue, 03 Oct 2023 00:05:56 GMThttps://www.olavkrigolson.com/blog/dr-cameron-mccrodanAn awesome interview with Dr. Cameron McCrodan of Optimization! As promised, links to his TEDx talk, his book and clinic, and below the pattern glare.
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If that image is causing you distress, you should talk to someone. Preferably an optometrist with the right training!
]]><![CDATA[The Somatosensory Cortex]]>Mon, 22 May 2023 23:17:50 GMThttps://www.olavkrigolson.com/blog/the-somatosensory-cortex
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They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but hopefully this conveys the idea brilliantly. If you tap the palm of your left hand, a sensory neuron fires - there are receptors underneath your skin for touch, cold, hot, pain, etc across your entire body. The message is sent up the spinal cord to the thalamus and then onto the somatosensory (or primary) sensory cortex. The firing of a neuron in the somatosensory cortex then is a literal representation of your body in space. Put it this way, if I directly stimulated the same neuron in the somatosensory cortex with a small amount of electricity using a probe - you would think you were touching the palm of your hand! (For the Sci Fans, this is part how "The Matrix" would work).
]]><![CDATA[Anosognosia]]>Wed, 08 Feb 2023 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.olavkrigolson.com/blog/anosognosiaThe key bit is towards the end!
]]><![CDATA[Hemispatial Neglect]]>Thu, 02 Feb 2023 02:01:24 GMThttps://www.olavkrigolson.com/blog/hemispatial-neglectNeglect is an attentional disorder typically due to damage to the right parietal cortex. People with neglect tend to ignore the left hand side of visual space. Below, are some images drawn by people with neglect.
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]]><![CDATA[Cognitive Kali]]>Tue, 17 Jan 2023 19:02:58 GMThttps://www.olavkrigolson.com/blog/cognitive-kali​Great to chat on Sunday with my old friend Paul McCarthy about Cognitive Kali! As promised, lots of links!

TEDx Talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf8xbFo0MpM
LA Times Football – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugI6QVob90c
PAC 12 Network Football - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5y2OP_UGts
 
Websites;
Main Website - https://cognitivekali.com/
Online Courses - https://www.cognitivekali.online/
Upcoming Free Webinars - https://www.cognitivekali.online/pages/webinars
 
Other informative videos;
UCLA Research - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cys_UbNB_NQ
What is Cognitive Kali - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdGWBUj9sLI



]]><![CDATA[Neuroscience Bite: The Premotor Cortex]]>Wed, 14 Dec 2022 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.olavkrigolson.com/blog/neuroscience-bite-the-premotor-cortex
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The Premotor Cortex is another key motor planning region in the brain. It works in conjunction with the SMA to plan and execute movements but is specialized as is the SMA. Specifically, the Premotor Cortex seems to play a key role in encoding the direction of intended movements. Further, the Premotor Cortex seems to play a greater role in externally generated movements. The PMC also seems to play a role in controlling movements of the trunk and the parts of the body closer to the midline.
]]><![CDATA[Neuroscience Bite: The Supplementary Motor Area]]>Wed, 07 Dec 2022 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.olavkrigolson.com/blog/december-10th-2022
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The Supplementary Motor Area is a key motor planning region in the brain. It is where movements are planned and then sent to the Primary Motor Cortex for execution. It plays a key role in movement sequencing and the generation of internally generated movements. It is also thought to be more focused on controlling the extremities of our body - especially the hands.
]]><![CDATA[Neuroscience Bite: The Reticular Activating System]]>Wed, 30 Nov 2022 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.olavkrigolson.com/blog/neuroscience-bite-the-reticular-activating-system
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The reticular activating system is a collection of nuclei and thus neurons in the brain stem that have a critical purpose - it helps to "gate" or "filter" information passed through the brainstem to the cortex and from the eyes and ears (see the diagram). The reticular activating system also helps gate outgoing motor output. Deficits in neurotransmitters in ADHD cause differences in the function of the reticular activating system which underlies some of the differences in behaviour we see in people with ADHD.
]]><![CDATA[Neuroscience Bite: The Ventral Tegmental Area]]>Wed, 23 Nov 2022 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.olavkrigolson.com/blog/neuroscience-bite-the-ventral-tegmental-area
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The Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) is the second major dopamine production site in the brain (the other one here adjacent in blue - the SNpc - we talked about last week. The key difference is obvious - the SNpc projects to the midbrain whereas the VTA projects to the cortex - thus its role in reward learning, depression, obsession, and a myriad of other things!
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