rachelle oldmixon is a neuroscience.

we really didn't need neuroscience to tell us that did we? >> so you say, talk about a synapse. what is it and how many do we have? >> we have millions and millions of synapses. they are where our brain cells connect when they talk to each other. when you're learning something or doing something, you're connecting a whole bunch of neurons, brain cells together to actually result in the memory or the action. so they build synapses and you strengthen them as you learn. so learning is a process whereby one set of brain cells are talking to the other repeatedly, right? you're practicing, memorizing. and it's doing it through synapses. the process of learning includes increasing the size of the synapse. when you have a bigger synapse you have a stronger signal which is sort of the memorized state, right? so that's the synapses. and, actually, synaptic plasticty means input from the environment which can trigger your brain cells to turn on can cause a plastic -- meaning a change, physical change in your synapse. >> when is the first times you had your hands on a brain? >> wow. actuall

. >> dan smith is the senior director for discovery neuroscience at autism speaks. an advocacy organization. >> doesn't require that you adhere to all the norms that dominate the world, verbal and nonverbal when you are speaking to another person. >> apple's interactive technology put together a grant to are ship ipads. around the country. >> we decided to do the ipad give away program because of the affinity that a lot of individuals with autism have towards technology and their receptivity to it. not to mention its skills for learning all sorts of things. >> how much has siri changed his interactions with everyday people? >> well, i'll tell you this. without wanting to tout siri as this great miracle cure, it's not. but since he has had siri in his life for the first time he asked to have a play date. he asked to have another child over here. and i think it might be partially because he's more comfortable with just back and forth conversation. >> do i get frustrateat you siri? >> i can't really say. >> do it get angry at you? >> no comment. >> technologies like si

rachelle oldmixon is a neuroscience. turning a weed into a cycling marvel. i'm phil torres, i'm an entomologist exploring spiders in the rain forests of peru. secrets of civilizations past, long hidden from view suddenly available from outer space. that's our team. now let's do some science. ♪ ♪ >> hi guys, i'm phil torres, welcome to a very are interest interesting show of "techknow." i'm here to meet sarah parcak, buried picture midst in egypt is to start 380 miles from earth. contracts about our-- secretes about our history . helping learn about it. let's dig in. >>> to help unearth secrets of the ancient past, we look down into the space and into the future. dr. sarah parcak is is a pioneering archaeologist. using satellite imaging, she was the first to map egypt's city of tanis. she then used the same technology to discover over 300 settlements. there are many people out there that may see you guys out there digging around in the dirt and wonder why. >> i think if we look back there is so much we can learn from people in the past about who we are today.

crystal is a molecular neuroscience.

she is making contributions to my field, neuroscience.a look. >> my name is petra, i'm 18. i'll go to stanford university. when i found i qualified for isef it was unbelievable. my promote was about birds, fimption. they -- finches, they learn how to sing like we learn to talk using foxp2. it's involved in speech development in humans and songbirds. scientists can study foxp2 in songbirds and learn about it for humans. this is my love in the life sciences building at u.c.l.a. >> reporter: petra is part of a team investigating foxp2. it's the on single gene that when mutated results in human speech and language disorder. dr nancy day was interested in reaching out to young women and helping to train them in science. >> we have excellent undergraduates at u.c.l.a. , but petra. >> she plays songs on her perch. >> she brought some of her background from working in robotics so we could have a cage that would serve a multitude of functions. that is her cage. to have petra's promote recognised above and beyond that was beyond my imagination. >>

$100 million donation from a billionaire with the money going to research related to aging and neuroscience at ucfs. he has made the duty-free shops an the worm. >> lawyers for the boston marathon bombing suspect will ask to move the trial out of massachusetts asking the state court judge three times now to move the trial because of publicity and emotions surrounding case which deny their client a fair trial. they have been rejected three times. he and his older brother were acaused of planting two bombs near the finish line of the 2013 boston marathon. three people died. 260 everyone injured. >> it could feel like spring in california. millions of americans will have to bundle up tonight as arctic cold grips the nation. halts and scarves are fashion accessories in chicago but schools will close in the windy city as temperatures plunge into the single digits. the record-setting cold will stretch from the hid west to the northeast. it will be 20 to 40 degrees cold are than usual in many areas. >> tons of snow. the damage it can do. caught on camera. you can see part of a roof collapsing in m

crystal is a molecular neuroscience. she goes to the streets of seattle and santa cruz for a look at how science might stop crime before it happens. lindsay is an ex-cia operator. tonight she shows us how mushrooms might one day replace styrofoam packages. i'm phil torres and i'm an entomologist. i study insects in the rain forests of peru. that's our team. now, let's do some science. >>> it has been another fantastic week of science on the road. we've got crystal, lindsay and rita here. we're going to start with you. you were basically a very high-tech firefighter for a week. tell me about this. >> that's right. i was on a story that followed how we use unmanned aircraft to fight the rim fire at yosemite. let me show you. here it is. it's a very unusual-looking piece of technology. it almost looks like an alien insect, and they have it in a hangar. essentially they fly it up to yosemite, and it's eyes in the sky following the rim fire and generating information for action on the ground. so let's check it out. the size a

rachelle oldmixon is a neuroscience.

both are neuroscience students accordg to statements in court. 11 wesleyan students endee h after getting a bad batch of molly, also known as mdma. two students are still in the hospital> t to the winter storm we're expecting. veronica who is going to get hammer and who will be inconven? >> this time the south will get a lot of snow. virginia area they could see 6 to 8 inches of snow. for us moderate to major impact because of the time that it will hit. like saturday it falls, it will stick right away. no we're not going to get the amount of snow that we did get on saturday. that system will be shutting off after a couple of inches. let's talk about the snow impact forecast on area roads. what to expect here. from no problem all the way over to treacherous this bar goes. when it falls it's going to stick. starting at 10:00 p.m. this evening, our temperatures drop below freezing and will stay below freezing until at the freezi mark until afternow visibility between 6:00 and 8:00. could see limited visibility down to a quarter to half mile. the to major delays. more major towards southern m

the neuroscience majors were singd out by witnesses as molly suppl on campus. attorne will be quick to point out that none were actu found with molly. >> what i stated in court was there s no molly found in his room or on his person. there' this party. so as things take shape, i'm hopel that the facts will dist him from the events that occurred. this weekend a dozen people inclg students were hosp aft taking molly after a party at the eclectic soy house. this is a tragic event that happ on the wesleyan campus d our hearts and t to the kids and the family member kramer was found with 197 cart of nitrous oxide and mariju al nak found with 610 xanax pills which she reportedly said she personally used and sold to friend lonerg had hundreds of prescr pills. >> essentially a drugstore in his room where he did not have prescr a fourth student, andrew olson was arrested and made bond last night. he'll be in court next week. he founded the students for sensib dg policy group. a group that neither condones nor condemns drug use. feels they shoul managed throh t pubc heah

>> our ucla trained neuroscience team, that's the group that's working with us. we're all together in this to try to quantify exactly what attention looks like. you have brain wave ratios in each sphere of the brain, each loeb. if you look at the frontal lobe you have morale fa brain waves. that means you have better control over your executive function, which means i can determine what i'm focussing on and what i should block out. >> how does the customer experience work? do your consumers feel the impact after one drink or does it take more chances to feel the results? >> it's a bit like a juice cleanse. you do have to be a little bit patient. it's part of a routine and a regimen where it takes a little bit. it takes, say, three, five sech days of consistent use for you to actually start to realize the focus benefits. >> how long does a box last for? >> it's a monthly subscription. there's 30 50shgs or 60 drinks. >> it works out to approximately how much per one of these? >> it's less than a starbucks coffee. we're not trying to replace coffee, but it's somethi

you specialize in perceptions in neuroscience. >> that's right. i study how the brain operates and how we get to see how it works that we can see the world around us. >> we all asked for, we're all white and gold on this but in your house you had debate and disagreement. >> i'm white and gold my wife is blue and black. >> is this a function of -- what is going on here? is it the brain? is it the eyes? how can some people see things differently? >> when you think about all the brain has to do in order for us to see the world and u.s. it's amazing this doesn't happen more often, right? because, you know, there's light out there in the world, there's our brain and somehow or other the brain has to translate all that stuff that's out there into the colors that we see, the objects in space. >> veronica was telling us her daughter sees black-and-blue. she sees gold and white. >> right. it led to this debate and her telling me i was wrong. >> right. >> so i'm into photography. does light have anything to do with it? >> and background. >> and background.

if i stayed in the lab and continued to do brain research and i published in the journal of neuroscience you're not going to read that article... >> probably not. >> no, so this is a way to make this very scary upsetting topic accessible to people where people can gather in living rooms over wine and cheese and book clubs and go to the movie theater and new see a very vivid example of what living with alzheimer's looks like, and you can realize that you're in the alone in this. over five million americans are going through this right now, and historically we have not been talking about this. >> reporter: you're hearing that from people, that kind of reaction your getting? >> absolutely. it's worldwide. i'm hearing from people living with alzheimer's in australia, canada, the u.k., all over the u.s. it's really rewarding. >> reporter: all right the book and movie, "still alice," lisa genova, thank you. >> you're welcome. thank you. >> ifill: there's more with lisa genova, she talked to jeff on how to spot the early signs of alzheimer's. watch that on our home page pbs.org/newshour. >> woo

this comes from a new canadian study published in the journal of neuroscience.er adults who had musical training in their youth were 25% faster in identifying speech sounds than their nonmusician peers. this is really interesting. >> if this isn't an argument to keep the arts keep music in schools, you know, i don't know a better one. it's also not just cognitive ability. a number of studies have found that for children with psychological issues or who have psychiatric issues music is incredibly powerful at helping them to deal with it. even more so than psychotherapy and medication. it's something we all really should do. >> thank you both so much. >>> up next is america's long hot love affair with cars finally cooling off? some think so and there's evidence to back it up. you're watching "cbs this morning saturday." who wants pizza rolls?! this game day, fun harder with totino's pizza rolls. real transformations can happen as much inside a person as out. that's why you should take the listerine® 21 day challenge. use listerine® and over 21 days you'll experien

. >> tonight, on q&a neuroscience frances jensen on the teenage brain. >> they do not have their frontal lobe to reason. the cause and effect consequences of actions are not very clear. their frontal lobes are not adequately ready. they have them, but the connections cannot be made back quickly for split section's decision-making. also, hormones are changing in the bodies of young women and men. the brain has that see needs and life into you hit the teenage years. the brain is trying to figure out how to respond to these new hormones that are locking on to receptors and synapses. it is trial nara. i think this contributes to this very roller coaster kind of experience that we watch as parents. >> tonight at eight eastern and pacific. this morning, washington examiner commentator philip klein discusses the republican approach to the a photo care act and possible legislative alternatives. then afl-cio president richard trumka talks about 2015. later, former ambassador will talk about u.s.-saudi arabia relations. washington journal is next. ♪ host: good morning. when congress returns tomorr

and the neuroscience tells us a lot of how the brain works that we haven't really applied to the classroomtrepreneurship to invent new schools for students and classrooms and teachers. really this is focused on getting to the teachers and also to parents. because a lot of parents don't know how their kids learn. and don't know what they can be doing at home to inspire their kids. >> can i wade into a controversial topic? >> yes. >> most venture capitalists and head fudges are anti-school, and anti-union where do you stand? >> well i think that's old debate. i really do when we think about education today, we have to bring everybody to the table. we have to bring the private sector into schools. we have to bring the nonprofit sector together with the private sector with public policy leaders to really reimagine how schools are. really, what was so exciting about last night was i think we're bringing -- trying to change the dialogue. because the dialogue i think, has gotten old. and it's time to really think differently. so to have the creative energy at fashion week to have john legend to h

would be a perfect franchise for the new company actavis given they have enormous strength in neurosciencesscussion. as you know in the merger agreement, they have a slot for two directors from our side. i've been on boards for a long time and you have a lot of rearranging to do. >> is there any chance of a product coming out in the next couple years where i could eat and drink as much as i want not exercise at all, and still look good? >> no. >> i was about to say maybe you need botox for depression because you think about it. >> david, thank you for joining us today. it's been a pleasure and we hope you come back again soon. >> thank you. >>> still to come this morning, flower power. we're going to go inside the world of flower imports as we approach valentine's day. but we're also going to talk exports. feeling the brunt of the almighty dollar. a look at some names that could see a drop in goods shipped overseas. thanks to the strong greenback. here's a look at currencies at this hour. "squawk box" returns in just a moment. >>> welcome back to "squawk box." a number of stocks on the move

in neuroscience. his inclusion in this group is recognition of his terrific work to advance our understanding of chronic pain and is also a reflection of the prominent role that he and his colleagues are playing in a critical national effort to address this problem. chronic pain -- and that means pain that persists for days, weeks and months at a time -- can be absolutely debilitating for people in maine and around the country and is responsible for more than $500 billion a year half a trillion dollars a year in direct and indirect medical costs. mr. president, periodically in my life, i have experienced back pain and when it -- when it persists for a period of time, it changes everything. it changes your mood. it changes your attitude. it changes your ability to get anything done, to focus on the work at hand. and there are people in this country who are suffering -- the estimate is 100 million people suffer chronic pain at some point in their lives. that's why the work done at the university of new

you know you just start reading about neuroscience. it's a story -based field more than any other scientific field because you're dealing with language, language, memory the way people interact, emotions, things like that. they just pop up. >> you've written a couple of other books including the disappearing spoon. >> basically are trying to capture the fun of the book the spirit of the book. disappearing spoon was a romp through the periodic table. funny, weird story about every single element on the table. in the disappearing spoon related to one of the elements on the table. >> are you a scientist by training? >> i studied physics in college. i kind of did the opposite their. i'm of never been a practicing scientists. a been writing about it for ten years now. >> the dueling neurosurgeons from the 15th century through today. what have we learned, more more importantly what have we learned? >> we done a good job figuring out what specific parts of the brain do in isolation. you get injured in one part and start lying incessantly or c