FEATURE cartoon RELAXED STATE ►BY CELINA CHIODO AND ANDREW SUNG advertisement
Science can be intimidating. It is fast-paced and unyielding. We are only human. It’s natural to feel vulnerable to science when it takes the form of a massive hurricane or appears as a microscopic virus hiding in your cells, plotting to strike (pg. 11). But science can also give us agency, putting us back in charge of our health and our planet. Our cover story for this issue of the Yale Scientific (pg. 17) explores how developments in brain imaging technology are allowing people to watch their minds at work. No longer are fMRI scans only interpretable by doctors — with real time fMRI, OCD patients see their own brains in action and can learn to regulate their own brain activity. With science on their side, they regain control of neural networks that have been hijacked by anxiety. This is one of many stories you’ll read here that features people taking science into their own hands. When two professors were unsatisfied by available math textbooks, they published their own (pg. 9). Forest preservation in Connecticut largely depends on individual woodland owners caring for their property (pg. 20). Doctors are realizing the power of personalized medicine, devising treatment strategies catered to the individual. In one step of this movement, researchers in tissue engineering are working towards customized lung transplants (pg. 23). A couple years ago, this magazine released an issue themed “Science and the Individual.” Remarkably, in less than 24 months time, we notice tremendous progress in personalized medicine, citizen science, grassroots campaigns for conservation and sustainability, and other scientific arenas where individuals stand at the forefront. As science accelerates, we also see new efforts to communicate it, to keep up. The pages that follow include the Yale Scientific’s first ever reviews of science podcasts (pg. 38) and a debunking of The Martian (pg. 34), a fictional film that still makes an effort to present nuanced scientific insight. Indeed, one of our goals as a publication is to adapt to the changing scene of science and science journalism. To this end, in the past year we’ve established a stronger online presence, launching a redesigned website, more social media content, and a prolific science blog. Vol. 89, <strong>Issue</strong> No. 1 is the last that we’ll publish as the 2015 masthead. We wish the best of luck to the new editors of the magazine. We can’t wait to see what further change brings. Yale Scientific Established in 1894 THE NATION’S OLDEST COLLEGE SCIENCE PUBLICATION DECEMBER 2015 VOL. 89 NO. 1 F R O M T H E E D I T O R BATTLING IN REAL TIME Live brain imaging helps patients attack anxiety at the source A B O U T T H E A R T Payal Marathe Editor-in-Chief The cover, designed by arts editor Christina Zhang, depicts how neurofeedback therapy can help patients with OCD regulate their anxieties. In the foreground is a rendering of a patient undergoing an fMRI scan. The vividly illuminated regions of the brain represent the real time fMRI signals that researchers are using to correlate brain activity with strategies to lower anxiety. The arrows in the background indicate decreases in orbitofrontal cortex activity that occur when patients are able to successfully control their OCD-related fears. Yale Scientific M A G A Z I N E Established in 1894 December 2015 VOL. 89 NO. 1 Editor-in-Chief Managing Editors News Editor Features Editor Articles Editor Online Editors Copy Editors Special Sections Editor Production Managers Layout Editors Arts Editor Photography Editors Webmaster Publisher Operations Manager Advertising Manager Subscriptions Manager Alumni Outreach Coordinator Synapse Director Coordinator of Contest Outreach Science on Saturdays Coordinator Volunteer Coordinator Staff Alex Allen Clio Byrne-Gudding Celina Chiodo Tracy Chung Chunyang Ding Marguerite Epstein-Martin Emma Healy Sarah Healy Lakshmi Iyengar Advisory Board Kurt Zilm, Chair Priyamvada Natarajan Fred Volkmar Stanley Eisenstat James Duncan Stephen Stearns Jakub Szefer Werner Wolf John Wettlaufer William Summers Scott Strobel Robert Bazell Ayaska Fernando Ivan Galea Newlyn Joseph Cheryl Mai Stephanie Mao Zach Miller Ashlyn Oakes Andrea Ouyang Sophia Sanchez-Maes Stephanie Smelyansky Zach Smithline Andrew Sung Payal Marathe Adam Pissaris Nicole Tsai Christina de Fontnouvelle Theresa Steinmeyer Kevin Wang Grace Cao Jacob Marks Zachary Gardner Genevieve Sertic Julia Rothchild Allison Cheung Jenna DiRito Aviva Abusch Sofia Braunstein Suryabrata Dutta Amanda Mei Christina Zhang Stephen Le Breton Katherine Lin Peter Wang Jason Young Lionel Jin Sonia Wang Amanda Buckingham Patrick Demkowicz Kevin Hwang Ruiyi Gao Sarah Ludwin-Peery Milana Bochkur Dratver Aaron Tannenbaum Rain Tsong Kendrick Umstattd Erin Wang Kathryn Ward Isabel Wolfe Kat Wyatt Christine Xu Cindy Yang Chemistry Astronomy Child Study Center Computer Science Diagnostic Radiology Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Electrical Engineering Emeritus Geology & Geophysics History of Science, Medicine & Public Health Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology Undergraduate Admissions Yale Science & Engineering Association The Yale Scientific Magazine (<strong>YSM</strong>) is published four times a year by Yale Scientific Publications, Inc. Third class postage paid in New Haven, CT 06520. Non-profit postage permit number 01106 paid for May 19, 1927 under the act of August 1912. ISN:0091-287. We reserve the right to edit any submissions, solicited or unsolicited, for publication. This magazine is published by Yale College students, and Yale University is not responsible for its contents. Perspectives expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of <strong>YSM</strong>. We retain the right to reprint contributions, both text and graphics, in future issues as well as a non-exclusive right to reproduce these in electronic form. The <strong>YSM</strong> welcomes comments and feedback. Letters to the editor should be under 200 words and should include the author’s name and contact information. We reserve the right to edit letters before publication. Please send questions and comments to ysm@yale.edu.
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