Newsroom Stories

A new brain-imaging study is shedding light on what it means to “get lost” in a good book — suggesting that readers create vivid mental simulations of the sounds, sights, tastes and movements described in a textual narrative while simultaneously activating brain regions used to process similar experiences in real life.

School of Medicine autism researchers are imaging the brains of infants to attempt to identify anatomical and behavioral changes that may be linked to the onset of autism.

Two research teams have made significant gains in understanding the genetic basis of psoriasis, a chronic skin condition that can be debilitating in some patients.

School of Medicine researchers have found the innate immune system has cells that can learn from experience and fight better when called into battle a second time.

The Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanites Lecture Sries, “FanZ and Enthusiasts: The Passions of Modern Reading,” will open with a program by noted cultural historian Janice Radway at noon on Tuesday, February 17 in the Women’s Building Lounge.

Josephine Olsen, Ph.D., acting director of the Peace Corps, will present the talk “International Volunteering and Service in the 21st Century: Toward Peace and Development” at 4 p.m. Feb. 19 in Brown Hall Lounge. Olsen’s lecture is free and open to the public.

Since the initial announcement of the 2009 Assembly Series schedule was published, there have been several changes and the addition of four programs. The following list provides all the updated information at this time, beginning with the next program. For the most current information on Assembly Series programs, please visit the Web site at http://assemblyseries.wustl.edu or call 314-935-5285. All programs are free and open to the public.

Frank FlinnPope Benedict XVI’s decision to lift the excommunication of British Bishop Richard Williams, along with three other bishops appointed by an ultra-conservative archbishop more than 20 years ago, has created controversy around the world. Williams has said he believes no Jews were killed by gas chambers during World War II. Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D., adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences and expert on Catholicism, says this is the latest in series of blunders that are coming to define Benedict’s papacy.

National Science FoundationBuilding on plant virus research started more than 20 years ago, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis and his colleague at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis have discovered a technology that reduces infection by the virus that causes Rice Tungro Disease, a serious limiting factor for rice production in Asia.

SchaefferJonathan Schaeffer talks about playing checkers with a computer and the interplay between people and technology in his Assembly Series talk at 11 a.m. on Wed., Feb. 18 in Steinberg Hall Auditorium.