Jeremy Posner's blog

      The greatest limitation in the field of human biology has traditionally been the inability for research to be conducted upon the body while it is still functioning.  This has been a particularly large barrier to overcome in the study of the nervous system.  Non-living tissue may suffice to study the anatomy of the brain and of the peripheral nervous system, but the activity of nerve cells is difficult to measure accurately even in living tissue, and so for many years the function of the nervous system was understood through the study of animal models and via observation of the effects of neurological disorders and injuries.  The earli