Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Recent years have seen a huge growth in the public awareness of neuroscience. People have become more interested in new findings about the brain, and also find brain-based explanations quite compelling. This public interest has led enterprising individuals to try to apply neuroscientific ideas to more everyday situations.

First, researchers created a gene which could be recombined in various arrangements to express one of four different colours. Then, multiple copies of this gene were inserted in the genome of mice or other species, resulting in the random expression of various colour ratios.

Along with identifying common office issues like noise pollution, the study points out less obvious stressors such as surfaces that have uncomfortable textures, temperatures for people with sensory hypersensitivity, or “visual noise” like distracting patterns on walls. A neurotypical person might not notice these environmental details, but they can... See more

So while neuroscientists struggle to understand how there can be such a thing as a first-person reality, quantum physicists have to grapple with the mystery of how there can be anything but a first-person reality. In short, all roads lead back to the observer.