The latest “Science Ink” provides a closer look at the tattoo of Kristin Cattrano, an artist who spent fifteen years as a painter before deciding she was interested more in science than art. Cattrano got this tattoo - a rendition of Andreas Vesalius’ “The Quivering Brain” - right before going back to school to study neuroscience.

“Vesalius Brain” - Photos and Text Courtesy of “Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed” by Carl Zimmer

For centuries, the medieval anatomists thought the best way to understand the brain was to read old books. They would pore through the writings of Greek and Roman scholars, like Aristotle and Galen, to learn the true nature of the human body. In the mid-1500’s, an anatomist named Andreas Vesalius realized at last that the doctors of the ancient world had not actually dissected humans. They had dissected animals instead, and extrapolated to our own anatomy. So Vesalius looked for himself, and drew pictures of the body’s interior unlike anything that had come before.

Check out more tattoos in “Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed” by Carl Zimmer.

The latest “Science Ink” provides a closer look at the tattoo of Gabriel Pato, a Brazilian biologist. Per Zimmer’s post, the message of his tattoo is simple: the brain is a network.

“Neural Net” - Photos and Text Courtesy of “Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed” by Carl Zimmer

Neurons send signals to thousands of other neurons, and it is the number and the strength of those connections from which our thoughts emerge. There is no single humunculus-like neuron in which a person’s mind resides. There is not even a single neuron for memories, or for smells, or for joy. Instead, our perceptions flow into layered networks, and out of those network come responses. If you like too far into the brain, you lose the forest for the trees.

Check out more tattoos in “Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed” by Carl Zimmer.

We gave Ella from the Norwood School in Bethesda, Maryland a chance to ask Stereo Sue anything she wanted. Here’s what happened.

More from the rest of Ella’s science class later this week. Meanwhile, do you have questions for Stereo Sue? Ask away!

Attention educators. This season, we’re thrilled to feature the work of Annie Murphy Paul, a writer who helps people understand how we learn and how we can do it better. Her [Brilliant Blog(http://anniemurphypaul.com/) features the latest research in cognitive science, psychology and neuroscience, revealing the simple and surprising techniques that can help us learn to be smarter.*

Neurobiologist Susan Barry knows first-hand how learning changes the brain: she learned how to see in three dimensions after a lifetime of being “stereoblind.” The study I write about in the following blog post is also about how learning changes the brain. It turns out that when we become experts at something—in this case, automobiles—we actually see the objects of our expertise differently. It’s another reason learning is so important: it shapes the way we see the world.

When we look at faces, a small part of our brain, located in the temporal lobe and called the fusiform face area, is activated. Now, the most detailed brain-mapping study of that area yet conducted has confirmed that it isn’t limited to processing faces, as some experts believed, but instead serves as a general center of expertise for visual recognition. From the Vanderbilt University website:

Sue Barry graces us with a lyrical Haiku about the third dimension.

“Stereo Sue” gets us thinking about the limits of our own imaginations with the help of the poet and etymologist John Ciardi.

You can discover more of John Ciardi’s wonderful words thanks to the curation work of our friends at NPR. Ciardi contributed regularly to the program with his segment, “On Words” featuring explanation of words and their origins. Here he is, “Cooking Up A Word Stew” on Morning Edition.

I’ll sign off as Ciardi did to his listeners, with a simple - “Good words to you.”

Sue’s “10 Questions” video is live! We bombarded our favorite neurobiologist with some tough questions - from what it’s like to be married to an astronaut, to her favorite 3-D movie. Her answers did not disappoint.

Check it out in the player above and on Sue’s Secret Life homepage.

Why in the world is neurobiologist Sue Barry jumping on a trampoline?

We’ll get to that shortly. But first, let’s go back to what first got Sue interested in studying the brain. She explained to us -

“What really struck me about any creature was that it was always adapting to its environment. And I began to think, ‘What’s the most adaptable organ in our bodies?’ And the most adaptable organ is our brain.” Sue Barry was born to bounce in 3D

So Sue studied the brain. And she did it well enough to become a professor of neurobiology and researcher at Mt. Holyoke College. An expert in her field, Sue may not have realized yet that even with all of her professional success, the brain she would learn the most from would be her own.

You see Sue was born cross-eyed and unable to see in three dimensions. Childhood surgery corrected her crossed eyes, but still left her living in a visual world that was “flat” and two dimensional. Sue couldn’t focus both her eyes on the same point at the same time - the key to stereoscopic 3D vision. And in spite of her belief in the brain’s adaptability, she always thought she herself was stuck in her 2D world. And she accepted it.

You may not have asked a neurobiologist/3D visionary a question in quite a while. Or maybe not ever - what are the odds of it really?

But that’s why we’re here for you, folks.

Ask Sue Barry your questions in the Comments section for this post and she will answer them.

This season we introduce “Stand-up Science,” a regular series in which our scientists tell a joke. And we lead off with the comic stylings of our premiere gal, neurobiologist Sue Barry.

The plot is thickening, our dear Watsons. We already know that Sue is a jumper, but there’s more to her story than meets the eye. Watch these three additional clues ahead of our big premiere tomorrow. Lean back in your chairs. Scratch your chins. Squint your eyes. We won’t question your methods, but don’t forget to post your speculations in the comments section below.

Oh, snap. Secret Life Snapshot is back with more of the best photos from our Secret Lifers’ personal archives.

Call her what you want: a neurobiologist, an author, a master trampolinist. Just don’t call Sue Barry a one trick pony. I knew that Sue could do some serious work on a trampoline, but I have now come across photographic evidence that she runs road races as well. Here she is just before a seven mile race with her kids, Andy and Jenny. I’ll let Sue spill the details in her own words:

“This photo shows me on the right with my two kids right before running the seven mile Falmouth Road Race in Massachusetts.  The photo was taken a number of summers ago since my son Andy is now taller than his sister Jenny.  We ran this road race many times, and my kids always crossed the finish line (way ahead of me) holding hands.  The road race started in Woods Hole where we ran past Nobska Lighthouse and along the seashore into Falmouth Heights.  I love this photo because it reminds me of the many happy summers we spent in Woods Hole where the kids attended the Children’s School of Science and learned to sail with my husband while I worked at the Marine Biological Laboratory, a truly wonderful place to do science.” Baby, They Were Born To Run

Meet Dr. Susan Barry. Sue is a neurobiologist at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where she specializes in neuronal plasticity - or the brain’s capacity to change, specifically as it applies to visual perception.

It’s a subject that’s close to her heart. For years, Sue taught her students the conventional wisdom: that the human brain is highly adaptable in infancy, but loses the capacity to “rewire” in adulthood. In other words - much like the proverbial dog, you can’t teach an old brain new tricks. In 2002, something happened in Sue’s own life that forced her to re-shape what she taught her class - and how she viewed the world.

In the first “30 Second Science” video of our third season, we learn about Sue’s work teaching the brain how to learn. But what happened in Sue’s life outside the lab that forced her to re-examine how she approached her science? See for yourself, when Sue’s second video is released this Thursday, and we reveal her eye-opening “secret.”

Wait, did you hear that? It’s Secret Life Season 3 - bouncing its way back into your life. And SPOILER ALERT: our first scientist of the season has a secret.

This year, we’re not just going to hand you scientists and their secrets wrapped in a tidy bow of instant gratification. Instead, we’ll drop you clues about Secret Lifers and their work, while building towards the premiere video, wherein we reveal the big secret.

So, here goes nothing. Clue #1.

A funny-looking ball on a string, a trampoline and hipster glasses (or are they?). We challenge you to use your deductive reasoning to imagine a world where this video makes any kind of sense - inside a science lab or otherwise. We assure you that it does.

There, there. This will all make sense on Thursday October 11, when we reveal Sue’s big secret. Until then, keep your eyes peeled for more clues.