[HN Gopher] How the brain increases blood flow on demand
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       How the brain increases blood flow on demand
        
       Author : gmays
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2025-07-29 19:13 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (hms.harvard.edu)
 (TXT) w3m dump (hms.harvard.edu)
        
       | Insanity wrote:
       | Always fascinating to me how we are brains, trying to understand
       | how we work. Cool research!
        
         | konfusinomicon wrote:
         | why did it name itself brain or whatever linguistic origin that
         | brain is ultimately derived from. perhaps it was Brian and some
         | brain out there made a typo and here we are today
        
           | treetalker wrote:
           | He's not the seat of consciousness -- he's a very naughty
           | boy!
        
         | SlowTao wrote:
         | "I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in
         | my body. Then I realized who was telling me this." - Emo
         | Philips
        
         | kulahan wrote:
         | Along this same line of thought, I've always found it
         | particularly fascinating that the universe is exploring the
         | universe through molecules arranged into humans. Is the
         | Universe the conscious one here?
        
           | hnuser123456 wrote:
           | What I never got is, why do we experience anything? Why can't
           | the universe exist as a simulation where people do people
           | things without having to consciously experience it all? Why
           | can't I just shut off my experience and let my body do
           | whatever it would do without having to put in effort, the
           | same way everyone else's body does whatever it'll do without
           | me having to experience everything they do?
        
         | motoboi wrote:
         | Are we though? If you look closely at it, there is no evidence
         | that brain causes consciousness, just correlation.
        
       | bozhark wrote:
       | So you can get brain hard?
        
       | searine wrote:
       | Supported by the National Science Foundation, Harvard Medical
       | School, National Institutes of Health, and the Howard Hughes
       | Medical Institute.
       | 
       | All of which have had deep funding cuts.
        
         | andbberger wrote:
         | HHMI is a private org
        
           | lukas099 wrote:
           | So's Harvard Medical School, right? But they get research
           | grants from the government?
        
             | nomel wrote:
             | https://finance.harvard.edu/financial-overview
             | 
             | Looks like they received $1 billion in private + government
             | grants, so upper end would be 15%?
             | 
             | > The University ended fiscal year 2024 with an operating
             | surplus of $45 million compared to $186 million in fiscal
             | year 2023, on an operating revenue base of $6.5 billion.
             | 
             | Wow!
        
               | searine wrote:
               | 2025 funding news
               | 
               | "At least 350 Harvard medical grants were terminated by
               | the Trump administration."
               | https://abcnews.go.com/US/350-harvard-medical-grants-
               | termina...
               | 
               | "At Grim Town Hall, Harvard Medical School Leaders Tell
               | Staff to Expect Layoffs and Far-Reaching Cuts"
               | https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/4/16/trump-hms-
               | cuts/
               | 
               | "Snapshots from front lines of federal research funding
               | cuts"
               | https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2025/07/snapshots-
               | of-...
        
               | nomel wrote:
               | > Campus leaders say the government actions could
               | cumulatively cost the University as much as $1 billion a
               | year.
               | 
               | This doesn't math, unless there was a 100% cut, or
               | government funding was expected to drastically increase
               | compared to 2024.
        
           | searine wrote:
           | "HHMI halts inclusive science programme" :
           | https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00396-6
        
         | thrawa8387336 wrote:
         | It's great that they are still producing some quality research.
        
           | Aurornis wrote:
           | The articles you see now reflect research that was funded and
           | started years ago.
           | 
           | There will be a sudden and sharp decline in the amount of
           | research produced going forward, until (hopefully) a new
           | administration can make funding important scientific research
           | a priority again.
        
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       (page generated 2025-07-29 23:00 UTC)