ONE of the first things William "Jamie" Tyler does when I meet him is show me a video of "one of the most devastating knockouts ever in boxing". In a 1990 clash, American pugilist Julian Jackson knocked his English counterpart Herol Graham unconscious with a right hook. Graham's lights went out before he hit the floor.
Tyler is a boxing fan who once worked out at the Harvard Boxing Club. But that's not why he's showing me the video. Instead, as a neuroscientist at Virginia Tech, Tyler uses it to highlight a problem: such knockouts are a bit of a mystery in our accepted understanding of the brain. We think of the brain as a biochemical and electrical organ, so how can a mechanical event, such as a punch to the face, cause unconsciousness? "We know without a doubt that there is no electrical transfer from that boxer's ...
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