Are you left handed? Right handed? Somewhere in between? 

What is commonly thought of as "left" and "right" handedness, is probably more accurately described as a spectrum. Where we lie on that spectrum (from strongly right handed, to strongly left handed) can depend on the task we are performing. For example: you might be strongly left handed when it comes to writing, but you find it more natural to open a jar with your right hand. Or when you open the lid of a hinged box, you do so with either left or right hand. 

We don't really have a good handle on what it is about the brain that makes us handed (or footed). But we do know that other animals also show similar preferences. So it's possible that handedness is some kind of fundamental feature of the way brains generate movement, and interface with muscles. 

In this edition of Ask a Neuroscientist, what does it take to get into the Stanford Neuroscience PhD program?

To help me answer this question, I sat down with the newly minted director of the Stanford Neurosciences PhD Program, Dr. Anthony (Tony) Ricci. Before his appointment as Program Director, Tony served on the Stanford PhD Program Admissions Committee; he also was involved in graduate admissions at Louisiana State University prior to his appointment at Stanford. Tony believes that graduate admission should be a transparent process, and so was happy to share his personal approach to selecting applicants.

We discuss the process by which 500 applicants are narrowed down to 30 invited interviewees, and what a successful application needs to prevent rejection.