Friday. Nov. 23

1. Well we had two days this week...I suppose I accomplished a lot. On Monday we made a play-doh brain which was surprisngly difficult, but helped to understand the basic anatomy of the brain. But on Tuesday we actually dissected a real brain (well, a sheep brain. but still super cool). I also helped run the talent show and took a test in pre-calculus (officially ending another chapter woo!).
2. I learned what a pons was this week. And a corpus callosum. :)
3. I plan on eating some leftovers, sleeping, and learning more about the brain this week. WOO. Oh and i guess I should read more of Frankenstein.

The cerebellum and the pons are my favorite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pons

Brain.

So, what does the brain do? There really is no simple answer. But why? Well think about it. There is no one function of the brain; there's many. It does so much it's difficult to grasp. It's complex. it's unique, it's... mysterious. Because even scientists don't know everything about it yet. Information about this complex organ is learned mainly through research of things gone wrong. That sounds strange. However knowing what's malfunctioning in the brain (resulting in diseases), helps understand normal functions. Most people conceive the brain as the "nucleus". In other words most people know that brain as the control center of the body. Perfect gray and white matter that's in charge of everything little thing you do. From blinking to running to talking to learning. It's mind blowing. 

The neurologist in the TED video intimately describes her stroke as an unreal experience. She describes it as an insight to the functions and great control of conscious. A blood clot in her brain results in a stroke that took eight years to recover from. One unexpected blood clot one unexpected morning. One abnormality in one part of the brain effects her perception, information processing, conscious, and more. Well what is actually going on in her brain is probably too complicated for non-neurologists to understand, so she describes in a way that people can connect to emotionally. An surreal experiences that makes everyone look around, and appreciate the complexities of the brain and life in general.  Once again, mind blowing.



http://www.healthcentral.com/ibd/h/stomach-hemorrhage.html


To help understand this mysterious and complex extremities of the thing that controls every movement and thought you make, this is a link to a video of "3 clues to help understand your brain". The neurologist speaking you are familiar with... He is my idol.... Dr. Ramachandran! A slight overview of the video describing diseases we watched.

Friday. Nov. 16

1. So what did I accomplish this week? Well first off, I started to read Frankenstein more intensive and actually get into it a little. I also completed the 3rd chapter in Pre-calc which I will officially finish Tuesday with a test. I also accomplished in introduction to THE BRAIN/nervous system by wacthing a couple very interesting movies and an online lab.
2. I actually learned a lot this week, especially in anatomy. The most interesting things I've learned of course have to do with the brain and what all can go wrong. Diseases such as Phantom limb, blind sight, capgras, and temporal lobe seizures seriously intrigue me. I learned that the brain is such an abstract organ that scientists learn more about it by the things that go wrong inside. I also learned how to dissect a leech.....which will come in handy one day I'm sure. And more importantly  I learned about neurons and how response to stimuli can identify the type of neuron!
3. I plan on learning a lot more about the interesting depths of the brain and all the anatomy and physiology and all that good stuff involved. And also I will learn to dissect the brain! Exciting stuff this week. Hopefully I can handle it.


Soon!
http://brainu.org/sheep-brain-dissection

Leech.

The objective of this Neurophysiology Lab on HHMI: was to record electrical activities of neurons while delivering mechanical stimulus, inject fluorescent dyes to neurons for visualization of morphology, and identify neurons based on morphology and response to stimuli. This objective was met by first dissecting the leech all the way to the sinus. After carefully opening the sinus, I located a cell with the electrode and observed the response on the oscilloscope. I then recorded the responses of the cell to a feather stimulus (light), a probe stimulus (medium) and forceps stimulus (high). The last step was to inject dye into the cell so the inside could be visible under UV light. The last objective was met after I was able to identify the type of cell by the response to stimuli and the morphology.

The results you ask? WELL after testing a number of different cells in the sinus, a conclusion could be made. The conclusion you ask? WELL not all cells responded the same to the different stimuli. Therefore, there are different types of neurons in the sinus. There are different types neurons because they all have different functions.

The point of this lab was basically to introduce the nervous system and learn a little bit about the neurons. (and eventually the brain.. woo!)




http://scientopia.org/blogs/scicurious/2011/05/04/science-101-the-neuron/



Just for fun: What else do they use leeches for? Click the picture for more info!

Cockroach.

First off, I want to say that this is completely mind blowing. A remote control cockroach? I mean you're asking us to discuss the pros and cons of "mind control", but the concept is so crazy to wrap your head around, it's hard to say if it's ultimately a good thing or a bad thing. However I will attempt to organize my thoughts.

Pros                                                                                                                     Cons

-Cure to the paralyzed?                                                                             -MIND CONTROL

-Breakthrough to amputees, or anyone                                                    - Very controversial

born with a disability                                                                                 - Unethical?                    

                                                                                                             -More and more secrets 

                                                                                                            of scientific breakthroughs

                                                                                                          (danger of knowledge) 

Now the question is: do the results outweigh the means? If you think about it, a lot of critical or important knowledge was discovered through what some consider unethical practices. Does this mean the controversial way some information was discovered was "okay" because the outcome was beneficial? I think the opinion depends on the person and their views and beliefs. However, our generation is at the point where research on different information is only attainable through different ways. For example, this relates to stem cell research. The concept is unreal and very beneficial, but has the potential to be very dangerous. Thus making the topic very controversial. Cure to the paralyzed... or mind control? A breakthrough for science and evil minds. This could eventually lead to secrets being kept from society because they can consider information to be "to dangerous for knowledge". Is secret keeping only going to get worse as new discoveries progress? 

If scientists can create a way to keep breakthrough information only for good intentions in science, the world will be changed.

      or         

http://www.generationbubble.com/2009/08/14/confidence-games-keynes-and-the-casino-economy/

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2008-08-12/local/17904860_1_van-crash-spinal-cord-injury-paralyzed

Friday. Nov. 9

1. So this week was very hectic, but somehow I managed to complete the balancing chemical reactions chapter in chemistry with acing test. Finishing my Macbeth essay in English, AND complete the rigorous muscle system ended with the dreaded test.
2. Learning...I did learn this week. I learned the sliding filament theory in detail, MH disease, and how exactly the feeling of "soreness" is created. I also learned how, and all the rules involved in, balancing equations. FUN. Not to mention all the fun facts involved in the physiology of generating ATP for contraction.
3. I plan to learn more about the book we are reading in English, Frankenstein. I also plan to learn a little bit about our next system: the nervous system! (I believe). I really can't wait to learn about the brain and all it's intriguing functions and anatomy. The brain fascinates me :) So yes you can say I am excited for the nervous system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain

Click to learn more about this book if you are interested...

http://www.amazon.com/Frankenstein-Dover-Thrift-Editions-Shelley/dp/0486282112

Friday. Nov 2.

1. This week I completed a classification chemical reaction lab in chemistry, all the notes for chapter 6, and also the outline for my Macbeth essay in English! So I guess you could say it was a productive week :)
2. I've learned the anatomy and some physiology of how the muscles move and contract. ALSO that Armstrong was just naturally born with perfectly engineered muscles... efficient ATP use and low lactic acid build up. I had no idea some one could just born as the perfect athlete! Seriously though. I love when we watch those interesting movies in class though.... just saying.
3. This week I plan to focus on understanding the physiology of muscle contraction and finishing "The Book".  Study group for sure. Also to finish the rough draft of my Macbeth essay. AND TO BEAT CRUCES ON FRIDAY!

Inside look of a sacromere showing the protiens myosin and actin involved in contraction.

Anti-dawg day is on Thursday...

citations

http://click4biology.info/c4b/11/hum11.2.htm

http://www.mobiletopsoft.com/blackberry/download-anti-dog-whistler.html

Skeletal muscle.

In reality, no one really knows how complicated the process of simply moving your arm up and down. Garenteed anybody's first time learning about the anatomy of our muscles and the microscopic structures will be mind blown. Imagine we are in the "Magic School Bus" (I always do), and we are in any skeletal muscle in your body. We "ride" from the bone to the tendon (made of epi-, peri- and endomysiums). Then we suddenly come across a new surface: a little less strong. The epimysium! Feeling adventurous, we venture deeper into the muscle. We come across the perimysium, the connective tissue that surrounds the fascicles. Deeper, we enter a fascicle (bundle of muscle fibers). The last of the mysiums, endomysium, surrounds each muscle fiber. In each muscle fiber, the myofibrils contain sacromeres. We are traveling to see the infamous actin and myosin in action! Entering the sacromere, we see layers and layers and layers of what we know as the thick and thin filaments. Specially designed to overlap, the thick filaments (myosin) bind to the thin (actin) and "slide" all the actin simultaneously, creating CONTRACTION!

After we leave the body, we notice the skeletal muscle contains all the mysiums (epi-,peri- and endo-). Why? After seeing how much work a simple movement takes, we realize that the muscle is responsible for movement of an entire bone! SOO therefore, the muscle needs to have all three mysiums for strength to make movement possible without tearing. Yeah. Our body is amazing.

Blast from the past.

Rap about muscles! Its not bad haha.

citations

http://blog.scienceinsociety.northwestern.edu/tag/the-magic-school-bus/
http://www.infobarrel.com/Media/Microscopic_Anatomy_of_Upper_Arm_Muscles