Hello! Helllllloooooooo! Fair warning: I decided to skip around a bit giving that the genius project ends in only a few weeks, but nonetheless, enjoy! This week I've been working in the nervous system unit-- and it's a big one. It think the part that amazes me the most is how small a neuron is, and despite that, how much is in it. They vary in size from around 0.004 mm to 0.1 mm and move at around 200mph in the brain! Neurons, and the brain in general, are responsible for everything we are. The way we talk, breathe, drink, everything. I think that's why I have such respect for neurosurgeons: they work in a part of the body so fragile that one wrong movement could blind someone for life. That being said, it's one of the strongest things in our bodies. The nervous system serves as the body's electrical system, firing neurons every second of every day. The nervous system is composed of two different areas: the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system is essentially the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. The peripheral nervous system is composed of the sensory nerves, clusters of neurons called ganglia, and nerves that connect to the central nervous system. It's much like how the pulmonary system serves the system system in the heart. Both are equally important in terms of how the body functions, but one works on a more wider scale than the other. Based on their roles and how they operate, neurons can be divided into three separate groups: sensory neurons, motor neurons, interneurons, and pyramidal neurons. Sensory neurons gather information from the body and bring it to the CNS to be processed and then "dealt" with. This happens in a fraction of a second. For example, if you were to touch a hot stove, the sensory neurons would send that information to the CNS. Motor neurons work in the aftermath of the sensory neurons. They work with actions, hence "motor". MN get information from other neurons (like sensory) as well as organs to tell your body to remove your hand from the hot stove. Interneurons are different than sensory and motor in that they don't work for the whole body. Interneurons are found only in the CNS and have a main duty to transmit information from one neuron to another (sensory → motor). Then there's the pyramidal neurons. Pyramidal neurons are found in areas of the brain like the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. They work in aspects of the brain dealing with neuroplasticity and cognition. Even though neurons can be distinguished between three types, they have an equal amount of similarities. 1. Receive information (in the form of signals) 2. Process information and determine where or if it needs to go somewhere. 3. Communicate the signals to "target" cells (neurons/glands/muscles). Neurons, like every living thing, have an anatomy. Like other cells, their body is called a soma. The soma is in charge of numerous things such as holding the nucleus as well as forming protein for the neuron. Stemming from the cell body are small branch-like processes like dendrites and the longer one being the axon. The brain is one of the most complex things scientists have yet to understand. As of right now, the National Institute of Health spends around $4.5 billion on brain research yearly. In 2013, former (extreme sadness) President Obama announced the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) [what genius made the acronym for a brain project spell out 'brain'...I aspire to have that talent] project in order to better understand the brain and hopefully find cures for tons of brain-centered diseases. Though the announcement of the project was hardly the 'next big thing', it definitely took a step in the right direction. Yesterday (Thursday), I heard back from one of the experts I had chosen. While my other expert has yet to respond, the one that I received had thorough enough answers that made up for two! Rishi Desai is an attending in the pediatric infectious disease department at Stanford. At the age of 12 he took the SATs, and then at 16, he took the MCATs (quite the overachiever, might I add. possibly the definition of extra). Dr. Desai was extremely kind and helpful in giving advice for both an aspiring doctor and student. Up until last year he worked as the Head of Health and Medicine for Khan Academy, now moving to Osmosis as the Chief Medical Officer.
While I do hope to hear back from my other expert (Pediatric Oncologist @ CHOP), Dr. Desai gave a variety of answers that helped to get a new insight into being a doctor, and on the aspect of teaching rather than straight medicine. Now, I've been talking about straight medicine for about 234723942324 paragraphs, so here are some fun facts still related to medicine, but more, 'funner'. Number Une: When awake, the human brain has the capability to produce enough energy to light a lightbulb. Number Deux: The smell of chocolate increases the frequency of brain waves, triggering relaxation. Number Trois: You know how in a TV show there's always that character that gets drunk but then just can't remember what they did (or didn't do)? Whale, alcohol doesn't make you forget anything. When you get so drunk that you blackout, the brain just loses its ability to make memories for that amount of time. No biggy. Number Quatre: By 2023, an $1,000 laptop will be just as fast as the human brain. (That's really fast). Number Cinq: Albert Einstein, super genius, had a gigantic corpus callosum (the part that connects the electrical signals from the "left" to the "right") that is likely the reason why he had such incredible spatial and mathematical abilities. Number Six: The myth that we use 10% of our brain and we have yet to unlock the other 90% has been disproven. MRIs and other brain scans have clearly shown that even when we sleep, our brain is constantly firing neurons. Number Sept: 95% of decisions take place in the subconscious. Well, that's all I have to say right now. Join me later this week to see my vlog! There I will be sharing my inspiration and some cool pictures I took.
So, until next time, stay cool and don't forget to wonder! - Rhea M. ☾
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