TED TALK: A Better Mind A Better Life

TED TALK: A Better Mind A Better Life

          My TED Talk, though went alright. I said everything that I meant to say minus one thing but I incorporated everything that was needed for the presentation. I feel that there was much more I could say if more time was lauded. I would give myself a 71 or 72/75 because my timing did go over 5 minutes and I could have explained my process rather than my product more. Since I had so much I wanted to say, I forgot to mention that the pamphlet included the science behind Anxiety and Depression and that a setback included knowing that any drug can overpower any natural SSRI. 

          While preparing for it, I had no clue how to begin the presentation because I felt that starting off on a dark side would start the presentation off poorly but then I realized that it was the truth and that it would grab their attention. Also, my original presentation was 9 minutes. That was five days before the presentation. Then I slowly cut down the script and kept practicing and cutting until the presentation was under five minutes, but I was also frustrated because I wanted to fit in more than I could which made me go over five minutes during the presentation. Though I practiced lots, I was still nervous and I think that showed in the TED Talk. I took some of the pointers from the "how to give a great presentation" and forced myself to not more my feet too much unless I was walking and to not pace or bounce. Though I succeeded in that I could always improve on my presentation abilities. A takeaway that I got from this is that presenting is a weakness of mine that I can improve on each time I give one. I may need to practice in from of someone before I give the presentation rather than just speaking to my dog. 

        I find it really cool seeing all the other projects that have been done and the different interest people have.  The 20-time project itself is a great idea because it sets away time for people to do what they find interesting and 20-time can be done even at home, setting a couple hours a week to do something that interests you can make a person more well rounded and successful. 

Individual Reflection: 20-Time

Individual Reflection

When the topic of 20-time came up in class and we watched a video on inspiration I knew I wanted to do something that would help people. My idea sacked one day at a volunteering organization called the Grateful Garment Project where victims of sexual assault are given backpacks full of clothing for 3 days, books and movies for entertainment when in the hospital, and a flashlight to feel secure and in control. What they are doing is amazing, but still victims of sexual assault are 6.2 times more likely to develop PTSD, 13.4 times more likely to develop an alcohol problem, and 26 more likely to develop a drug abuse problem. Doctors are able to give antidepressants and certain therapy for alcohol or drug abuse but they all have sign effects, or they may react to the person's body is a different way. I wanted to use my interest in neuroscience and understand how the brain is affected when drugs are taken and also how a person can physically feel happier after such a horrible event so that drugs or alcohol will not be needed. As I began my 20 times, I realized that this could be used for more than the just healing of the brain but also empowerment of the brain and the endocrine system. 

My initial plan was to create a long line of candles and use natural oils and scents so that neurotransmitters could run through the brain. Those candles would be accompanied by soaps and coloring books that are provided by the GGP to create a care package for those victimized. That care package is not the case anymore. As I began to research what happens when people have anxiety, depression, and or PTSD, I found that the main ingredient that is used are SSRI’s in the drug perceptions. So I found foods that have natural SSRI’s so that serotonin will flood the synapse between neurons and decrease depression. As for anxiety, anxiety is a hyperactive amygdala because the amygdala is where emotions and fears are processed in the brain. The cure for anxiety is to put GABA in the brain so that it can bind to the amygdala to prevent hypertension. So I found foods that have natural GABA in them. To combine all of these foods and research I decided to create a booklet to give in the backpacks or just to give to people. They will include smoothie recipes for either depression or anxiety/PTSD.  The booklet will also include a list of natural oil scenes that can be used for different moods and a few facts about what drugs and alcohol will do if taken with anxiety or depression. 

Reading my initial thought and then my product, I definitely had some hardships. One was that drugs are 10x stronger than any oil scent or natural transmitter which is why I went t o smoothies because there can be a loaded amount of SSRI’s in the smoothies to balance the ratio from drugs to smoothie. That put in a road block because I originally did not know how to handle the corruption of drugs on the brain with simple neurotransmitters that had little effect. What I learned besides the science portion was that the brain is very fragile and should be treated with care. Even if that care is positive reinforcement or working out to get naturally secreted endorphins through the brain, it all will help and will make a persons' health change for good. Many people come in to talk about how drugs affect people, but I never knew the real consequence until now and how the science behind depression from drugs is real. Addiction is physical and mental now and I would love to help as many people as I can who suffer. If I could do this project over again I would trial on people who suffer from anxiety or depression and see what the effects are and whether or not they help. I would also try and talk to the manager of the GGP to see if my project would be able to help in any way.

Though I wish I could talk to the manager of the GGP during my 20 projects, I would love to extend this project and see if I would be able to make this a real medication for therapists, even though that is a long shot. Also, since I am very intrigued in cures for mental health, I may continue my research in college to see if a professor would work with me to figure out more natural ways to cure mental health. 

As for my evaluation, I believe that I carried through with my goals even if they changed over time, and I feel that my product can make a difference in someone's life. Because of that, I would give myself an A because I worked productively each class period and also spent time on it outside of class because I wanted to learn more and do more. All of my work is done on a google doc and shared all of my notes and ideas along with links to tutorials I used to make the lavender candle that can calm down a person. 

FINAL PRODUCT

TED TALK
1. Begin talking about what the GGP is and how it inspired my to do this for my 20-time
2. talk about the medical reasons for anxiety and depression
3. say how my smoothies will help
4. talk about my future endevors with this project.

Final Product of 20 Time!

Unit 8 Reflection- Muscle System

         In this unit, the main topic was the muscular system. To begin, we learned about the types of movements that the joints and muscles aid in. The categories include the gliding, angular movement, rotation, and special movements. All of these actions have their own types of movements with in the category and they all are the basic functions of movement in our daily lives. At the moment I am typing and my fingers are flexing to lift up and then they are extending in order to type on the keys. When a person wants to say "no" they rotate their head laterally and then medially to signal a "no". Next we earned the synovial joints which include the planar joint, binge joint, pivot joint, condyloid joint, saddle joint, and ball-socket joint. They all may be synovial joints but they all have different functions.
         Next is the muscular system and how it is classified. Within the system there are the connective tissue components; Fascia, thin sheets of fibrous connective tissue that hold muscle fibers together, Epimysium, which is fascia that surrounds the whole muscle, the Perimusium, which separates muscles into bundles, Endomysium, which is fascia that surrounds each muscle fiber, and lastly the tendon which is a chord of dense connective tissue composed of collagen that attaches the muscle to the bone. This is the basic amatomy of the muscle tissue and later wach of these aspects come into play with the contractions and uses of the muscle. Each of the muscles can be catagorized either by direction, size, shape, location, action, or number of origins. This helps to name the muscle and give the name meaning in its characteristics. Next are the names of the muscles and where they are in the body can be better understood if you know the bones which can be found on the unit 7 blog.
         The last and most difficult learning concept was the muscle contraction. Inside each muscle fiber which are composed of myofibers. The myofibers are sacromeres which are made of myosin and actin. When the muscle contracts the filaments slide  to shorten. The steps of shortening goes as followed...
* the nueron send an action potential pulse through the neuron and Acetylcholine is released into the synapse.
* the Ach binds to the protein receptors and Ca2+ floods sarcoplasm and attaches to the troponin which allows the myosin to contract.
That is what the unit has been about and writing it out has actually helped a lot.

I want to learn more about the muscle disorders and how certain affects on the DNA can affect even muscles such as Pompe disease. I wonder why doing weight lifting can stunt growth and muscle composition.

As a student growing in the education system and also going off to college next year, I have begun to ask more questions about related topics that do not necessarily reflect the essential vocabulary but more of a focus on real life situations and how what I learn can be incorporated into everyday activities. During 20-time I have learned how to approach setbacks and work around then to gain the best results even if they were not the original plan. As for my second semester goals, I have been spending more time in the gym since AP's are over and I have seen a shift in my sleep patterns and also my mood. I have been able to wake up earlier and I always feel happier after lifting. I am yet to go on my mountain trail run but I plan on finding some time with in the next few weeks to go on it.

The Last Lap

The Last Lap

         With the topic of healing with natural senses and tastes, I learned that the science behind all of it may be complex but the results seem simple. Through this 20-time, I wanted to explore how the brain works in response to drugs and PTSD and how they collide. Then I wanted to find the ways in which both or either could be prevented using everyday items. My original plan was to make a care package full of candles with specific functions but that was too vague and the ideas were too original. Those were my setbacks. In response to that, I found that many antidepressants include SSRI's and so does some food. My resulting product will be a care package with candles and a book full of the recipes of smoothies and snacks that can release SSRI's into the body at any given time. It will also give information on what goes through the brain when people have PTSD or a drug abuse because the original plan was for these packages to go to people who have been sexually assaulted. Since many victims reside to alcohol or drugs as a comfort, I wanted to prevent that and give them these care packages.
        The next steps in my process are to finally create the packages and do my Ted-Talk on my 20-time project. What I have learned about myself is that I love to research different topics and see how science relates to people's everyday lives. Many of the foods that I found have SSRI's in them are the foods I eat each day and now when I see them or eat them, I think "hey these have SSRI's in them, it is going to be a great day".  Though not many people at our school have been sexually assaulted, many are depressed or they are stressed. These simple remedies can save money because large prescriptions are not necissary and the person is in control of their well-being.

        Disclaimer: this "care package" would be for those who are either minorly depressed or have just been exposed to PTSD and if matters get worse, seek medical attention.

       
        Learning about how the brain responds to different stimulants and how many diseases collide with those stimulants are intriguing to me and I am so happy with the work I have done on this project and I hope yall like my final product. 

What Happens When You Stretch?

What does happen when you stretch?

"Just as the total strength of a contracting muscle is a result of the number of fibers contracting, the total length of a stretched muscle is a result of the number of fibers stretched-- the more fibers stretched, the more length developed by the muscle for a given stretch"

As the sarcomere of the muscle fibers contract, the area of thick and thin microfilaments that overlap decrease which is the result of a stretched muscle. A muscles ability to stretch does not matter how long the stretch is held, it all has to do with how many muscle microfibers were stretched.  This correlates with the quality over quantity. When muscles get longer due to prolonged stretching, the resistance is much lower which creates the length and therefore gives a better and more effective stretch.

"One of the reasons for holding a stretch for a prolonged period of time is that as you hold the muscle in a stretched position, the muscle spindle habituates and reduces its signaling. Gradually, you can train your stretch receptors to allow greater lengthening of the muscles"


When the muscle is stretched for a long time, the muscle fibers get comfortable being separated which is why there is less signaling and the receptors can begin growing longer. They grow because when they are stretched, they are capable of increasing the length of each muscle fiber over time. When a person begins to stretch themselves, their muscles may hurt a bit but by the end, they feel nothing. This is because the signaling of the muscle spindles is reduced.

"So, when a fast stretch is demanded of these fibers, the middle takes most of the stretch at first; then, as the outer-middle parts extend, the middle can shorten somewhat. So the nerve that senses stretching in these fibers fire rapidly with the onset of a fast stretch then slows as the middle section of the fiber is allowed to shorten again"

During a stretch such as a leg swing, the middle stretches the most at first but then the stretch carries towards the outer areas so that the middle is able to shorten which creates a greater stretch for the rest of the muscle. The nerves are working rapidly, unlike the static stretching which has the nerves slowly reduce causing less pain. With a "higher than normal" signaling, the length muscle will decrease in length.

Relate and Review:

Here the muscle is relaxed and contracted.
The increase is length between thick and thin
fibers makes it easier to stretch because
there is already a gap.

In this article, I learned about the ways in which the muscle stretches and the impacts that occur simultaneously. A muscle will stretch when the sarcomeres of the muscle fibers decrease the area of overlapping which creates an elongated muscle fiber. This forces the stretching of the connective tissue and the more it is stretched, the longer the muscle fibers become. Proprioceptors are the source of the perception of one's own body position and movement. There are 2 kinds of muscle fibers; intrafusal fibers which are also called muscle fibers and they are parallel to the extrafusal fibers. The muscle fibers are the primary proprioceptors. When extrafusal fibers lengthen so do the intrafusal fibers. Since there are 2 different types of stretching, there are 2 different types of muscle fibers that can be stretched. The nuclear chain fibers are for the static stretching and the nuclear bag fibers are responsible for the dynamic stretching. Nuclear bag fibers are more elastic and they are the fast stretch. The reciprocal inhibition is when the muscle relaxes which creates a better stretch.

Remodeled Joint: the Rotator Cuff

Rotator Cuff Remodeled

 
The shoulder is an intricate part of the body and is very prone to injury. One of those common injuries is the torn rotator cuff. What is a torn rotator cuff? It is when either the tendon is partly torn or the tendon has completely disconnected from the humerus. Since that injury is common, I have proposed a new and renovated rotator cuff that will prevent the harm of a tear in the tendon. That is, the supraspinus tendon will become the “supraspinus brachial” tendon meaning that it has two heads so that there is less stress on the tendon and is less likely to tear. Also, there are arteries such as the axillary artery that sends blood throughout the muscles but adding in a second axillary artery would pump even more blood into the muscles which will strengthen the tendon. In this article, more depth of the structure of the shoulder and the result of the “fixed” rotator cuff will be provided.
The shoulder is a complex structure in the human body and many other organisms. In the human body though, the main structures are as followed. There is the clavicle that is a long horizontal bone that is superior to the scapula. Then there is the scapula; a flat bone that is inferior and posterior to the clavicle, and the humerus that is another long bone that is lateral to both the clavicle and scapula. There are three different joints that make up the shoulder; the Glenohumeral (GH) joint, the acromioclavicular (AC) joint, and the Sternoclavicular (SC) joint. In the GH joint there is the capsular, coracohumeral, glenohumeral, transverse humeral, and the glenoid of humerus ligament. The AC joint connects the humerus to the chest and includes the ligaments capsular, superior and inferior acromioclavicular, articular disk, coracoclavicular (trapezoid and conoid). Then in the SC joint, the humerus is attached to the clavicle and the ligaments include the capsular, anterior and posterior sternoclavicular, inter- and costo- clavicular, articular disk. Next, includes the tendons and there are four tendons that are in relation to the rotator cuff. There is the supraspinus that attaches the humerus to the shoulder muscle and this tendon helps the shoulder move abductively and adductally. This is usually the tendon that is torn, along with the infraspinatus, during a rotator cuff tear but there are three others that could be torn but are less likely. Those include the infraspinatus, the tendon on the anterior side of the supraspinus and next to the supraspinus, the teres minor muscle is on the anterior side of the infraspinatus, and lastly, the subscapularis is the muscle on the posterior side of the supraspinus. The supraspinus and the infraspinatus are the most torn because of those muscles aid in rotation of the shoulder during sports such as basketball or softball. The wear and tear of those tendons that attach the muscle to the bone can become weakened which can lead to a torn rotator cuff of just a weak one. But a torn rotator cuff can also be sudden and occur all at once when the tendon is completely disconnected from the bone due to one action. As for the nerves in that area, there is the radial nerve, the ulnar nerve, and medial nerve. The nerve for the shoulder includes the brachial plexus nerve which goes through the four different muscles in the shoulder. Though nerves are very important, damaged nerves usually result in dislocated shoulders not a torn rotator cuff, but blood vessels do have an impact. The subclavian artery and vein keep the blood moving through the shoulder from the pecks and the axillary artery branches are arteries that branch off from the large axillary artery and the branches go to the different muscles and give the blood supply. A torn rotator cuff can result in the loss or slow supply of blood to those muscles. Now that enough of the shoulder is understood, the “remodeling” comes next.

The remodeling of the rotator cuff is meant to help prevent the tearing of the rotator cuff while still giving it function to move the same ways as before. To make the supraspinus tendon more secure on the humerus and in attachment to the supraspinus muscle, the supraspinus tendon needs to have two heads and become the “supraspinus brachial tendon” so that there is less stress on the one head for that tendon when a pitcher throws the ball with full force each time. All the other tendons have less impact but this will also put less stress on them because when the supraspinus tendon has less stress, the others do not have to work as hard to be a replacement for it. Also, a way to strengthen the tendons would be to have a second Axillary artery and its branches because that would create more blood flow into the tendons which will strengthen the tendon, making it much harder to tear and will let it withstand the wear and tear. Along with making the tendon stronger, if there were to be a minor tear in the tendon, more blood flow could help the tendon heal faster because of the immune system bacteria that circulate through the blood.
I arrived at this renovation of the rotator cuff because the main point was that the tendon breaks either right away or over time, and I needed to find a way to create a stronger and more resistant tendon. Pulling with two hands is stronger than pulling with one, which is the “supraspinus brachial tendon”. In class, we learn that blood flow has been used to help remodel bone along with help inflation. If there was more blood flow to these muscles, the tendon would have more aid when there is impact on it with the extra blood supply. Also, we learned that is one part is out of balance the whole thing falls apart which is why the blood must go to all four muscles that contribute to the rotator cuff.

Since the rotator cuff is not able to take my suggestions due to the evolution of humans and their structure, the way to prevent a torn rotator cuff is to ensure that the muscles in the shoulder are strong. Though that may sound counterintuitive because if a person tore his or her rotator cuff working out that would not help. But working the shoulder muscles out pumps more blood into that area which will help strengthen the tendon that is attaching the shoulder muscle to the humerus. Also, stretching the shoulder before workouts will keep the muscle and tendon a bit loose so that sudden movements does not cause a tear.

Work Cited:

Armstrong, April D. "Rotator Cuff Tear." Rotator Cuff Tears-OrthoInfo - AAOS. OrthoInfo, 01 Mar. 2017. Web. 08 May 2017. <http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00064>.

Schmidler, Cindy. "Shoulder Structure, Function and Common Problems." HealthPagesorg Anatomy Surgery Pregnancy Nutrition Fitness. HealthPages.org, 04 Mar. 2017. Web. 08 May 2017. <https://www.healthpages.org/anatomy-function/shoulder-structure-function-and-problems/>.

Tortora, Gerard J., and Bryan Derrickson. Introduction to the Human Body: The Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology. New York: Wiley, 2007. Print. 

Tempfer, Herbert, and Andreas Traweger. "Tendon Vasculature in Health and Disease." Frontiers in Physiology. Frontiers Media S.A., 2015. Web. 08 May 2017 <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4650849/>.

Chicken Muscle Dissection

tendon is where the tool is pointing

In this lab, we dissected a chicken to see the different muscles, tendons, ligaments, and how they work with each other to create movement and structure in the body.

yellow=pectoralis major
blue=pectoralis minor

Starting with the chicken's breast, there is the pectoralis major which stretches from the shoulder to the humerus. Also on the chest is the pectoralis minor which is underneath the pectoralis major and stretches from the shoulder to the dorsal side of the humerus. This muscle is used for pulling the shoulder forward and down. The tendons of both these muscles attach to the shoulder or the humerus and they are shiny and white.

Yellow= Latissimus dorsi
Blue= Trapezius

For the chickens upper back, to begin, there is the trapezius which is perpendicular to the scapula, is a shiny faded color, and is used for shrugging shoulders. Next is the latissimus dorsi, which runs from the spine to the armpit and attaches to the posterior side of the humerus. This is used for extending the arm and the tendon is attached to the spine and the humorous posterior.

Blue= Deltoid
Yellow= Triceps Humeralis
Green= Biceps Brachii

The chicken's upper arm contains the deltoid, which is the muscle that is on the center top of the shoulder and helps raise the arm. The biceps brachii is on the cranial side of the upper arm and is used to flex the arm (bicep curls). There are 2 tendons, bi means two because the brachial attaches to the bone are 2 places. Triceps humeralis is on the inferior side and straightens the arm. The origin includes the shoulder and then the insertion includes where the muscles move which in turn will either flex or straighten the arm.

Green= Brachioradialis
Yellow= Flexor Carpi Ulnaris

In the chicken's forearm, there is the flexor carpi ulnaris which is on the posterior side and runs from the elbow to the pinky which is really the ulna to the farthest phalanges is where the tendons are placed. This muscle flexes the hand. There also is the brachioradialis which is on the superior side and closest to the elbow. This pulls the hand back.

Yellow= Sartorius
Blue= Quadriceps
Black= Iliotibialis
Red= Biceps Femoris
Green= Semitendinosus
White= Semimembranosus

For the chicken's thigh, there is the sartorius which has a tendon at the ilium and one at the patella and is in the front of the leg that lets the thigh flex the leg. Then there is the Iliotibial (for chickens) that runs from the side of the leg from the pelvis to the lateral side of the patella. This helps the leg flex and is a common injury. The biceps femoris which is inferior and medial to the iliotibial and makes up the hamstring that flexes the leg. The semimembranosus is inferior and medial to the biceps femoris and extends the leg. The semitendinosus is anterior and medial to the semimembranosus and extends the thigh. Bothe those attach with a tendon on the pelvis and attach at the patella.  Lastly, the Quadriceps femoris is on the inside of the thigh and is made up of 4 muscles. This is used in leg extensions.

Red= Gastrocnemius
Yellow= Tibialis anterior
Blue= Peroneus Longus

The chicken's calf has the gastrocnemius which has 2 heads and they attach to the Achilles tendon that runs along the bird's heel. This enables people to stand on toes. The peroneus longus is actually smaller and runs on the lateral side of the lower leg and extends the foot. The tibialis anterior runs along the tibia bone with a tendon connecting the two and this muscle flexes the foot. This muscle is also known for causing pain such as in "shin splints".

Most of the muscles in the chicken are homologous to those fo humans but there are a few exceptions. The trapezius in humans is split into two parts whereas in the chicken there is only one part. In humans, the gastrocnemius attaches both its heads to the Achilles heal whereas the bird's muscle wraps around the hock.  Lastly, the flexor carpi ulnaris in birds runs from the ulna to the "thumb" but in humans, it runs from the ulna to the "pinky" finger.

 

Unit 7 Reflection

Unit 7 Reflection

This unit focused on the Skeletal system from microscopic anatomy of bone to the 119 bone names, position, and the joint that they are connected to. To begin I will be explaining bones role and how they are able to heal. Bone's roll is support of the body, protection of small organs, movement due to attached skeleton muscles, storage of minerals and fats, and blood cell formation. The 2 basic types are compact and spongy bone, and they are classified as long, short, flat, and irregular. Some long bones are humerus, radius, ulna, femur, and more. They consist of layers in the diaphysis (middle part) with include the nutrient arteries, sharpeys fibers, peritoneum, compact bone, yellow bone marrow, and endosteum in order from outer to inner. On the ends of the bone, there is the epiphysis which are made of spongy bone. That is the stereotypical bone but there are the others; Short bones are made of spongy bone (carpels, tarsals), flat bone is flat compact bone (skull, ribs, and sternum), and irregular bone which is not in the other classifications (vertebrate). 

The way bones form through ossification and the way bones heal is through this process: the osteoclasts will break the bone cells that are no longer helpful and then osteoblasts produce osteocalcin binds the calcium to the proteins and secrete collagen so that the osteoblasts turn into osteocytes which are mature bone cells. A big aspect of bone is the bone density which is calculated by the how many grams of calcium are packed into a segment of bone matrix. Calcium is found in food and is in the Unit 2 Reflection, but also, calcium is used for blood clotting, repairing teeth, nerve function, muscle function, heart function, and maintaining pH of blood and body fluids.

A now intake of calcium would cause osteoporosis which is when bone becomes more brittle and it will become more susceptible to bone fractures. Other skeletal diseases include scoliosis which is abnormal curvature of the spine and Kyphosis, which is when the spine either has a hump which is the compacting of the cervical vertebrates or the thoracic vertebrates are curved in. 

I would love to learn more about the evolution of bones from ancestral species and why or how they evolved. Also, I would like to learn how the body can adapt or reject bone transplants since everyone's' body will react differently. I do not have any unanswered questions but I also wonder if bone was taken from one body part to fill in for another, would that original placement of the bone be weaker or would osteoblasts fill in. Also, do hox genes have affect with the bone placement?

My learning and growth as a student has come mainly through 20 time as I discover what it is like to be a researcher and try hard to create a final product that makes an impact to someone. I have learned how to hurdle over obstacles that have gotten in my way through 20 time but also through school work and handling college stress, school stress, and social stress. 

My goals for this year have been on rough patches because taking all the time to keep up with my studies have cut into my "me" time so I have not been able to run or go to the weight room as much as I had wished. Realizing this now, I need to take a step back and focus on what is most healthy for me and realize that I am still a second semester senior and I need to also spend time making memories with friend. 

Bringing the Project together

Bringing the Project Together 

Since this project is coming to a end, this research will not because there is so much to learn and discover about the brain and its pathways. From this topic of natural neurotransmitters, I have learned that the people who are on drugs and have gotten help have great will power because the physiology of the affects of drugs was much worse than I expected. The pre-frontal cortex has been hacked because there are 2 pathways to the amygdala: the thalamus and the pre-frontal cortex.  When drugs are taken, the drug will block the entrance of dopamine, norepinepherine, and serotonin into the almond like structure. With the block there is a large influx of these neurotransmitters that are left in the brain which is why the brain gets fuzzy and happiness is an affect. SSRI's are in antidepressants that put in serotonin to the brain but the pathways are not blocked so the feeling of joy is there but there is no negative affect except for addiction of the drug. That is why eating foods with high concentrations of SSRI's would prevent the blocked pathways, give the feeling of joy, and now the person would not have the addiction to the drug.
What I have learned about myself is that there are many different ideas that come to mind on different topics and how to fix the problem but they are so different that there could be many different cures. In my head, when reading the different aspects of drugs, there are many different paths the drugs and neurotransmitters can go through which makes solving the problem much harder.
Due to this restriction and knowing all of the different ideas I have come up with, my next step is to concentrate on one aspect that I can fix and also I will not be making a meal plan that contains a concentrated amount of SSRI's and then the body will react the same way but the paths will not be blocked. Then the concentration will go down over time so that the body can stay in its natural area.
This can help in highscool because many people get overly stressed and their pre-frontal cortex will shut down, but if they follow a meal plan that contains SSRI's then they will feel happier and they will calm down with the natural senses, resulting in an open pre-frontal cortex which is where creativity and common sense comes from. This will help students perform better on tests and also study better.

Owl Pellet Lab

Owl Pellet Lab

In the lab, we look the pellet and measured it. Ours was 4.33 grams, 1.5 inches in length and 1.3 inches in width. Next, we separated the fur and dirt from the bones and put them into separate piles. Once we had the bones, we used the instructions on page 15 to determine the organism that the skeleton was of.
Our organism was the Vole. We determined this organism by referring to the steps on page 15 of the work book. The answer to the first step was that our organism had teeth and the second concluded that there were different sections for the canine and molar teeth. That sent us to step 3 where the organism had individual roots for the teeth.
The concluding factor was between the vole and the pocket gopher. Since the skulls length was 25 mm and width 14 mm with lower jaw being 12 mm and width 3 mm, the vole was in that category. Having teeth separated the organism from a bird and the rest such as the teeth roots and molar separation, along with the size of the skull which separated the vole from all other rodents but especially the pocket gopher. The pocket gophers skull was ranging from 30-42 mm length and 25-36 mm width. The last fact that determined the vole was the organism was that the front teeth were pointed as shown in the picture below. That is how we determined that the vole was the prey of the owl.

The voles skeleton is similar to the humans in which they have teeth, different sections for the different kinds of teeth; molars and canines. Also, the vole and humans have the same joint near the temple of the skull that
is the second class lever which allows the diagstric muscle to open the mouth.

Key differences include the size of the skull because the length of the vole is 25 mm and the humans is much larger. Also, the vole has an upper and bottom tooth and the the molars are far back in the jaw where as humans have teeth all across the from and the sides and the mole has a larger mandible.  Lastly, the vole has very small occipital, parietal, and temporal skulls on the sides or the back of the head because their skull is longer, but humans have distinct areas for those skulls because they have a larger rounded cavity for that bone.

CREDIT: Joshua Li has the pictures.

Unit 6 Reflection

Unit 6 Reflection

Unit 6 was al about the brain and how it uses the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system to be able to carry out daily functions. we began with the basic brain anatomy and physiology and how the brain is separated by the corpus callosum into the 2 hemispheres which are contralateral, meaning anything that is received by the right side goes through the left side of the brain and the left side of the brain controls the right side. Movement is controlled by the cerebellum and if the cerebellum or any part of the brain were missing, other parts of the brain would take the responsibility. Movement is a part of the somatic system because the brain can regulate it and make choices, the prefrontal cortex, whereas other parts such as the heart and smooth tissue are from the autonomic side. The brain structure was shown during the brain dissection. During the eye dissection,  we learned about the structure of the eye and how the parts work together to send messages to the brain through the optic nerve. 

Though the brain is so high tech, there are diseases that go along with it. Meningitis is the inflammation of the meninges, Encephalitic is the inflammation of the brain, epilepsy causes seizures, cerebral palsy is when there is a problem in development, ALS which is the degeneration of neurons, Perkinsons disease which is the degeneration of motor neurons, multiple sclerosis which is the degeneration of myelin, Alzheimer's which is the degeneration of the brain. But those are only CNS diseases. PNS diseases include sciatica which is a damaged nerve that sends sharp pain through the leg and lower back, Neuralgia which is pain due to damaged neurons, trigeminal neuralgia which is in the face, bells palsy which is the paralyse of a side of the face, and carpal tunnel syndrome which is the numbness due to a pinched nerve. 

In a woman perpetually falling, her cerebellum was missing so she had no sense of balance or touch of her surroundings and movement. This puts pressure on the other parts of the brain to take over the job of that missing piece. 

Some advantages were that my 20-time project helped me understand the brain better and the different parts, especially how drugs influence it but a setback would be learning all the different diseases and how they hurt the brain and what effects they would have on the body. 

What I want to learn more about is whether or not CRISPR would be able to use undifferentiated cells to replicate that of a functioning part of the brain and surgically incorporate it into the person's brain who was originally missing that specific part. 

As for my new years' goal, this semester has not been hard to stay away from senioritis but all of the preparation and visits for college has made focusing on classes much more difficult. What I am doing to help myself do better in the classes is to find interest in everything I am learning and even if I am not the most thrilled about the topic I will be willing to put in all effort. 

Reflex Lab

Reflex Lab 

A reflex is an action taken as a response to a stimulus without conscious thought. The reflex goes through the spine in the spine arc rather than the brain because it is quicker. In this lab we looked at all the different reflexes; the somatic reflex, the autonomic reflexes, knee-jerk reflex, but not the withdraw reflex because that includes touching something hot or sharp. 

The process goes from the sensory neuron to the spinal chord to the finger to the withdraw to the second impulse then to the brain and then is aware. 

lab analysis: 

1. humans have evolved the reflex of shrinking the pupil because this way the eye is capable of adapting to the amount of light going through the eye at one time so keep the organism safe from being exploited to too much sunlight. 

2. the proprioceptors, used for the muscles, in the knee are what received the stimuli from the hammer. 

The reaction from the thigh muscle is to tighten so that the leg kicks up. When a muscle is being hit the body sees that as a threat and the muscles will tighten to be ready to fight back. 

After the squats, the reflex was more vigorous because the body is tired and finds any dangerous threat more seriously because the body has more to focus on. 

3. Humans evolved the reflex of blinking because it can protect the eyes if something is going straight towards the eyes. 

4. The response was a curling of the foot and it is normal because the ideal reaction would be that during an uncomfortable situation the body should stay close and curl up. 

For a person with multiple sclerosis, they may have a different way to react since they are constantly moving and shaking. 

5. The reaction time for the first experiment, with no texting, was a faster reaction time by about 0.2 seconds. This is true because your mind is focusing on two things at once rather than one thing which will slow down the reaction time. My reaction time without texting was an average of 0.196 and my reaction time while texting was 0.367.
The guidelines for a 2-second buffer are for incidences where there is enough time for even the person with the slowest reaction time would be able to stop.

10:1 Drugs resemblance

10:1 Drug resemblance 

In the last couple weeks I have been focusing on how drugs are able to resemble natural oils and smells etc. and also, I have been researching the different types of drugs and which areas of the body they impact. One thing that I have learned is that when cocaine is ingested it blocks the route that dopamine usually takes to the brain causing a build up of free dopamine in the brain creating the overly used pleasure feeling. Cocaine is about 10 times as strong as regular dopamine. 

Next, I tried to find the specific chemicals that are in the drugs and relate them to natural things which is where I came into a slump because when drugs are used they create 10x the amount of dopamine and people who have PTSD are more likely use drugs than the natural transmitters. 

While trying to figure out how o work around the situation I came up with a hypothesis.

Hypothesis: For those who are sufferer from drug abuse, they will be on a cycle that has larger concentrations of an oil that resembles the drug and then the concentration will slowely decrease so that the same amount of dopamine is being used. 

Also, I looked at the people who suffer from anxiety and depression, and turns out that SSRI is a chemical used in antidepressants to release an abundant amount of Serotonin into the body which calms the body down. Some natural serotonin regulators include Vitamin D/C, Tryptophan, omega 3, L-theanine etc. 

My next steps include creating the care packages of different foods and oils to help those who are rescued who are either already on drug abuse or prevention of them on drug abuse. 

The more I research this topic the more I would like to experiment this, though I know I would not have time for it, and that I love neuroscience. 

Learning about these different ways to calm myself down in a chemical and biological way because anxiety can be a form of long term stress. 

The Sheep Brain

The Sheep Brain Dissection 

In this dissection, we started by examining the exterior side of the brain, pinpointing the cerebrum, which controls the integration and data sorting, the cerebellum, which controls the motion and balance of a person, and the brain stem, which connects the spine to the brain and connects to the pons.

Next, we cut the brain longitudinally so that we could see the parts of the brain. Inside we started from the brain stem and went to the pons, which controls the circulation of the blood, and then the medulla oblegada and mid-brain which control the digestion in the body. Then comes the thalamus, which sorts data in the brain, and the hypothalamus, which controls the hormones that help with the homeostasis. Lastly, we have the Corpus Callosum, which separates the left and right hemisphere of the brain, and the Optic nerve, which sends impulses from the retina of the eye to the brain for functioning.

Lastly, we saw the difference in the white matter and the gray matter. The white matter includes all of the myelin that makes up the myelin sheath on the axon that helps send electric signals through the brain at a faster pace.