Brain Mania

One look at the brain, makes you wonder how this wrinkly mass of tissue can be so complex and unusual. The circuitry, anatomy and physiology of the brain is so complicated and yet so fascinating. It's amazing to think how may action potentials are firing as I write this very sentence.

We are officially 1/3 of the way through Brain, Mind and Behavior Block. I would be jumping for joy, except- we have an exam on Monday.

The first portion of the block was front loaded with neuroanatomy (5 anatomy labs) along with complicated spinal tracts that have intricate pathways through the spinal cord, brainstem and cortex. Following the paths can be quite a mental exercise and become even more interesting the moment a lesion is added to the picture. And then there is making sense of all the sensory systems, including the vestibular system (helps in balance), visual system, auditory system and all the other systems that have escaped my short-term memory.

This makes for an exciting, fun-filled weekend (not) of review, relearning, studying and studying so more. I have revisited the anatomy lab and now move towards to plowing through the 366 pages of syllabus and related chapters in the Neuroanatomy text book.

Oh well such is life.

Let the brain mania start!

***Pictured above: Photograph from High School Outreach Conference of a brain during the graduate student demonstration