What were you doing five minutes ago?

[Jemster]

What was I doing 5 minutes ago? On online class. A screenshot (click on the image if you want to see it better.)...




Michelle

[Star Gazer]

Michelle: Are you taking an A&P class?

[Jemster]

Michelle: Are you taking an A&P class?

Sort-of. I'm taking a class called "Statistical Analysis of fMRI Data" on Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/). They're free online classes and I call them a kind of "University Lite" courses since they aren't very long (4-9 weeks) and not as much information as a regular class. Since I have an interest in Cognitive Neuroscience I thought it'd be a good class to take.


Michelle

UPDATE (09/12/14): Received a 99.2% (out of 100%) as my final grade in the course.

[Star Gazer]

I just finished up a neuroscience class this past spring; however, most of our focus was on neuronal signaling and memory formation: ion influx -> neurotransmitter release -> (downstream) secondary messengers -> microRNA expression... you get the drift. We only covered about 8 chapters in the textbook (and got to play with honest-to-goodness human brains - awesome!); however, there is so much more to the science, as you know. I wish there were secondary and tertiary classes offered, so that we could cover the whole textbook.

BIG THANK YOU for the Coursera link; I've never heard of this site before - it's got everything, doesn't it? And it's affiliated with some great schools (Duke, UC Irvine, Stanford...)! I can't wait to browse through their curriculum. What classes have you taken so far? Are you planning a career in biology or medicine?

[Jemster]

I just finished up a neuroscience class this past spring; however, most of our focus was on neuronal signaling and memory formation: ion influx -> neurotransmitter release -> (downstream) secondary messengers -> microRNA expression... you get the drift. We only covered about 8 chapters in the textbook (and got to play with honest-to-goodness human brains - awesome!); however, there is so much more to the science, as you know. I wish there were secondary and tertiary classes offered, so that we could cover the whole textbook.

BIG THANK YOU for the Coursera link; I've never heard of this site before - it's got everything, doesn't it? And it's affiliated with some great schools (Duke, UC Irvine, Stanford...)! I can't wait to browse through their curriculum. What classes have you taken so far? Are you planning a career in biology or medicine?

You're welcome. Coursera has a lot of really nice classes. I've become addicted and am *trying* to pace myself but all I can do is go, "Oh! That's a cool class! I want to take that one!" Currently, I'm taking three:

Introduction to Neuroeconomics: How the Brain Makes Decisions.

Statistical Analysis of fMRI Data

Learning How to Learn: Powerful Mental Tools to Help You Master Tough Subjects


As for my plans, I want to get a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, and I'm thinking about focusing on aggression in women. The problem with this field is that if you want to do experiments you do a lot of invasive stuff on animals which I'm not cool with. If I can't avoid that I will stick to the purely theoretical until the technology catches up. That's why I really want to learn fMRI because I think that's the future of getting the info from the brain without having to cut into it.

Michelle

[Star Gazer]

Interesting choices in your studies. My A&P professor is a neuroscientist (she was also my neuroscience professor - duh!) and she has really peaked my interest in the field. Right now, I am planning on applying to the Physician Assistant program; however, I am also considering a Plan B (in the event I am not accepted), which would be in biological sciences. For myself, I am really interested in cardiac medicine; however, "cardioscience" is not yet an accepted discipline, mostly, I think, because the heart is a very simple organ - the simplest of them all, in fact - so there's not a whole lot to study.

In neuroscience, much of the experimentation they do is on reptiles and sea creatures (frogs and giant squids). My professor has done her most recent research on copepods, which are very tiny marine and freshwater crustaceans. The gist of her study was that, the closer to the surface these creatures lived, the more neuronal myelination they acquired. She postulated that the reason for this was that they were more vulnerable at shallow depths; therefore, they required faster and more efficient reflexes in order to avoid predators. Evolution in action.

We did not spend more than a few minutes talking about radiographic diagnostics in class; we just touched briefly on CT scans, MRI's, fMRI's, PET scans and SPECT scans. We also read a few paragraphs on the new magnetoencephalography (MEG) imaging, which supposedly provides better resolution than fMRI's (and is probably ten times more expensive to boot!), because it tracks brain function changes in "milliseconds," as opposed to "seconds" as seen in fMRI. Apparently the MEG device records brain metabolism occurring between the iron-based hemoglobin and the magnetic resonance of hydrogen ions, which ordinarily cause minor distortion on fMRI. In short, MEG is the next step up from fMRI. Interesting stuff.

I am pleased to learn of your interest in the study of aggression in women. What is especially unique is that science is discovering that more and more hormones are actually being produced IN the brain (irrespective of pituitary gland signaling) for use BY the brain, instead of by other organs. Recent studies have shown the production of progesterone within both the central and peripheral nervous systems, which acts on neuronal myelin repair (can you tell I just wrote a paper on the subject?); however, my point is that there is now speculation that other hormones may also be produced by the brain to act on the brain, including testosterone, which, as you know, drives aggressive behavior in men. Maybe one day YOU will invent the chemical tag required to map out testosterone production in the brain and solve the mystery of women and aggression (otherwise, male scientists will just assume that we're all just a buncha bitches!). Just make sure you mention my name when you make your acceptance speech to the Nobel Prize Committee.

Sorry if I've bored you (or anyone else, for that matter). I just get excited when I meet someone who shares my interest in gross stuff, like gooey old brains!

Roula and Ute, I've not forgotten you! I owe you both letters and I promise I will write very soon!!!

[Caty]

No sweat, stargazer!
I thought your exchange of information was very exciting
And I will check the link too. But not now, I am sitting in the garden, it is almost 30 degrees celsius and I only wanted to check for some news with a tablet-pc. Thats too difficult for real internet-surfing

[Caty]

Michelle: Are you taking an A&P class?

Sort-of. I'm taking a class called "Statistical Analysis of fMRI Data" on Coursera (https://www.coursera.org/). They're free online classes and I call them a kind of "University Lite" courses since they aren't very long (4-9 weeks) and not as much information as a regular class. Since I have an interest in Cognitive Neuroscience I thought it'd be a good class to take.

Michelle

I hope, you don't mind but I took a look at your link and it's amazing!
Thanks a lot

[Jemster]

I hope, you don't mind but I took a look at your link and it's amazing!
Thanks a lot

Don't mind at all. I wouldn't have posted it if I didn't want to pimp it. I have a few links to educational stuff if anyone is interested.



Michelle

[Star Gazer]

I'm interested. Let 'er rip.