The Brain's Way Of Healing By Benedict Carey

Neurology is one of the most unexplored fields in medicine; however, more recently there has been a spike in the amount of research being done in this specialty. This is because people are becoming more interested in neuroscience, including myself. I attended a pre-medical vocational high school, which exposed me to a greater amount of knowledge pertaining to the basics of anatomy and physiology, along with hands-on opportunities in a medical setting. It was here where I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in medicine; however, due to the fact medical field is very broad, I had no set specialty. This changed when I was exposed to the cruel manifestations of Parkinson’s Disease. During, sophomore year of high school, my grandfather passed away due to complications of Parkinson’s Disease. The way that a neurodegenerative disease was able to overtake a person in the manner that it did was shocking, and while it brought me great grief initially, it later intrigued me. I took up an interest in neuroscience and began to do my own research which culminated in various projects and applications throughout the remainder of my time in high school. These experiences have culminated in my decision to work toward a Cell Biology and

From that point onwards, I pursued time outside of school to hone my skills in scientific research, focusing on topics that related to the brain. In the future, I would like to advance my studies in neuroscience. I relished the time I spent in the cell bio-imaging labs at Arizona State University and the time I currently spend at Barrow’s Neurological Center in Phoenix, but I am always curious

I read the article, “Secrets of the Brain”, found in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic written by Carl Zimmer. I chose this subject because I have been fascinated with the brain and how it works. The research of the brain has been ongoing for many centuries now. The history in this article is interesting. It explained how scientists used to understand the brain and its inner workings. For example, “in the ancient world physicians believed that the brain was made of phlegm. Aristotle looked on it as a refrigerator, cooling of the fiery heart. From his time through the Renaissance, anatomists declared with great authority that our perceptions, emotions, reasoning, and actions were all the result of “animal spirits”—mysterious, unknowable vapors that swirled through cavities in our head and traveled through our bodies.” (Zimmer, p. 38)

In recent years there have been many ground breaking discoveries in the scientific world. However I personally believe that there is a lot more which can be done in the field of neuroscience, this is due to the fact that we have a worldwide problem with many neurological diseases such as dementia, ADHD, and of course Alzheimer’s disease. My interest in neuroscience was discovered in year 9 when my biology teacher showed us a documentary about Alzheimer’s disease, from there on I was fascinated by the brain. The opportunity to combine my scientific understanding with the structure of the nervous system makes neuroscience an exciting prospect to me.

After high school, many students make the decision on attending college based off of the things their parents/ teachers may have taught them when they were young. For example, many students further their education because throughout their lifetime they’re told they have to. In school we’re taught that in order for us to receive good jobs, and make a decent amount of money we have to have a college degree. Some are even taught that they must go beyond the undergrad and receive their masters, and doctorate degrees if they really want to be known as something in this world. While others go because it would make their parents proud, or to fulfill the legacy of being a first generation college student in their families. While this may be the case majority of the time, if you’re like me you go because

My interest in the human brain really began my junior year of high school when I took AP Psychology. I could not get enough of learning about how and why we function on a day to day basis, which can be looked at from multiple perspectives including from a biological angle. It amazed me then, and still amazes me today, that a complex network of neurons which fire electrochemical signals is the basis of every action we do on a day to day basis. This idea sparked my passion for learning more about the nervous system and how it functions, and is an interest which remains with me to this day. This same year of high school I also fell in love with Chemistry and Anatomy/Physiology, both of which applied in some capacity to AP Psychology as well. Ultimately

The main reason why we go to college is not because we want to, but because it’s a must. Nearing the end of your high school career, you are persuaded by guidance counselors and our parents to apply for colleges because it the “right thing to do”. In an essay “Are Too Many People Going to College”, Charles Murry wrote, his narrative is about someone who is trying to decide what to become an electrician or a manager. He compares how his life can benefit from becoming electrician, “the satisfaction of being good at what one does for a living (and knowing it),” vs becoming a mediocre manager, “to the melancholy of being mediocre at what one does for a living (and knowing it).” He explains that someone who still is growing and developing may not

I have always had a passion and interest in working with the unknown. When I was in high school, I always made sure I was taking science classes that interested me, and would help me decide on what I wanted to major in college. I chose neuroscience as my major because it is a subject that continues to fascinate me. Neuroscience is the study of how the nervous system develops, its structure, and what it does. I want to focus on the brain and its impact on behavior and cognitive functions. I want to go into clinical neuroscience (looking at the disorders of the nervous system) or cognitive neuroscience, which studies the higher cognitive functions and underlying neural bases. With a neuroscience major, I would like to pursue a career in clinical research, do research for the National Institute of Health, work for the CDC and specialize in neurological disease, and/or run a clinical research project in another country. I want to pursue a career in one of these areas because I want to dedicate my knowledge, skills, and time to helping people and the world of science. I want my work to make a positive impact on society and be beneficial for the forthcoming generations. I want to help people and discover new things that will help those in need. I am motivated every day to continue working hard by realizing there are still more things to be discovered and that it could be done by me.

There I was in my car thinking about my family's past. I remember how my parents couldn't go to school. How I wanted things to change by doing something which my parents didn’t do which was to go to college. Most people can’t determine if college is actually valuable or useless. Colleges are known for being really expensive and many students will need to get tuition. But on the other side college opens chances for students to learn skills to help them in their jobs. College is worth it for some people because it opens up the chance to get more experiences and benefits in their future lives, but for others it may not be worth it since they cannot afford it and may be in debt.

In the article “Healing a Sense of Mortality” it talks about the moral injury many soldiers felt that were in the Vietnam war. Like how many mistaken Tim O'Brien's story, about him killing a man, is his PTSD; it’s actually moral injury. In the article it states. “Identifying moral injury can be tricky for two reasons: First, it’s easily mistaken for PTSD, which shares many of the same symptoms. And second, because veterans may feel too ashamed to talk about their moral infractions, therapists might not even know to look for the signs of moral injury at all…” this connects back to the story because, by killing another individual, this went against Tim O’Brien’s morals and beliefs. The article also states, “In order to heal from shame, guilt,

This, I led me too a love of psychology. How wonderful was it that there was a whole science devoted just to that one mystical organ? Studying the brain, we can unlock the doors to human

College isn’t a place where some people wanna go to because it’s too much money,too many years, and it could also be a lot of stress. You don’t necessarily have to go to college to become successful there is a lot of people out they're that didn’t go to college but are still successful. For example, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Amancio Ortega, etc. Even though college has some cons there are also some pros to it.But some people think it’s a place they wanna go to.

Our posture formed because of our back spine bone, but is actually regulated in the pons section of your brain stem. Even though we think that our life is regulated by our body in general and not by an organ, it actually is. Life, memory, etc. are all from the brain. My growing knowledge of the brain even helped me to stay composed even when I get irritated. I think to myself, “Okay, these negative signals are being sent to your hypothalamus and the signals of how you will react will be sent to your amygdala. It is not you, these feelings are just sent to your brain.” This helps me to almost take control of myself. I am researching the brain and using it in my everyday life. The knowledge of the brain affects me personally, which drives me to learn even more. I started my research journal in April, and continued the journal until today. I have very strong feelings for learning about the brain, and the research of it relates to me often that I feel connected to it. My utmost passion is learning about the brain, and it affects more than just my

For many, after graduating high school the next big step is college. I never asked myself why or if I even wanted to. Yet, since I was not yet ready to join the work force, and didn’t want to disappoint my parents, I simply followed the path that I was supposed to take. For a while I had no direction, but through the loss of my high school English teacher and my dream of making my family proud, I discovered that college was the place I wanted and needed to be.

My path to higher education began as a young child. Throughout my childhood and adolescent years, the importance of education was stressed upon me by my parents. Their emphasis of education was not limited strictly to the letter grades that we received in the classroom. Their expectation was also that we would put forth our best efforts and strive to continuously learn, regardless of the outlet. When I was in fourth grade my older brother began visiting colleges and my parents used this opportunity to take us on vacations while also introducing us to the expectation of attending college. My brother began attended University of Illinois Urbana Champaign when I was in fifth grade. My sister soon followed in his footsteps to the University of Illinois. We would spend many weekends at the campus attending sporting events and walking around the university. These early introductions to higher education institutions instilled in me an expectation of college. As my siblings and their now significant others journeys continued to unfold they all attended law school at University of Illinois. Although I knew that law school was