Diary Entry #11
It's our last week of Behavioral Neuroscience. Can you believe it?
This week...
This week we learned about language and the brain. We discussed Broca's and Wernicke's contributions towards localizing language centers for the brain, as well as more recent additions to this field. What I thought was so interesting was that left hemispheric lesions in people who use sign language cause verbal aphasias similar to those aphasias seen in those who don't use sign language. Specifically, there have been found cases that are similar to Broca's aphasia in which an individual's ability to "speak" using sign language is impaired. So they still find difficulty speaking, but in a different kind of speaking.
On a different note...
Did you notice the photograph on page 604 (in the text) of the small child hooked up to approxamitely one million scalp electrodes! He appears to be just fine, what with the smile on his face and all, but what a photo.
Wrapping things up...
So this is the end of our semester in Behavioral Neuroscience. I hope you've enjoyed reading my diaries; maybe I'll update them from time to time in the future.
WHERE WE'VE BEEN
From basic synaptic transmission to neuroanatomy, from learning about our complex sensory modalities to seeing Diane Ackerman get a massage, it seems like we've done it all! Yet, the cool thing about neuroscience, the brain, and psychology in general is that one never really stops learning. There's always a new function of a neurotransmitter or a new theory of memory location that will keep one energized in the pursuit of knowledge. And that, in my belief, is the true beauty of science.
WHERE WE'RE GOING (Where are we going?)
We started the semsester learning about Spaniard (yay!) Santiago Ramon y Cajal's theory on communication among neurons; he argued that neurons communicate by contact and not by physical continuity (which was right). At the end of the semester, I'd like to leave you with an inspiring quote from Ramon y Cajal that I read in the introduction to neuroscientist Michael Gazzinga's cool new book called Mind's Past: "Until we understand the brain, the universe will remain a mystery." May the spirit of discovery enrich your future endeavors. Sarah Eshelman * Pitufa.