My Capstone Experience
This semester I took my capstone course in chemistry – neurochemistry. This course was unlike any other chemistry course I have enrolled in. It was not th...
Month: December 2013
ALS – A Sad Disease
Our final topic of the year is ALS – a disease that when diagnosed with, will be fatal within 3-5 years. There are very few medications for the treatment ...
Alzheimer's Disease: the good, the bad, and The Big Mac
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that has been increasingly making its way to the forefront of devastating diseases in our society. It’s ...
Fat Chance for Reversal: Is obesity a brain disease?
Obesity is without a doubt a prominent and growing concern in our society. To put it bluntly, our society kind of looks like it’s getting fatter and fatte...
Endocannabinoid Signalling and Marijuana
Endocannabinoid signaling is the signaling that mediates the affects of cannabis (marijuana). The ethical question here is whether or not marijuana should be le...
What's the connection between Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease?
Parkinson’s disease is characterized by accumulations of the protein alpha-synuclein and the development of Lewy Bodies. The areas that these Lewy Bodies ...
Who knew dopamine had so many effects throughout the body?
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is normally found in the brain. It plays a large role in the body’s mechanisms for reward, motor control and motivatio...
Bipolar Disorder – Why is there so much stigma about mental disorders?
Bipolar disorder is characterized as a mental illness in which a person exhibits episodes of mania followed by episodes of depression. Between those episodes, t...
Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome
Due to the fast-paced society we live in today, the types of food we eat now are different than what was eaten years ago. People no longer have to forage, hunt ...
Consequences of Concussions – What happens if you get one in college?
Concussions are becoming more and more prevalent in our society. Our culture has a central focus on sports, and players and coaches are becoming more and more a...