Going into the class without being a neurochemistry minor or even a chemistry major for that matter, I felt as if I was blindly walking into a course which would be entirely over my head. For the first several weeks, that was exactly the case. It was as if I were thrust into a foreign country, one which I did not know the language, and was asked to analyze new scientific research. In the beginning, different neurological pathways were flying at me left and right and I barely had enough time to read the acronyms associated with a given pathway, before a whole new one was thrown at me! However after the pathways began showing up over and over in different disorders, I was able to reach a new level of understanding and it was then that real analysis and connection to the global issues.
Elements of panic set in every weekend as a new papers outlining a different neurodegenerative diseases were assigned. However the fear gradually subsided as everyone came back to class on Monday. We slowly picked the articles apart as a group and then identified subject matter that we would like to learn more about in order to better understand the articles. Topics were then assigned to each student to be researched and familiarize with for the next class period. Wednesdays were so endearingly coined the “speed dating” days. It was on these days that students brought their new-found knowledge from researching the topics that were assigned on Monday. Each student had a chance to break apart and explain these difficult topics in five minute sessions, one on one, with everyone in the class (thus the term speed dating). It was then on Friday, when we were able to apply these new concepts to the real world. Fridays consisted of large group discussions in which the neurodegenerative disease was discussed in a more humanitarian way. These discussions were far more centered around personal connections with the neurodegnerative disease of the week. Without fail, someone would know someone or have a relative who was suffering from the disease or condition. While neurlogical pathways were still discussed, Fridays allowed for the class to understand a whole new side of the disease that was typically detached from the hard sciences.
Not only did this class improve my critical reading skills when it came to groundbreaking neurological research, it provided an avenue in which I could view these issues from many different perspectives, and connect them to our current society. While I have come to realized that each one of these diseases is different, (even though they all might possess certain imbalances and “modulation” of normal function) I have also found that placing a label on an individual who is affected can be particularly harmful. For example, for people who are labeled as autistic or bipolar — even though they might be very high functioning — are immediately seen differently. This can lead to many adverse social affects, all due to the fact that other people do not know what is really going on with their condition, and therefore do not know how to act around them. So while these topics might be difficult to discuss, it is important that they are because otherwise general ignorance can lead to additional, unnecessary problems.
The end is just the beginning, why might I choose this title you may ask? Almost all of the articles that we have read in class have come from the past five years. The information that is coming out is groundbreaking! However there is still much more that needs to be discovered in order to fully understand and know how to treat many of these neurological diseases. So while the end of this class subsequently symbolizes the capping off of my four years at Concordia, there are still many more interesting findings that I am excited to learn about in the future and share with those around me!
The End is Just the Beginning
