Neuroscience is a fairly new frontier in the scientific world. It combines biology, chemistry, psychology and other fields at the specific point of the nervous system. These interactions and their implications in the human mind are fascinating. I became so interested in neuroscience specifically for the reason that it encompassed my diverse interest in various fields of science.
Neurochemistry has been one of the most intriguing courses I have taken at Concordia. It has pushed me deeper into the world of neuroscience and into a more specific and concentrated area of it. Understanding how all of the things I learned in general chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry apply to our brains has been very rewarding – it is always nice to realize that what you learn in class really does apply to the real world.
The articles we read were hot topics in the world of health and diseases such as Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Cancer, Alcoholism, etc. They are huge issues currently affecting our society and currently unresolved. The articles make us evaluate what researchers have found and the validity of their conclusions based on other literature; they make us really think about what is happening in our brains and how all of these diseases are affecting that specific, and vitally important, part of our body.
I think that one of my favorite aspects of this capstone course is Friday discussions. Although we may get off topic from time to time, these discussions truly make us evaluate the issues our society is facing. It makes us apply the research to the real world and understand how it affects us and what it can lead us towards in the future. Is social media affecting multiple aspects of our life? Can you really cure alcoholism? Would everyone form cancer if they lived long enough? It makes us face questions such as these and evaluate our own lives as well.
I have also learned many valuable skills in this course related to reading scientific literature. We learn to carefully read the articles and organize them to initially understand the message the author is trying to send. We then tear through the paper and research items that we still do not understand. This teaches us how to search for credible sources and evaluate the validity of all of the information that is available to us. We then put all of this together to best understand the article and all that it can teach us. Finally, we use this information to discuss the ‘bigger picture’ and the implications it has in our lives and society in general.
Overall, neurochemistry was a great capstone course. I feel that it was a wonderful way to bring together all of the material I have learned in the chemistry field thus far at Concordia and to develop my skill sets as a scientist.
Neurochemistry as a Capstone
