Preventing Insulin Resistance in Alzheimer’s Through Diet

Posted on February 13, 2023 by / 0 Comment

Alzheimer’s disease is a neurodegenerative disease that causes difficultly with cognitive function, behavior, and day-to-day life functioning and it effects over 44 million people today. Although there has been extensive research over the years, there is little clarity when it comes to the cause of Alzheimer’s. In turn, there are no sure-fire ways to treat it or prevent it. But now, studies show the presence brain insulin resistance in those with Alzheimer’s.

Possible Causes of Alzheimer’s

Amyloid beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles have been known to be the main causes of Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association notes that amyloid beta plaques and tangles lead to impaired cell signaling and inflammation. This leads to cell death.

Amyloid beta plaques are made up of smaller pieces known as beta-amyloid proteins. Shown in this image, amyloid beta plaques clump between neurons and cause disruption of cell signaling.

Insulin and Alzheimer’s

Insulin plays a role in the brain by altering, regulating, and protecting neurons. Insulin can protect neurons by stopping the amyloid beta plaques from building up. When inflammation is present, insulin resistance occurs. In this case, insulin cannot function properly, and the amount of insulin degrading enzymes decreases. Insulin degrading enzymes also degrades amyloid beta plaques. With decreased insulin degrading enzymes, amyloid beta plaques build up, causing cell death and Alzheimer’s symptoms. ¹

Inflammation

Inflammation can be caused by a poor unbalanced diet. Intake of too many saturated fats can lead to inflammation. While eating unsaturated fats and antioxidants can reduce inflammation and oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress is caused by the presence of too many oxidants and not enough antioxidants. Antioxidants play a role in protecting tissue. But, in Alzheimer’s disease antioxidants are depleted and oxidative stress causes inflammation. ²

Cytokines are proteins to regulate inflammation. Continued inflammation of the brain causes cytokines to continually release. Cytokines will then allow peripheral immune cells to enter the brain creating a continual inflammatory response. Therefore, the presence of these pro-inflammatory cytokines will lead to insulin dysfunction.

Mediterranean Diet and Inflammation

The Mediterranean diet has been proven to have anti-inflammatory effects. As stated previously, eating a diet that consists of unsaturated fats versus saturated fats as well as adding antioxidants helps to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. The main source of fat comes from olive oil which is an unsaturated fat. This diet is also characterized as being high in antioxidants with a high amount of fruits and vegetables. It has then been shown that those who stick with the Mediterranean diet are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

Additionally, a diet with a high intake of pro-inflammatory foods such as red meat, processed meats and fried foods has been shown to lead to cognitive decline. ³

What should we do?

As of right now, there is no way to reverse Alzheimer’s, but we can prevent it. Given the promising effects of the Mediterranean diet, it can be possible to prevent Alzheimer’s through diet. I believe the best course of action would be to catch insulin resistance early. Similar to screening for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, the same screening could be done in light of preventing Alzheimer’s. Essentially, preventing type 2 diabetes would be preventing Alzheimer’s. Treating type 2 diabetes would also be early intervention of Alzheimer’s by addressing insulin resistance.

Akhtar, A., & Sah, S. P. (2020). Insulin signaling pathway and related molecules: Role in neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease. Neurochemistry international, 135, 104707. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuint.2020.104707
https://tissuerecovery.com/blogs/brain/improve-your-memory-by-reducing-oxidative-stress
McGrattan, A. M., McGuinness, B., McKinley, M. C., Kee, F., Passmore, P., Woodside, J. V., & McEvoy, C. T. (2019). Diet and Inflammation in Cognitive Ageing and Alzheimer’s Disease. Current nutrition reports, 8(2), 53–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13668-019-0271-4

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Inflamed Brain

Posted on February 13, 2023 by / 0 Comment

Inflamed Brain

medical illustration – swollen, painful brain

Neuroinflammation (inflammation of nervous tissue) is a continuous state of immune system response. In acute (short term) inflammation, cells will release signals in response to injury or infection. These signals will alert immune cells, which will then response and solve the problem. It’s when an acute response goes wrong that inflammation becomes a problem. In chronic inflammation cells will keep release signals and the immune cells can’t fix the problem, causing constant and long-term inflammation. This chronic inflammation is often associated with age and neurodegenerative disorders.

Key Players:

Microglia: the innate immune cells of the CNS. They are constantly patrolling and watching for infection or injury to respond to. They respond rapidly, and are the first and main form of immune defense in the brain. They often recruit other immune cells to aid in their roles. It’s easy to think of them as the cops of the brain.

Cytokines: a family of proteins that regulate many cell processes, including cell development, death, and inflammation. When cells sense a foreign thing or are injured they will secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines as a signal to microglia that there is something wrong. Their role in inflammation is essentially waving a red flag to get microglia’s attention.

Alzheimer’s Disease:

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Beta-amyloid plaques are build-up of amyloid-beta proteins outside of the cell, and tangles are the build up of a Tau proteins inside of the cell. Both of these protein clumps interfere with neuron communication and eventually lead to neuron death. The plaques and tangles that appear with Alzheimer’s disease are not supposed to be present in the brain. As such, when cells sense these deposits they secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines to alert the immune system that there is something that needs to be fixed. The microglia that are patrolling the brain respond to the build up of these proteins, and are also recruiting other immune cells to help. However, microglia and other immune cells are not able to effectively destroy the beta-amyloid plaques, and since the tangles are present only inside the cell, they aren’t able to do anything about the tangles and the cell will eventually die. But the immune cells don’t give up! They keep attempting to destroy the plaques, and cells will keep releasing pro-inflammatory cytokines. This prolonged response causes the chronic neuroinflammation that is present in Alzheimer’s disease.

Breaking the Brain’s Armor:

As mentioned before, cytokines do a ton of things in the body. They regulate inflammation and also cell survival. The excessive release of cytokines during chronic neuroinflammation can have some damaging effects. You may have heard of the blood-brain-barrier (BBB), the BBB is a layer of cells and blood vessels that surround the brain and protect it from the environment of the rest of the body. It let’s the good things in and keeps the bad things out. Think of it like a set of armor or a shield surrounding the brain. Too many cytokines circulating the brain can damage the BBB, and allow outside cells and proteins into the brain. During neuroinflammation the BBB is often compromised, which allows peripheral (body) immune cells to be recruited into the brain by microglia. These peripheral immune cells increase inflammation and worsen neuroinflammation.

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Oral Hypoglycemics to Treat Alzheimers?

Posted on February 11, 2023 by / 0 Comment

Alzheimer’s and The Brain:

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease that results in memory loss and decreased cognitive function. It begins by attacking the area of the brain associated with learning, but when it advances through the brain it leads to many other symptoms such as disorientation, mood changes, and difficulty speaking just to name a few.

Alzheimer’s disease starts in the cells of the brain. The brain has almost 100 billion neurons that work together to communicate certain needs. Just like corporate America, there are groups of cells that do specific jobs and work in their own offices, but when something goes wrong in one office it causes a growing problem in many other offices of the brain as well. Therefore, once there is too much damage the cells eventually die causing irreversible changes in the brain.

The Culprits:

There are two abnormal structures associated with Alzheimer’s that have been found in the brain.

Amyloid-Beta Plaques: which are deposits of a protein that build up in the spaces between neurons
Tangles: which are twisted fibers of a protein called Tau that build up inside of cells.

These abnormalities have been shown to block communication among the neurons, which eventually leads to cell death.

I Thought Insulin Was Only In Type 2 Diabetes?

Insulin has been shown to play a major role in Alzheimer’s disease. Now, you might be thinking that insulin is only associated with Diabetes but let me tell you the connection between insulin, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Insulin is a hormone that regulates glucose metabolism. Insulin is a neuroprotective agent that acts against cell death, but when the body becomes resistant to insulin (just like it does in Type 2 Diabetes) many things can go wrong.

Insulin resistance (IR) degrades the insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) which then doesn’t allow for the removal of amyloid-beta plaques. IR also activates the MAPK signaling pathway, which will activate the production of amyloid-beta plaques. Additionally, IR decreases a pathway called PI3K/Akt, and this leads to the phosphorylation of the Tau protein causing more tangles to form in the neurons.

Both Alzheimer’s and Type 2 Diabetes have a connection with insulin, which could mean that people with Type 2 Diabetes have a higher chance at developing Alzheimer’s because of insulin resistance, but how do we try and prevent this?

For years, trying to treat Alzheimer’s was an enigma that puzzled many researchers, doctors, and families but more recently there have been updates to the treatment of Alzheimer’s by using oral hypoglycemics.

Why Oral Hypoglycemics?

Oral hypoglycemics are a group of drugs used to help reduce the amount of sugar present in the blood by altering the levels of insulin. They are not insulin, but they act like insulin to stimulate the pancreas and the liver. These types of drugs are usually used to treat type 2 diabetes but research has been done to show that they also help reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. I have attached a table including some oral hypoglycemics and their role in treating the symptoms that come with Alzheimer’s.

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What Keeps us Awake: Understanding Insomnia

Posted on December 16, 2021 by / 0 Comment

Artstract by Erik Lucken

Introduction

Sleep is such a fundamental part of our lives that it can be easy to overlook all of the benefits of getting a good night of rest. In addition to feeling well-rested and recovered for the next day, sleep allows our body to heal by boosting our immune system, increasing focus and productivity, improving memory consolidation, and many other effects (1). It is clear that these are all great benefits and making sure that we get enough sleep should be a top priority in our lives, but this can be much easier said than done.

What is Insomnia?

The key to getting a good night of sleep is by having a healthy circadian rhythm, also known as a sleep cycle. In dark conditions, our body begins a chain of chemical reactions that produce melatonin which binds to the melatonin receptor and helps our body relax by reducing nerve activity, which can make it easier to fall asleep (2). When your brain doesn’t produce enough melatonin, not enough can bind to its receptors so your body has a more difficult time knowing when to fall asleep, which also can distort your circadian rhythm which can take days or even longer to repair. It is normal to experience short-term insomnia (up to 3 weeks) at some point in our life, typically a response to stress, but it can also be a side effect of anxiety disorders, trauma, or certain medications.

Figure 1: The Melatonin Receptor

The Neurochemistry of Insomnia

Making sure that enough melatonin is being produced is the main step in fostering a healthy sleep cycle. While still being investigated, calcium is found to regulate the synthesis of melatonin from the amino acid tryptophan. It has been found that the enzymes responsible for these reactions are only affected by lower calcium levels, so they are unable to produce melatonin when calcium levels are too low. The cause of low calcium in terms of sleep is still under investigation. Figure 1 shows the signaling pathway of melatonin. When melatonin binds to the MLT GPCR, it causes Gi to dissociate from the receptor which causes adenylyl cyclase to be inhibited, which prevents cAMP from being produced and this prevents the activation of PKA and CREB downstream. These are all necessary steps to begin falling asleep. When melatonin levels are reduced, this pathway is not activated as much as it should be so cAMP and CREB levels increase when they are not supposed to (2).

In addition to melatonin, GABA and norepinephrine have been receiving some attention in sleep research. The underlying mechanisms are unknown but it has been consistently shown that in people with insomnia, GABA and norepinephrine levels are decreased, which makes it more difficult to sleep since these substances prevent hyperarousal and hyperexcitation.

Conclusion

We face different stressors every day and sometimes it can be difficult to fall asleep. Insomnia is a very real thing that can be a result of any number of factors, ultimately leading to a decrease in calcium that is able to be used by enzymes producing melatonin.

Sources

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Final Blog Post

Posted on December 16, 2021 by / 0 Comment

Neurochemistry is Interdisciplinary

The neurochemistry course is the poster class for interdisciplinary education and makes it so easy to love learning. While offered only to senior neuroscience majors/minors and ACS chemistry majors, the interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience brings together so many perspectives and they all connect on the basis of chemistry. Many in my cohort had double majors or minors in business, nutrition, psychology, biology, chemistry, mathematics, and neuroscience and every discussion, both in-class and virtual, analyzed a very different perspective of our weekly topics. Even on papers that only discussed biochemical signaling, genetics, or biosynthesis, when our class came together, connections were drawn to any field. In particular, many of the discussion topics in our small groups were about applications of the paper and not so much on the actual biochemistry. Neurochemistry sounds like a daunting subject but this interdisciplinarity takes away the fear and allows for us to discuss a complex topic in any way we’d like. There were nights where I found myself falling down the rabbit hole when researching what dreams are, psychedelic drugs, memory disorders, the American housewife drug crisis, etc. all because of what this course instilled in me.

Neurochemistry is a Liberal Arts Course

The neurochemistry class is exactly what learning at a liberal arts course should look like. To me, a liberal arts education is one that fosters learning from multiple perspectives with people from every demographic. In addition to the interdisciplinary nature of the field, neurochemistry is a strong liberal arts course. I elected to take a PEAK through this course and partnered with the graduating class of social work majors by coordinating a donation drive with ShareHouse, a substance addiction recovery program. This was my first time coordinating an event with anybody, nonetheless an organization. Working on this project, it was clear that neurochemistry and social work students have different ways of thinking. Almost every course I’ve taken at Concordia was in psychology, chemistry, neuroscience, or mathematics so I didn’t have the opportunity to work with many different academic perspectives until this project.

Learning to Adapt and Overcome

One skill that I have been able to improve on because of this class is my ability to thrive in group work. As I stated earlier, most of my courses here were in STEM and I often worked with people I was very familiar with or who had a similar thinking style so group work wasn’t a challenge for me. Partnering with the social work class in our CAP project, however, was a very different experience. Our team was half neurochemistry, half social work, and finding a successful way to communicate was a difficult task early on. Our initial project proposal was rejected and after reading through it, it was clear that we all understood our agreed-upon plan in a different way. We were able to pinpoint that this was a big issue early on and when we rewrote our proposal, we worked exclusively as a group and found a way to adapt to each other’s thinking and communication styles. When it came time to actually carry out the project, our communication skills and ability to work together as a team were flawless. It is so interesting to look back on this semester and see the drastic improvements we collectively made as a team. Without this course, I wouldn’t have realized that I was only good at communication with like-minded people. I learned that people from different perspectives and backgrounds have different methods of analytical thinking and learning to work with different people absolutely improves my group work abilities.

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How do anxiety medications work?

Posted on December 16, 2021 by / 0 Comment

What are Anxiolytic Drugs?

Anxiolytics are drugs that act to reduce anxiety. Benzodiazepines are the strongest anxiolytic drugs used commercially but SSRIs and SNRIs, weaker anxiety-reducing drugs, are often prescribed to individuals with both anxiety and depression diagnoses. Benzodiazepines cause strong, immediate anxiety relief and SSRIs/SNRIs are prescribed for long term use and relieve anxiety to a lesser degree

An Overview of Benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines are very strong anxiolytic drugs with their effects felt immediately. They are commonly not prescribed for more than 1 month at a time unless in more severe situations. These drugs include lorazepam, alprazolam, clonazepam, diazepam, and chlordiazepoxide (marketed as Xanax, Klonopin, Librium, Valium, and Ativan). The side effects of these drugs are dramatic, including memory impairments, sedative effects, impaired judgment, and a higher risk of experiencing depression and suicidal thoughts. These drugs all act in the same way, biochemically and kinetically, but they differ in terms of their potency. Benzodiazepines act by binding to the GABA receptor as allosteric modulators, making it easier for chloride ions to flow into the cell, hyperpolarizing the nerve membrane which leads to widespread inhibitory effects throughout the central nervous system and sedation, including anxiolysis, short term anterograde amnesia, and anti-convulsion (Fig. 1). A common symptom of anxiety is faster breathing and heartbeat, but benzodiazepines reduce these symptoms by decreasing the frequency of certain cardiovascular and respiratory functions (1).

Figure 1: Mechanism of Action of Benzodiazepines

Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors

While benzodiazepines are the strongest drugs designed to treat anxiety, SSRIs and SNRIs have also been found to be effective, particularly in patients with anxiety and depression. These drugs include citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, and sertraline (marketed as Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac, and Zoloft). These substances are weaker than benzodiazepines because they exert their effects on serotonergic synapses, which has a weaker impact on anxiety. These drugs were designed primarily to treat depression but increasing serotonin levels in the synapse can reduce perceived feelings of anxiety. SSRIs bind to the reuptake channel on the presynaptic cell, preventing the released serotonin from being deactivated. Some of the serotonin will bind to the receptor on the postsynaptic cell but once all binding sites are occupied, the remaining molecules will be held in the synapse (2). Normally, these would be taken back to the presynaptic cell but since the SSRI is blocking the channel, the serotonin will stay activated. SSRIs are designed for long-term use. Over time, they modulate the density of serotonin receptors on the postsynaptic cell so it can take weeks before the patient can detect any significant changes. SSRIs are also very different from each other. They differ in their potency, pharmacokinetics, half-life, and binding affinity to the reuptake channel, so it can be difficult to prescribe the most optimal drug. Side effects of these substances include agitation, appetite problems, dizziness, headache, nausea, insomnia, and reduced libido (2). SNRIs involve the same mechanism and relatively the same side effects, but the effects are exerted on noradrenergic neurons by blocking norepinephrine reuptake.

Figure 2: Mechanism of SSRI’s

Conclusion

Anxiety drugs are very diverse and it can be difficult to know which drug is the best for which person. Benzodiazepines are the strongest, but typically can’t be used for more than a few weeks and have strong side effects by acting on the GABA receptors. SSRIs are weaker than benzodiazepines but still have noticeable effects, but their mechanism involved modulation of the postsynaptic cell, which can take weeks, making them more difficult to prescribe and treat a struggling individual.

Sources:

https://calgaryguide.ucalgary.ca/benzodiazepine/
https://www.registerednursern.com/ssris-antidepressants-nclex-questions/
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00005/full

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Final Blog: Neurochemistry

Posted on December 15, 2021 by / 0 Comment

This neurochemistry course opened my eyes to various perspectives and topics that I would not have sought out otherwise. I am grateful for the opportunities we were given to strengthen our skills as up-and-coming scientists.

Instill a love for learning

There were many aspects in which this course promoted my love for learning. To begin, the group discussions made the topics much more interesting and enjoyable. It was nice to communicate knowledge effectively with fellow peers who had similar academic backgrounds. There were many opinions and perspectives that made the discussion a learning experience that we would not have had in class or gathered through research. Also, I really enjoyed the topics that the class got to choose to research for each article. It was much more fun to search the literature on topics that we were interested in rather than topics were assigned.

Develop foundational skills and transferable intellectual capacities

Neurochemistry helped with this more than I could believe! The in-depth understanding of various articles that was required for this class really improved my comfortability as a researcher. It forced us to think critically and ensure full understanding of each topic, as well as choose specific subjects within that topic to research even further. This class also helped with collaboration and communication of knowledge. These characteristics were used within the PEAK project, as well as in group discussions, and the end-of-year presentation. This course truly helped with discussion and communication of knowledge to fellow scientists.

Develop an understanding of disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and intercultural perspectives and their connections

There were many connections between disciplines found in this course. While there were obvious ties between neuroscience, chemistry, biology, and even psychology, many of these topics had implications towards disciplines such as socioeconomics and education. Pertaining to topics such as mental illness and addiction, there needs to be further education on these issues at a young age and beyond. Within socioeconomics, topics such as obesity are heavily influenced by SES and the availability of nutritional foods. The subject of neurochemistry has far-reaching influences on multiple disciplines.

Cultivate an examined cultural, ethical, physical, and spiritual self-understanding

Neurochemistry cultivated quite a lot of self-understanding, mostly on a physical and spiritual level. I was not only curious about signaling and neuronal connections within my own brain, but also how disruptions in these pathways can negatively impact one’s life in so many ways (and my own life I suppose). I was never truly aware of the many signaling pathways in the brain, as well as the various relationships between each of them. Also, it has always been interesting to me to gain more information about myself on a metacognitive level. Issues such as the mind-body problem that I had discussed in my psychology course, The Human Mind, have often brought about issues of whether or not the mind is simply a manifestation of the brain, or if they are separate entities. This question is still not answered for me, and I’m not sure it ever will be. Although there is likely a biological or chemical answer for complex cognitive abilities such as reasoning, logic, emotion, learning, and memory, it is difficult for me to believe that there is nothing more than the physical brain or body. Although, this course did make me lean about more towards physicalist monism (the mind supervenes on the brain).

Encourage responsible participation in the world

I experienced this most through participation in the PEAK project. My group focused on Alzheimer’s, specifically on support towards caregivers for people with dementia. Although I had learned about Alzheimer’s on a biological and chemical level, I had never truly immersed myself in the personal and real-life struggles of those caring for people living with dementia. This gave us the tremendous opportunity to facilitate discussion in a caregiver support group and gain insight as to how the disease affected them and their loved ones. Also, this project gave me the opportunity to use knowledge I had learned in class and attempt to relate it to the discussion at hand. Although there were quite a few questions I was still unable to answer during the support group, we had members of the Alzheimer’s Association, as well as doctor of geriatrics, to guide and teach us through the sessions. Through this, we were able to responsibly participate in the real world.

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My Reflection on Neurochem 2021

Posted on December 15, 2021 by / 0 Comment

I had no idea that this class would be so different from other science classes when I decided to sign up. I knew that we would study the brain, and I knew that we would study how the brain reacts with the rest of the body, but during the course of this class I have learned about so much more than just the chemistry of the brain. This class was unique among any science class I have ever taken, and even unique among classes I’ve taken in general. This class was designed to engage outside of a traditional method, and that required a whole different set of skills that school often doesn’t test. For this I will always be thankful, and it makes me realize how Concordia itself desires to teach its students to interact with the world.

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Concordia’s Goals in Neurochem and Beyond:

Concordia has many goals in its educational curriculum, but five of them were highlighted when considering the benefits of a liberal arts education. Below I will describe how this class fit into the categories for me.

Instills a love for learning.

This one seems rather straightforward, but I’m glad that this class reached the goal for me. I had a very challenging semester for a lot of reasons, but the challenge also made me consider if I really liked what I was doing. Neurochem was often a refuge, where there wasn’t much learning except what you read yourself and were able to share with others. Instead of learning from a textbook, we learned directly from good research sources and then did our own research. This approach was unique and refreshing, especially coming back from virtual lectures in all of my classes.

Develop foundational and transferable skills

Foundational skills are something that many are expected to have, but classes like this really challenge a person to analyze and develop said skills. For example, we do all sorts of research in labs, but not much of reading other peoples’ research. We have class discussion, but it’s not often that we teach classmates something that we have learned, which is really effective in helping everyone involved learn. We performed group projects, but we never worked with professional organizations to put together such huge events as we did during our PEAK projects. These skills will follow us for the rest of our lives, and neurochem did an excellent job of expanding upon their usage and relevance in our lives.

Develop understanding of various perspectives

Part of the challenge of teaching science is that everyone has different beliefs about it, especially outside of the traditional black and white of science. In this class we had group discussions where various topics came up such as: legalization of marijuana, assisted suicide, ethical work in science, and withholding opioids in some cases. Not only are these issues controversial, but there are arguments for both sides that can and do coexist while still being correct. As someone who has researched these issues, I had a lot to say, but I also learned a lot from how other people understood these issues based both on science and their lens of the world.

Have a strong self-understanding

Like I said earlier, this was a challenging semester outside of neurochem. Concordia strives to achieve cultural, ethical, physical, and spiritual self-understanding, and neurochem definitely touched on ethical and physical life. I’ve already talked about ethics, but the way physical well being impacts the brain is very notable. For example, exercise is a really good way to prevent long term brain diseases as well as improving quality of sleep when done appropriately. Information like that has rekindled my drive to improve my physical health as I deal with the continuing challenges in my life.

Encourage responsible participation in world affairs

This is something that neurochem did really well by having us blog, as the goal was to teach us how to spread science to a population that has never studied science before. We first learned the information as scientists would, discussed and learned from each other as fellow scientists, and then were tasked with taking what we learned and making it applicable to everyone who reads it. This means explaining things well, using good visuals, and managing the science well for the audience while still retaining the integrity of my research. It is always an interesting challenge, and one that I’ve considered in the past, so I was very glad to get to work more on it this semester.

Neurochem Specific Goals:

Within the context of neurochem there were some separate goals regarding learning and engagement in the class. Below are the list as well as how I feel the class addressed them:

How did I learn this semester?

This is an important question due to how much learning had to change and adapt in the past years! I would say learning for me mostly occurred when I was talking with other classmates either in group discussions or when learning directly from the wiki using the online system. This allowed me to take the information from the article and expand it into how it impacts the world more than just inside a lab. This is something we are seeing many people struggle with regarding COVID-19, so it’s nice to do this style of learning while also continuing to do research based learning.

How does this class relate to my future goals?

I am currently on the premed track, and it’s very interesting to consider how this class influenced my future. For example, learning how to read a research article is critical to medicine as much of what we do may be considered experimental and require a good understanding of scientific literature. Being able to explain complex scientific information to everyone is an important skill for a physician, the blogging is excellent training for that. And the PEAK project was an excellent test of team work skills, which I believe are critical to working in healthcare.

What does a liberal arts education mean to me?

Doctors should know more than just science. They need so many different things in my opinion: math, the history of the world because it impacts their care, business in case they ever want to run their own practice, how to work with other people, how to research, how to admit when they don’t know something, how to enjoy hobbies outside of work, etc. When I think of a liberal arts education, I think of the science I’ve learned, but I also think of all the other learning and opportunities I’ve had at Concordia

What would I put on a resume from this class?

Definitely the ability to explain science to everyone aspect. Collaboration and group work would also look good. Finally, the ability to adapt and overcome, not just in this class, but throughout the semester.

Describe solving a problem using multiple perspectives

The PEAK project is an excellent example of this. We had 6 different people with 6 different backgrounds in classes, working together to put together a major project. We had to deal with losing a member, getting tabled, and then all sorts of variables with the final project. Part of the reason we got tabled was because everyone had a slightly different idea about how the project was going to work, but being able to adapt to the later challenges came when we started working together and using all of the skills and resources available to us.

In conclusion, it has been a crazy semester, but neurochem has been one of the highlights!

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Final Review of Neurochem

Posted on December 15, 2021 by / 0 Comment

Neurochemistry

Neurochemistry has been by far the most engaging class I have taken at Concordia. We were challenged to address complicated diseases affecting the central nervous system. Instead of a traditional lecture-based classroom we were motivated to learn at our own pace and given the option to really control the path of the course. Rooted in the complex biochemical basis of many different cellular signaling pathways we connected our knowledge all the way to past and current social issues which separate the country today. By creating a strong foundation for our conversations, we were able to engage in constructive dialogue on complex topics and then repeat the process again the next week.

Concordia is a liberal arts school with the goal of graduating students who have ambitions to be responsibly engaged in the world. Neurochem is a perfect embodiment of this mission. I used knowledge gained in chemistry courses to connect with the biology of cellular signaling. Expanding upon the science we are able to connect to the social dilemmas we learn about in other courses. Using communication taught in intro courses a responsible conversation is at hand.

Real World Example

A perfect example of a discussion in our class that relates is around obesity. Perhaps in uneducated response is simply “It is their fault; people need to eat better and work out more.” However, we are learning that in most cases of obesity there has been a disruption in our brain signaling and how people feel hunger is different than their healthy counterpart. We also need to dive into the social constructs of society that force the lower class and less fortunate to eat unhealthy food and find a solution. We need to weigh the mental health benefits of positive body image with the messages of healthy living and exercise, as mental and physical health are correlational. Then we need to look outside the United States and see how obesity affects other nations and cultures. An issue that can seem so simple can be very complex and diverse.

That is the advantage of a liberal arts education, becoming a well-rounded individual prepared to face some of life’s most difficult tasks. As our planet’s problems become more complex and more important it is necessary to be educated in different fields to create a deeper understanding.

Connecting to my future, this class and many others will allow for a well-rounded approach to problems in my personal and professional life. This course and others at Concordia have taught me to face problems with a multifaceted approach. First understanding the science, then the social innuendos, and finally looking at things from all perspectives is a well-rounded way to make decisions.

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Endocannabinoids: CB1 Receptor and Munchies

Posted on December 15, 2021 by / 0 Comment

We are all familiar with the term “the munchies,” but how does this happen?

Turns out, it has to do with the cannabinoid 1 receptors (CB1 receptors) and the effect on our appetite once there is binding with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to its active site. Once bound, our appetite is increased and hence the “munchies” effect.

But, where are these CB1 receptors even located?

It has been observed that there is an abundance in the cerebellum, basal ganglia, hippocampus, and dorsal primary afferent spinal cord regions of the brain. Basically, they are found all over the middle of the brain. They have also been present in some peripheral organs. For reference, here is a photo of what I meant by the middle:

What functions do cannabinoid receptors have?

Cannabinoid receptors primarily regulate and influence functions such as memory processing, pain regulation, and motor control