Cobbers on the Brain

Figure 1: The Integrated Science Center of Concordia college.

Integrated learning at Concordia College

To me, learning at a liberal arts college is meant to produce well rounded individuals that are as prepared as possible to take on the problems of the world as possible. Through this, a variety of classes and disciplines are required to be taken by students to ensure they are exposed to different studies, ideas, and careers. But why should a chemist have to take religion classes? Or a theatre major having to a lab science class? Despite the two examples mentioned above seeming very opposite at face value, they are more interconnected than many think. This is shown through a quote from Thucydides, who was perhaps the most important historian of ancient times as he accounted for the nearly three-decades long conflict between ancient Sparta and Athens as well as the war between ancient Greece and Persia:

“The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools.”

This quote shows in dramatic fashion the importance of interdisciplinary study. But take a prelaw major for example. How could we expect a future environmental lawyer to be effective if they’ve never been in a biology class? So, while liberal learning might not always be the most clear to students being required to take the classes, there is a deeper connection between different disciplines.

Figure 2: A man clearly confused by the problem ahead of him.

How my resume improved

College is all about building the skills necessary to be successful in the future, whether that be in life or through a career. This semester, perhaps more than any other, had me looking like the poor guy in Figure 2. Between this Neurochemistry class and Physical Chemistry there were countless times where I simply had no idea how to answer the question at hand, whether it be derive the Maxwell relations or determine what is causing an increase in prevalence of PTSD and other stress related disorders in women compared to men. But, it was through questions like these that I really developed my ability to problem solve. Of course everyone is going to put that they work well independently and are a good problem solver on their resume, but what if your problem has infinitely many wrong answers, but also an answer that isn’t necessarily right or solvable?

I think that is the kind of problem solving I found myself really developing this semester, especially with the way the exams were designed. By not having the paper and only some of the data coming from it, we as students had to use our prior knowledge of signaling pathways to derive a viable cause for the data we were given. During both of these exams, I found myself reading through all the given information and then just thinking ‘I have no idea what’s going on.’ But I just kept piecing together the things I did know with what was given and soon enough I had a pretty decent guess at what was happening in the article.

What the future holds

The skills learned in this class as well as the ones I’ve developed during my Concordia career, I believed have given me a solid foundation to work off in the future. As I mentioned earlier, this class really helped me problem solve through situations that don’t have a clear answer. I think this will be very helpful as I am planning to attend graduate school next fall. In that environment, I will be working through problems that don’t have an answer yet. With that, I will need to be able to effectively communicate my ideas and findings to other people. While blogging is a fairly casual way of doing that, the skill still helps me be able to communicate with other effectively. And because of these reasons I believe that this class as well as Concordia College’s liberal learning program has helped to prepare me to be successful in the future.

I had expectations of this course before taking it but was surprised in the end. My expectations of this course included having lectures, exams, and quizzes similar to the other courses I have taken. The format of this class was a new experience for me and I was hesitant at the start of the semester about how it would go. I was pleasantly surprised about how much I enjoyed and learned throughout this class. The process of learning was very independent during neurochemistry. I learned more skills related to finding information on my own and communicating it to classmates. The topics we discussed required researching them independently and then teaching them to other students. I acquired new skills about how to communicate information efficiently and effectively. 

The skills I learned in this class will greatly benefit me in my future career. I plan to work for a few years and then apply to medical school. Learning how to conduct independent research, properly read research articles, and successfully communicate knowledge to others are all skills I expanded on throughout neurochemistry. These are all necessary skills to be successful in any career, especially in the field of medicine. I believe my 2.5 years at a liberal arts college have helped me realize the capabilities I have. There have been many opportunities for me to learn about the topics I want to and teach others about them. Attending a liberal arts college, to me, means providing students with a well-rounded education and preparing them for life after college. 

If I were to highlight my resume with skills that I improved upon this semester, I would choose to discuss how I have gotten better at reading and understanding research articles. There are an endless number of topics to read articles about, but how you read them is important. It is difficult to understand all topics within a paper if you do not have any previous knowledge of the research being discussed. Neurochemistry has helped me to start reading every paper with an open mind and knowledge that I will not understand everything after reading it one time. It is important to note questions and the need for clarification when reading an article. I enjoyed this class because I was able to openly ask questions and talk about things I did not understand. This course helped me to effectively read research articles and build communication skills when discussing the article. 

I was able to integrate a lot of information from previous courses into this class. I have taken a variety of biology, chemistry, neuroscience, and psychology courses that provided relevant information for neurochemistry. Previous courses have focused on different skills such as exam taking, dissections, and working in a laboratory. All things I learned in the past were applicable to different weeks of content during neurochemistry. I felt I had a greater understanding of topics such as mental illness, anxiety, and sleep because of my previous courses in psychology and neuroscience. It was interesting to learn more about topics I did not know much about such as autism, obesity, and endocannabinoids. Overall, I enjoyed this course and how I was able to integrate old skills into expanding upon new ones.

As a student who is a psychology major and does not have a knack for chemistry, I was very intimidated going into this class. I was more focused on the idea that this would be the final core class I would have to take at Concordia, so I started off rough in the class. I was less focused on understanding and applying the material to other things I had learned and more focused on going through the motions to get through the class. After the first exam, I had a moment of realization; I knew that I was not doing enough in order to be successful, and I hated the idea of that. From that point on, I was determined to learn the material properly. I had continuously told myself that I just “wasn’t good at chemistry so I won’t do well.” That fixed mindset was what was weighing me down, and after this class, I now believe in myself when it comes to chemistry. My biggest learning achievement was learning how to properly read scientific articles. When I first started the class, I would read the articles but not get much information out of it. It was almost like I didn’t know what I was supposed to be getting out of the article. Once I changed the style in which I read the articles, it opened a whole new door of understanding for myself. I started to enjoy learning the material, I would go out of my way to do extra research for different areas of the article, I had re-instilled my love for learning. The biggest application this class had to offer for me was communication with other students. I tended to be quiet in class considering I didn’t know much about the material compared to other students. Over time though, I started to realize it was less about knowing the material and was more about being able to voice your thoughts with the other students. Communication was my most improved skill by far as a result of this class. I found myself participating more in not only discussions for this class, but also in my job and other classes as well. I learned to be more confident in what I say which made me more likely to speak up. Learning at a liberal arts institution is so much more than just learning class material. To me, it’s about applying what you learn to what you do, how you can make people’s lives better around you with the information provided. It’s about the lessons you’ll carry into your next chapter and learning there’s no limit on what you can accomplish. The problem that required the most disciplinary perspective was the PEAK project. This is because there are students from two entirely different disciplinaries trying to work together as one instead of two. Groups can be so focused on the fact that their disciplinaries are different, like working from a social work perspective compared to a chemistry perspective, but what’s great about having two different groups is that you can use multiple disciplinaries to your advantage. The social work students were able to use the skills they’ve learned from classes to properly engage and spread the word of the project while the chemistry students were able to offer the proper material for putting together an effectively worded project. When two groups can come together, the work can be inspirational; when two groups can’t come together, there is not hope for a successful project. It’s easy to think that because other people are different from you, that you won’t be able to work together. However, I think that was the lesson Concordia instilled on us best, that everyone is different and no matter how different you are from someone, the only thing that is stopping you from working well together is the thoughts in your own mind.

When I first signed up for neurochemistry, I was worried about my lack of knowledge in regard to chemistry, but I knew I had a love for neuroscience that I wanted to learn more about. Concordia has given me the opportunity to take what I love and learn about it in more ways than one. While taking other neuroscience classes here I have learned the basics and lightly touched on different pathways that are involved. However, it was never to the extent of what neurochemistry had to offer, which is understandable to have a class fully designated to looking at all different signaling pathways and their correlations to many different areas in the brain. I knew I would struggle with my lack of chemistry knowledge but with the help of many classmates I became more familiar with the information that was given during class. Having a good background in chemistry is important for this class but do not think that your lack of information will make your opinion less than that. Everyone comes into the class with knowledge about different topics and experiences that aid in conversations regarding every topic. When thinking about this struggle, Concordia’s motto of BREW was engraved into my mind. We as Concordia students base our four-year educational experience from our rooted value being BREW. Becoming responsibly engaged in the world is a way of life. It’s looking at the world and understanding the problems that each person may face, helping always, and stepping forward when everyone else might be afraid. The experiences and lessons I learned in this class taught me how to engage in my world, while also showing me how I could help others from the lessons I learned. This class has also deeply enforced my love for learning, especially when it comes to something that I may not feel the most confident in. It has made me reach out of my comfort zone when asking other students for clarification and well as showing me different study methods that are more beneficial than what I had been using previously. For example, previously I would look over the topic at hand and try and memorize what was being discussed. However, this was not the most efficient method for this class, instead, I found it better to draw out the different signaling pathways in order to see what exactly they followed and how different proteins interacted within that pathway. The types of learning that were involved in neurochemistry highly centered around group work/discussion. For this type of class I think this is the most beneficial way in which the subject can be taught. If we were to sit down and have the class purely lecture based, I feel as though it would not be as enjoyable. Though it is important to understand the baseline of what the different articles are talking about we would miss all the questions that we as individuals have on varying topics. This also teaches us how to question what we are reading and find ways to answer the questions we have through the use of published research. If I were to highlight a skill this class has provided me with would be critical thinking, how to ask questions and find the answers on your own. This way of learning is just another way in which liberal art institutions like Concordia College seek to benefit their student more than other institutions. We are able to ask questions and seek out different ways to solve them. Even more so, students that took part in this semester peak project were able to conduct research on a given topic and see how our local area is affected by this. Many of us were able to give back to the community in so many ways and help those that are in need. That is also something I love about Concordia College. We aren’t just a school focused on good grades and going through the motion of life, we are an institution focused on seeing problems within our community and reaching out a helping hand. This way of problem solving/helping will be instilled in all of us for years to come.  

Introduction to Endocannabinoids:

The endocannabinoid system is a complex biological system that helps to regulate various processes in the central nervous system. The endocannabinoid system plays a role in pain, memory, neuroprotection, and modulation of synaptic plasticity. The endocannabinoids are endogenous ligands that bind to CB1 and CB2 receptors in the brain and are produced via enzymatic degradation of naturally-occurring molecules. In English, this basically means that the endocannabinoids are produced by molecular scissors that cut off certain pieces of molecules that are already existing in the body. These newly-cut molecules then bind to the same receptors that are activated when one ingests marijuana. The endocannabinoids are responsible for regulating many things throughout the body, so I think it is important to discuss how endocannabinoid signaling works.

Endocannabinoid Signaling:

Endocannabinoids operate as retrograde messengers, meaning they mediate function on the pre-synaptic cell, rather than the post-synaptic cell. Endocannabinoid signaling begins the same way all neuronal signaling does—an action potential is sent through the neuron and a neurotransmitter is released. The neurotransmitter then binds to the post-synaptic cell, which allows for the influx of calcium into the post-synaptic cell. This is where endocannabinoid signaling differs from most other types of signaling. When calcium enters the post synaptic cell, endocannabinoids are released into the back into the synapse and bind to the CA1 and CB2 receptors (higher affinity for CA1 receptor, though). Once the endocannabinoids bind to their receptors, they can induce one of two things: depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition (DSI) or depolarization-induced suppression of excitation (DSE). The endocannabinoids induce DSE and DSI the same way, but which is induced depends on the type of pre-synaptic cell.

Depolarization-Induced Suppression of Inhibition

DSI is one result of endocannabinoid signaling. The CB1 and CB2 receptors are G-protein-coupled receptors (GCPR), which means they are associated with a G-protein. When the endocannabinoids are released from the post-synaptic cell and bind to the CB1 receptor, a complex signaling cascade occurs. The GPCR becomes a substrate for another enzyme called G-protein-coupled receptor kinases (GRK). GRKs are then targeted by beta-arrestin, which decouples the G-protein from the GPCR. Because the G-protein is uncoupled from the receptor, adenylyl cyclase is not activated, which then correlates with a decrease the levels of cyclic AMP (cAMP). The lowered levels of cAMP the inhibit calcium channels, thus decreasing the levels of neurotransmitters that are released, which opens potassium channels and causes hyperpolarization of the cell. In order for DSI to occur, the pre-synaptic cell has to be an inhibitory neuron. So, when the cell is hyperpolarized by the binding of endocannabinoids to the receptor, it suppresses the inhibitory effect of the pre-synaptic cell. This is a lot of information with a lot of acronyms, so I know it is easy to get lost. To try to help you understand DIS, I have included an image below that hopefully clears up any confusion.

Depolarization-Induced Suppression of Excitation

DSE is not much different from DSI. The exact same signal cascade occurs both DSE and DSI, so I will not go through the entire signaling cascade in words. There is a difference in which ion enters the post-synaptic cell, but this is a minor difference that doesn’t affect the rest of the cascade. The only major difference is the result of the hyperpolarization. In the DSI signaling cascade, hyperpolarization of the pre-synaptic neuron suppresses its inhibitory effects. In DSE, the endocannabinoids are acting on an excitatory pre-synaptic cell. So, when the cell becomes hyperpolarized, the excitatory effects of the pre-synaptic neuron are suppressed. A summary image of the signaling cascade is shown below.

Synaptic Plasticity:

I have discussed the signaling pathway of the endocannabinoid system so that it is easier to visualize how synaptic plasticity is modulated by the system. So, I described in detail how depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition occurs, which we can then transfer to depolarization-induced suppression of excitation. Through these two mechanisms, the endocannabinoid system modulates synaptic plasticity. DSI helps to strengthen neural pathways decreasing the amount of inhibition that pathway experiences. DSE helps to weaken neural pathways by decreasing the amount of excitation experienced by neurons in that pathway. So, DSE and DSI help to modulate synaptic plasticity by essentially doing the opposite of what those neurons usually do. In this way, endocannabinoids play an essential role in modulating synaptic plasticity within the central nervous system.

Last Blog Questions:

1. What kinds of learning occurred for you during this semester?
   • I learned how to read, break down, and organize difficult scientific literature along with present to my classmates.
2. How do the skills, competencies, and knowledge gained in the experience (CAP, blogging) relate to your future goals?
   • During the Community Action Project, I learned how to connect with the elderly population and collaborate with a team and other companies. The skills that I strengthened and developed during this project will help me with my future goals as I work with co-workers, patients, and other companies. My patients will consist of all ages, however, I wish to especially work with the elderly population, so this experience has helped me learn how to connect with them virtually and over the phone rather than just in person. This skill is important as I envision the future will consist of more virtual appointments and communication.
3. What does learning at a liberal arts institution mean to you?
   • Learning at a liberal arts institution to me means that I have a well-rounded learning experience consisting of a diverse range of classes and topics taught. Smaller class sizes enable me to make connections with my professors and the majority of students within my area of study or interests. The liberal arts philosophy focuses not only on student success but student growth. Students at a liberal arts institution learn valuable skills within their area of study along with current and historical social justice issues.
4. If you were to highlight on your resume a skill or competency that you improved upon this semester, what would you be sure to include?
   • I would highlight on my resume that I learned how to work better with a team and connect with other businesses along with participants of our project virtually.
5. Describe an example of solving a problem using several disciplinary perspectives.
   • In this class, we learned how to solve the problem of not understanding concepts within scientific articles. To solve this problem, each student learned how to read, break up, and organize the article. The class then expressed their interpretations, questions, and misunderstandings to each other. These questions were collected and assigned to students to answer. After researching their assigned question each student would then present their findings to the class so other students could widen their understanding of the topic. Following the presentations, the students worked in small groups to work on remaining questions and misunderstandings together.