Uncategorized

Recess as an Adult

Posted on by / 0 Comment

As a kid, recess is one of the best parts of the day, just a half hour to run around and do whatever. There were slides to slide down, things to climb, and games to play. It is a time when a kid can do whatever he or she wants.  As fun as it, recess serves an important purpose. It not only fosters social development, but brain development. Physical activity and enrichment promote the development of new connections, aiding learning.

But this need for enrichment does not stop with childhood. The adult brain is remarkably flexible. However, the discovery of enrichment’s role is one of the most recent developments in neuroscience, so it is still unclear how exactly this development works or how flexible the adult brain is. Still, there is some benefit.

Enrichment

Enrichment affects the brain at both the cellular and molecular level. At the cellular level, it affects the brain in four different ways.

First, enrichment leads to a process called neurogenesis. This is exactly what it sounds like, the development of new neurons. More specifically, enrichment leads to the development of new neurons within the hippocampus. This brain structure helps integrate memories, making it easier to form new ones.

The second effect enrichment has is called gliogenesis. This is an increase in the glia cells, non-neuron cells that aid in neuronal function. These cells perform a wide variety of functions. (For a summary, click here). Forming new glial cells helps both new and existing neurons perform better. As with neurogenesis, enrichment forms new glial cells in the hippocampus. Glial cells are also formed in the neocortex, the outer region of the brain that is responsible for processing information. The neocortex is divided into four different lobes (seen in the figure below[i])

. These lobes connect with each other, which is how people process information. Increasing the glial cells improves the connections between these lobes, allowing for more efficient processing of information.

[i] https://grey.colorado.edu/CompCogNeuro/index.php/CCNBook/BrainAreas

The third effect, angiogenesis is not very well understood. Basically, it is improved blood circulation and nutrition to a certain area. In this case, enrichment leads to improved blood flow to the hippocampus and neocortex. Interestingly enough enrichment may have no effect on angiogenesis. It may be caused by physical activity alone.

Finally, enrichment causes synaptogenesis. The synapse is the gap between two neurons. It is the base for all interneural communication. Creating new synapses allows a neuron to connect with more neurons. It is sort of like discovering Google for the first time. Forming these new connections is how people learn. Like angiogenesis, it is still unclear what role enrichment has in synaptogenesis. It may have no role. Some studies have suggested that physical activity alone may be the cause of synaptogenesis.

Enrichment also affects neurons at the molecular level. It affects gene expression, neurotransmitters, and neurotropins.

Enrichment changes what genes get transcribed. This determines what proteins a nerve cell makes and what it can do. Enrichment promotes transcription of genes that improve learning and memory. Essentially, making an environment exciting enables further learning. Learning begets learning.

The exact effect of enrichment on neurotransmitters is unclear. Studies have failed to find any changes in base levels of acetylcholine, glutamate, and GABA. However, some studies have seen an increase AMPA and NMDA receptors. These receptors are critical in long term activation, a process that essentially makes a neuron more responsive. However, not all studies found the same result.

Lastly, enrichment also affects neurotrophins. These important proteins foster neuronal growth and development. Enrichment has been shown to increase levels of neurotrophins in the hippocampus, neocortex, frontal lobe, and cerebellum. Like angiogenesis, there is still debate on what role enrichment plays. Some studies suggest physical activity alone may be the cause of the increase.

What does this mean?

This information is very new. The experiments highlighting this phenomenon were not and cannot be done on humans. It is not only unclear what role enrichment plays in an animal’s life, let alone a human’s.

Still, there is a lot of hope that comes from this information. Enrichment may play a role in preventing pathological neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. It may even give people with neurological disorders a treatment that does not involve medication. Enrichment could give people a sense of control.

As for people without these disorders, enrichment and physical activity can still be beneficial. It can lead to improved memory and cognitive processing. What exactly this enrichment looks like is vague and debatable. The rats in these studies are given lots of social interaction and toys to play with, things to climb on. It is almost like recess, but what does recess look like as an adult? Well that, dear reader, is up to you.

Go find your recess. [ii]

[ii] The Neuroprotective Effects of Experience on Cognitive Functions: Evidence from Animal Studies on the Neurobiological Bases of Brain Reserve.

 

Uncategorized

Neural Networks and Global Networks: We’re All Connected

Posted on by / 0 Comment

My capstone course, Neurochemistry 475, truly encapsulated what it means to become responsibly engaged in our world. The course has the same name as the degree I will obtain in May of 2020, so it feels only fitting that the expansive topics I have learned about and experienced this semester through this course, from intracellular signaling to community action, have informed my student life and my citizen of the world life.

I can confidently say that this was my favourite course taken at Concordia. The perfect complement to my last year, this capstone course brought together all of my favourite things about studying science and allowed me to take them into the real world and apply them to the broader everyday life situation.

Neurochemistry 475 was at its heart (at its nerves?) a journal club. Each Monday, we met to discuss a paper we had read over the weekend about a myriad of neuroscientific topics. Throughout the semester, we looked at Alzheimer’s Disease, schizophrenia, obesity, addiction, concussion, cannabinoids, and the brain reserve among other experiences to try and understand more about what happens in our brains. While the topic each week changed, the general story of molecular and chemical signaling remained surprisingly congruent, with the same major players showing up again and again. Some of these are proteins, transcription factors, or second messengers that seem to be everywhere in cellular signaling. Often, something found to be dysregulated in one disease would also be implicated in another experience (one fascinating example of this is Alzheimer’s Disease and Type 2 Diabetes and the story of insulin hormone resistance in the brain). This interconnectedness between the neuron and human experience has shown to manifest in a great number of ways, but grand themes remain constant.

On Fridays, we met outside of the classroom for lengthy, stimulating, and at times heated discussions about that week’s topic. Even though we met at 8 in the morning, this was my favourite class of each week for the semester! After the in depth analysis and critical investigation of the molecular and chemical signaling pathways that we began earlier in the week, on Fridays we broadened our neurochemical conversation to include environmental and societal implications and factors that can impact someone’s experience. For example, when we talked about schizophrenia, we explored the underrepresentated and underheard voice of women in the medical field, as both medical professionals and patients, to understand why men are diagnosed with schizophrenia (not to mention any other mental health disorder) so much earlier in life than women. In our discussion about cannabinoid reception, we considered the racial undercurrent fueling the War on Drugs and how people of colour are more harshly stigmatized to have drug problems and more violently sentenced with drug (specifically marijuana) related offenses. Friday discussions allowed for the integration of tiny, molecular and neural network ideas with expansive, global network issues and experiences.

Neurochemistry 475 provided the much needed open and encouraging atmosphere with which to bring difficult topics like race, gender, religion, and sexuality into the conversation about the network of electrical and chemical impulses in our brains that ultimately are formed by and inform our experience. Neurochemistry 475 embodies the spirit of liberal learning by exploring the similarities that occur within and between neural diseases and disorders, the life factors that impact these experiences, and the interconnectedness by which all of us live.

Community/Disease/Health

A Journey Up The Liberal Educational Mountain – Have We Hit the PEAK?

Posted on by / 0 Comment

There it was, at last.

After months of chipping away at articles, scaling pages upon pages of reading, and summiting the art of blogging, I’d finally made it to Finals Week, marking not only a culmination of learned skills and knowledge, but also what would be my final fall semester at Concordia College. Getting nearer to the top of this liberal educational mountain, things got harsher and more stressful – battling 10-page papers, running through my medical school paperwork, finalizing final presentations, and of course strenuously studying for the hardest tests of the semester. Through it all, I found myself asking. What was the point of all this? Why am I expending my effort on all this work? Will medical school be 10x worse? But after making it through the storm and reaching the peak, it was clear to see beyond the paper-and-pencil work and understand why the view was worth the fight – looking back at everything  I’d done to get there, everything I’ve learned, and seeing where all that hard work has gone. On that note, the stopping point of this hike also marks the end of my time in Neurochemistry. But truly, there’s no better class to reflect on this semester’s educational journey than this unique experience of a course.

If you’re familiar with Concordia’s education at all, you’ll know that the Cobbers are keen on their acronyms. BREW. PEAK. They might be silly, cheesy, and fun terms to throw around, but why does the college keep emphasizing their importance, and what in the world do they have to do with Neurochemistry? To begin, BREWing means Becoming Responsibly Engaged in the World. The ultimate goal of Concordia’s liberal education is to prepare us not only for graduation, but for graduation as adults ready to make meaningful impacts in the community around us, wherever that community may be. The task of turning a bunch of fresh-out-of-high school students into critically thinking and responsible adults in 4 or less years seems like a daunting task, but that’s why the college instilled 5 main goals for their liberal learning curriculum:

  1. Instill a love for learning
  2. Develop foundational skills and transferable intellectual capacities
  3. Develop an understanding of disciplinary, interdisciplinary and intercultural perspectives and their connections
  4. Cultivate an examined cultural, ethical, physical and spiritual self-understanding
  5. Encourage responsible participation in the world

I won’t lie – at a first glance, a 400 level science course with a name like ‘Neurochemistry’ seemed like anything but a course that would accomplish all the goals above. I didn’t know what to expect when I sat down with the syllabus the first day of class. From my former experiences in neuroscience and chemistry (granted both subjects I do enjoy studying), I could only infer that the course was going to involve lots of memorization, technical writing, and, well, learning pure science. But little did I know I was in for one the most non-classroom-like classes I’d be taking in college, and it certainly has fulfilled many of these goals for me.

What and How Have I Learned?

Piecing together knowledge – letting ideas and learning flow together

At the core, neurochemistry is a science, so there was still some typical “memorize and copy” learning involved – knowing what RTKs are, what kind of GPCR does what, and what second messengers do for your brain. But the shocking thing is, like many of Concordia’s other courses, this kind of rote memorization was kept to a minimum. Sure, we read papers and wrote pieces each week, and we did have tests in the classroom. But the difference came in what we did with knowledge from the papers, the kinds of pieces we wrote, and how we had to express our ideas during tests. Above all, I think, the in-class portion of this course has taught me to collaborate, think critically, learn creatively, and express knowledge and ideas uniquely. When we read the week’s paper, we were not expected to come with every detail memorized, every graph copied, and enzyme listed. Rather, we’d gather together as a class and compile each student’s key takeaways, ultimately trying to make something out of it. We’d think critically about how each piece fit together, and through this collaboration our class would get an actual understanding of the science behind the paper. Furthermore, each of us got the chance to express what we learned on a class wiki page, and we’d also get to do so creatively and artfully (I mean seriously, check out some of our class “artsracts”) by writing our very own Cobbers on the Brain blog posts.

One thing this class has definitely taught me is the capacity to learn from others; to always have a questioning and curious attitude. For the rest of the week, our class would hold one-on-one (speed-date style) discussions about the topic, and each Friday we’d get into two big groups to discuss quite literally anything we wanted to (no, not limited to the scientific parts) about it. These included real issues regarding our topic and the world outside Concordia, society, social problems, the community, and the world as a whole. Each of us had the chance to develop our listening skills by hearing our fellow classmates voice their ideas and thoughts, as well as form our own opinions about such broad subjects. At the end of the week, we’d put our words on a page in blog format, and I definitely enjoyed seeing how each of my classmates expressed their thoughts so uniquely, with different voices and writing styles! This is not to mention the interdisciplinary perspectives and various worldly experiences our BREWing pot (couldn’t help it) of students brought to the table – our class consisted of psychology, chemistry, neuroscience, and students of all different kinds of majors and paths.

As for busy work and tests? Pfft. Never once did we have a “rehearse and regurgitate” style paper or exam. Rather, the “exams” more like fun puzzles to complete and discuss in class from what we’d learned over the course of several discussions – putting together a few pieces of given information by making our very own hypotheses, and ultimately expressing the critical thinking we had developed. It made learning fun, and it made me love what I learned.

What Kind of Skills Have I Learned – How Will They Help me in the Future?

As I head off to medical school next year, there’s the obvious benefits. More knowledge = easier time with some of those dreaded Year One courses. Critical thinking and analysis skills? In the bank. Alas, I could talk about the information, critical thinking, and creative leaning I got from Neurochemistry for hours. But perhaps one of the most unique features of this class was how it combined community service and the hard sciences into one in-and-out-of-class experience, thus labelling it as one of Concordia’s PEAK courses.

The other key component of Neurochemistry was what Cobberville calls a Pivotal Experience in Applied Learning, aptly known as a PEAK. As part of our class, we formed a small group and collaborated with students totally outside most of our disciplines – Social Work students (from all the way across the Bell Tower, in good Ol’ Main) – to create a community service project. Together we had the opportunity to do something, to BREW. The communication and collaboration required to get the project across was immense, and the process was fascinating. In summary, our group aimed to focus on Mental Health in the area. We had to conduct a needs assessment, determine a target population, do something, and evaluate its success. The community and collaboration skills I learned from my other experiences at Concordia definitely helped me on this leg of the trail. Ultimately, we uncovered a massive need (the prevalence of anxiety and depression in young and college-age adults) and were able to raise awareness, help break the stigma surrounding, and bring attention to resources for and around mental health problems to one of Concordia’s most vulnerable populations – first year students.

It’s a difficult climb, but it’s worth it!

That’s not to say the process went smoothly. The hike up this part of the mountain had its own obstacles – needs-assessment partners who didn’t send replies, schools who rejected our project, seemingly countless changes to our original plan, and first year students who didn’t know much about the physiology of mental health. But it’s this whole experience that allowed us to develop our listening and collaboration, work on setting new goals and objectives, and ultimately be adaptable and plastic – just like neuronal synapses – to break unexpected boulders in the way. Like many things in life, communication was key. Not only did we learn to communicate with major community organizations and handle rejection from some, but we also learned to put our knowledge into a format that would be appealing, memorable, and understandable to first-years. No doubt, this part of the journey was beautiful, difficult, but also definitely pivotal.

As for me, will this help my journey into the realm of medical school, and eventually the hospital? The short answer is yes – the same skills I mentioned above are largely parallel to those a doctor needs when working with other doctors, staff, and perhaps most importantly, their patient population.

What Does Liberal Arts Education Mean to Me, and Have I Improved Myself? 

For the long road ahead

Right now is the best time to create your tomorrow – Ken Poirot

But did I, after my tiresome semester’s trek up the liberal education summit this semester, BREW? Did I PEAK? Even outside of Neurochemistry and speaking to my 3 years of college here, was all that hustle and bustle during finals week, all those papers, and the entire academic hike worth it? That’s a most definite yes to all those questions. Concordia’s education has definitely prepared me for this year’s culmination in learning, and Neurochemistry was an amazing way to combine all I had learned beforehand. Sure, it was hard, and at times tedious, painstaking work to get to this point. But the invaluable skills and lifelong knowledge I obtained throughout the process will stick with me beyond graduation, as I go out there and become a responsible adult, ready to engage in the affairs of the world.

And that, I believe, is what liberal arts education should do. It’s not just simply memorization and straightforward, linear learning. Even if it does include 10 page papers and difficult exams, or creative community collaborations like in Neurochemistry, it comes down to putting in the extra effort and applying outside knowledge to make sure you love what you learn from them, to develop your foundational skills, and to cultivate perspective, self-understanding, and responsibility. Afterall, without the skills I’ve learned climbing Concordia’s difficult liberal education mountain, I probably would not be volunteering in the community, setting scary big educational goals, and making time for other activities as I go on to complete my final semester of college. Who knows, I might not have reached my goal of getting into medical school either.

So reaching the Top? It’s really only reaching the Start. There’s a whole mountain range to explore out there, and with medical school starting soon for me, the journey is only beginning. But whatever your discipline, your major, or your specialization, your own journey up the education mountain won’t (and should never) stop. And the foundational skills learned from a liberal arts education, and through experiences such as those in Neurochemistry, will serve as the tent to fall into when the going gets seemingly too rough. Oh, what’s that? I see another mountain to climb nearby! So without further aBREW…

Let’s PEAK!

 

Emily Hao, 2020

 

 

Uncategorized

Healthy Brain, Happy Life: How to Acquire Cognitive Reserve

Posted on by / 0 Comment

The importance of brain health is not all in your head. In fact, there are many ways to boost brain health and to acquire cognitive reserve. First, let’s define what exactly is cognitive deserve.

Cognitive Reserve contributes to preserve function in the face of brain injury and decline. It refers to the ability to make flexible and efficient use of available brain reserve in performing tasks.

Wait… Brain Reserve?  What is Brain Reserve?

Brain Reserve contributes independently from cognitive reserve. It is connected to brain features, such as number of neurons and synapses. However, brain reserve also involves a deeper understanding and looks at both molecular and supramolecular biological factors.

How do these relate you may wonder… 

Cognitive Reserve refers to the ability to make flexible and efficient use of available Brain Reserve in performing tasks. When brain reserve is enhanced, cognitive reserve will also be enhanced and an increase in the following may be noticed:

                        Neurogenesis: the generation of new neurons allowing for enhancement of communication between areas in the brain

                        Gliogenesis: the production of glial cells, such as astroctyes to provide structural and functional support to neurons, or oligodendrocytes to regulate neurotransmission along myelinated axons

                        Angiogenesis: the development of new blood vessels to provide a healthier vasculature that supplies oxygen and nutrients to the neural tissue

                        Synaptogenesis: the formation of synapses between neurons allowing for modification and refining of pre-existing neural circuits and improvement of neuronal connectivity

A number of factors can be responsible for these changes at the cellular level. All of which involve an enriched environment that engages our brain.

Mental Exercises: Mental fitness activities, such as a crossword puzzle or a game of scrabble, can help lead to build new neural connections in the brain and improve cell function. As we age, taking part in mental exercises can act as a way to enhance cognitive reserve because of its impact on maintaining brain function. Using a combination of learning new things, problem solving, and recall of long term interactions can be crucial in acquiring cognitive reserve. Continual mental exercises will strengthen our brain, thus increasing neurogenesis, gliogenesis, and synaptogenesis.

Healthy Diet: A healthy diet, such as a high adherence to a Mediterranean diet or dietary intake of antioxidants and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, have been connected to an increase in cognitive reserve and a decreased risk of developing dementia. Hippocampal neurogenesis has been shown to be modulated by manipulating calorie intake, meal frequency, meal texture, and meal content. Overall, a healthy diet can be a factor of an enriched environment. Thus, eating healthy can positively impact cognitive reserve by playing a role in neurogenesis, angiogenesis, gliogenesis, and synaptogenesis.

Being Active: Similar to a healthy diet, physical activity has been shown to increase cognitive reserve and decrease the risk of dementia. Physical activity has also been shown to affect neurogenesis through increasing cell proliferation and cell survival. Physical activity increases gliogenesis in the neocortex and hippocampus. This gives reason to believe being activity can play an important role in memory consolidation. Finally, physical activity has been shown to increase total dendritic complexity and spine density.

Along with performing mental exercises, eating healthy, and being active, we can also acquire cognitive reserve by being safe and decreasing the risk of head injuries, steadying our nerves, and respecting our bodies. We are all aging. Many of us do not like to think about it. However, we can make the aging process much easier by practicing these effective solutions. Acquiring cognitive reserve can start now and a healthy brain will lead you on path to live a happy life!

For more information on how these solutions can lead to cognitive reserve, follow:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28827089

Uncategorized

Graduation: One Capstone Away

Posted on by / 0 Comment

As a December graduate, this is my last college assignment ever. It feels strange writing that. It also feels strange thinking about how I won’t be back next semester. Knowing that, I have started to reflect on my time in college. Did I do everything I wanted to do? Did I live up to Concordia’s ideas? Did I BREW?

I believe I did. I feel like I now have a love for learning. I’ve developed foundational skills. I understand perspectives in not only my discipline but others as well. I have a better understanding of who I am as a person.

Neurochemistry was the last class I needed to complete my Neuroscience major. It was my Capstone. Because of that, I knew it might be a challenging course. I figured I would struggle a lot and would end up hating the class. That wasn’t the case. I actually really enjoyed neurochemistry. I thought the set-up of the class, being almost entirely discussion, wouldn’t be beneficial to my learning. Turns out I was wrong. Having to read different journal articles each week and discuss them throughout the week caused me to think in a different way than I normally did. This type of structure caused me to think more critically. I had to not only try to understand what was going on in the papers, but also make connections to other things I learned in both this class and other classes.

This course was very reading intensive. Every week there was a new scientific journal article to read. This helped me sharpen my journal-reading skills and prepare me for my future. Going into the research field, I will definitely need to know how to effectively read a scientific journal article and make connections to what I already know and to my research. Having to write weekly blog posts will also help me in my future career as a researcher. The blog posts forced me to not only dig deep into what I was reading, but I also learned how to turn my complex thoughts about the articles into concise, easily readable sentences.

If I was to highlight a skill that I have improved upon this semester, even just a little bit, it would be leadership. I am a naturally quiet and shy person. I’ve never thought of myself as a leader. This semester, in this class specifically, I believe I have improved that skill. This semester I was required to lead discussions twice and had to talk about a specific topic that only I had researched at least once every week.

I don’t think a course like this would be offered at a non-liberal arts school. That is what’s great about Concordia. It is a liberal arts college. Learning at a liberal arts school has taught me how to think about the big picture. It has taught me how to think about others and how my actions impact them. It has taught me how to make connections, not only in academics, but in social networks as well.

I believe I have BREW-ed. I have become responsibly engaged in the world. I have a better understanding of not only the world around me, but also myself.

Thank you, Concordia staff and fellow Cobbers, it was a great three and half years.

Uncategorized

The Magic Cure to Old Age Problems

Posted on by / 0 Comment

Imagine we have developed a medicine that could cure most of the problems that come with aging. If you take it, you have a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s, a better memory, better reasoning ability, plus your brain can heal itself better when damaged. Seems like a pretty good deal! What if I told you that all you had to do was live with some people, play some board games and voluntarily exercise a little bit. Would you be surprised? That’s what research on cognitive research has shown us.

In order to understand exactly what cognitive reserve is, let’s define some of the main components. Brain reserve and cognitive reserve are often used interchangeably when really they are two separate concepts. Brain reserve refers to the number of brain features, like how many synapses and neurons we have and things like the size of actual parts of our brain that allow people to adjust to brain pathology. Cognitive reserve, on the other hand, is how our brain can flexibly adjust to tasks in an efficient manner.

Some animal models have shown us that there are a number of things we can do on our own, without a doctor’s note, to try and decrease our risk of cognitive decline as we age. Some studies have exposed mice to environmental enrichment and found an increase in the number of neurons in their hippocampus, an area of the brain very important in memory. Glial cells, important in supporting the structure of our brain, are found to be created more when rodents participated in physical activity. Environmental enrichment also increased dendritic spine density ( a correlate to memory formation) while physical activity increased angiogenesis, the creation of new blood vessels.

How does cognitive reserve protect us from things like Alzheimer’s?

Part of the pathology of Alzheimer’s is that it makes physical changes in our brain. With people who have higher levels of cognitive reserve, they are able to withstand those changes longer and show fewer symptoms in comparison to those with lower levels of cognitive reserve. Basically, think of cognitive reserve as a mediator between two parties fighting over the future of your brain health. The pathology wants to lead you to a specific clinical outcome and the more mediators (cognitive reserve) you have, the less severe that clinical outcome has to be.

 

This picture sums up how everything we do affects our brain, which then affects our cognitive reserve.

 

Our education, intake of information, and life events can all impact cognitive reserve. Genetics plays a component too. And, as we build more cognitive reserve that can help us withstand some of that cognitive decline that comes with aging.

What should I do?

Every now and then, put down your phone and do something that engages your brain and provides some environmental enrichment. Read a book, play a difficult board game, dance, garden, get some exercise and eat right. All the things you already know you should be doing will help your brain to build up a reserve against decline! I know it can be hard to shut off Netflix sometimes, but trust me, your future brain will thank you.

 

Uncategorized

Neurochemisty- Importance of the Journey

Posted on by / 0 Comment

My time in Neurochemistry has come to an end. It’s been a bumpy ride, full of ups and downs but I think that’s what education is supposed to be. What would I have gained in experience if I could just memorize and recite information with ease? Concordia College makes sure that students are not just learning information to regurgitate back out but actually teaching students to apply their knowledge to the world in a meaningful and impactful way. We call this BREW- Becoming Responsibly Engaged in the World. Neurochemistry has been a class where I have been challenged to think outside the box and not just memorize what I’ve learned (although that’s a component too). I actually know what to do with the information I’ve learned and how to explain the importance to other people. The best way to explain the type of learning experience Neurochemistry has been is to explain how it fits in with Concordia’s 5 goals for liberal learning.   

  1. Instill a love for learning

I’ve always considered myself someone interested in learning, but I think my view of how to learn was too narrow before this class. I paid attention when professors would lecture and took notes when words were bolded in the textbook. However, I rarely had conversations with my peers about their thoughts on the topic and how they understood it. Every Wednesday of the semester, we would each come to class prepared to talk about a topic that others didn’t know about. All of us learned about a different piece of the puzzle and then as a class, we were able to complete the puzzle with our combined knowledge. I loved coming together and being taught something different by each person, especially since everyone has their own unique way of explaining things.

2. Develop foundational skills and transferable intellectual capacities

One of the most important skills we learned in Neurochemistry is how to share information with people who may not have a background on the subject. Sure, we as scientists can make a great discovery but does that matter at all if we can’t share that information effectively? We practiced our narrative skills throughout the semester by writing blog posts and trying to figure out how to concisely explain a 20 page article in 500 hundred words. I hope to attend graduate school and this is a necessary skill that any scientist needs to learn, so better I learn now!

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

Neurochemistry by itself means almost nothing. We can understand how things happen on a cellular and molecular level but if we aren’t looking at the bigger picture, whether there’s an influx of calcium or activation of GPCRs, it doesn’t matter. We need to determine the consequences of over or under activation in these signaling pathways and that means taking an interdisciplinary perspective. We need to understand the biology of the body, the psychology of the mind, the chemistry of the signals, and the effects of social interactions to grasp the importance of what we are learning. We can learn about how addiction pathways in the brain are strengthened but if we don’t consider the stigma put on individuals or the barriers to treatment, we aren’t going to solve the problem anytime soon. Taking this class with students from all different majors and having an entire class period dedicated to discussions lead to a breadth of knowledge being shared.

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

We cover heavy topics in class, a lot of which people have been personally affected by. Talking about our opinions can be hard when some of the topics can be political and deeply personal. Our class has had to learn how to strike the right balance when talking about these issues. It requires a lot of thought and reflection. How do we share our opinions without hurting others? We try to approach each topic with an open mind to learn from others. Maybe I have opinion A but I’m open to the possibility of a classmate teaching me why they think opinion B is important. Going in with a mindset like that had helped our class approach topics in a respectful way without having to cross boundaries.

5. Encourage responsible participation in the world

Part of our class this year was to participate in a community action project to assess some of the needs in the Fargo/Moorhead area. After communicating with some local mental health agencies, we decided to target our efforts to incoming first year students. Mental health education is not required in all states and so some freshman come into college with no baseline information about what some signs and symptoms are and how to seek help. We gave presentations to First Year Transition (FYT) Labs and asked students to rank their knowledge before and after the presentation. We hope that the enthusiastic responses we received will encourage the orientation team to incorporate more mental health curriculum when students arrive on campus.

 

Attending a liberal arts institution has given me the opportunity to focus on these 5 goals and be a part of a deeper type of learning. Many students don’t get the opportunity to directly impact their community or to have meaningful conversations about topics like addiction and obesity and I have Concordia to thank for that. If I had to choose one skill that this class has given me, it would be the confidence to step outside my comfort zone. I came into this class very nervous because I wasn’t able to take the prerequisites. With a little extra work and the support of my peers and professor, I had a meaningful and educational experience in this class. It’s pretty rare you get both.

 

Uncategorized

Beyond the Brain, Beyond the Classroom

Posted on by / 0 Comment

If I’m being honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I entered my first day of neurochemistry. I knew that it was going to be a more diverse group of students than the average chemistry class, drawing from psychology, neuroscience, biology, and other majors. I had also heard that the structure of the class was not your typical lecture-learn-regurgitate-repeat style that is so often found in the college classroom. Beyond the vague understanding that this class was atypical, I expected a fairly normal semester. Neurochemistry, however, is a class taught in a very non-traditional way and this lends itself particularly well to achieving Concordia’s five goals for liberal learning.

Instill a love for learning

I have always loved learning, to the point that my constant curiosity drove my family crazy.  Nevertheless, neurochemistry did a particularly good job of stoking my curiosity. Lacking in traditionally graded assignments and quizzes, we were warned from the beginning that self-driven learning is a hallmark of the course. I appreciated this method and felt like I was able to thrive. Too often courses get bogged down in completing assignments and endless busy work in the name of racking up points. By removing some of the more rudimentary points from the class, it was easier to relax and focus on working in a style that helped me learn the most. Additionally, I found the majority of topics we discussed to be very interesting. The class’ format of learning basic signaling ideas before using that understanding in the context of disease pathologies made the science more interesting. I also improved my ability to read literature articles, consider what was being presented critically and skeptically, and communicate this information to my peers concisely and accurately. By allowing for ample discussion, the class was able to learn from and teach each other. The limiting factor to this type of learning is that each student only gets out what they put in… and what their peers are willing to give. Overall, the majority of the class was dedicated to learning and improving each week, but there were occasional shortcomings, as is expected. Finally, by replacing traditional tests with neurochemistry “performances”, we were able to show the skills we acquired as the semester went on. By having to critically think about an issue without being handed the whole story, I felt like everyone was given an equal opportunity to succeed and show their skills. Rather than the grade depending on whether you remembered the MAPK pathway, it evaluated critical thinking and overall understanding, which are much more important skills in the long run. Overall, allowing students more autonomy over their education helped instill a love for learning—and neurochemistry!

Develop foundational skills and transferable intellectual capacities

The structure of this class also encouraged its students to develop skills that can be used outside the classroom. Communication was a big focus of the semester, which is a universal skill required across professions. Focusing on condensing our ideas into an “and, but, therefore” structure required us to think past the acronym soup that biochemistry often gets stuck in. Beyond finding interesting narratives, being able to talk about one small technical portion of a paper on our Wednesday “speed dating” classes taught us how to be concise and brief while still getting the point across. This is a particularly valuable lesson for me, as research “elevator pitches” are very common in the world of academia, but difficult to practice and perfect.

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

As a biochemistry and Spanish major, this goal for liberal learning is of particular importance to me. I was able to use my group’s community action project (CAP) to combine these disciplines for have a greater impact on the community. The CAP project is already interdisciplinary in nature due to the partnership between neurochemistry and social work. However, based on my experience doing outreach in Spanish, I though it would be an exciting opportunity to focus our community outreach on the Fargo-Moorhead Hispanic community. By successfully completing an informational session in Spanish at St. Francis de Sales church, we further integrated disciplines across Concordia. By making more connections between STEM, humanities, and languages I continue to shape my perspective of the world and our community in the area.

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

Understanding culture is an extremely important part of learning, whether you’re reflecting on your own culture or learning about another. Friday discussions offered an opportunity for each of us to combine our previous knowledge, experiences, and opinions with the science discussed during the week. In these discussions we were again able to move beyond the classroom and talk about real  issues affecting our school, the community, the U.S., and the world overall. It was interesting to hear and learn of everyone’s different perspectives and opinions. Often times I craved discussions more rooted in research and fact but hearing personal experiences and opinions does have its own merit. Whatever the discussions focused on, having access to so many different perspectives about varied and controversial topics helped improve my own self-understanding of the world.

Encourage responsible participation in the world

In addition to encouraging interdisciplinary work, the CAP project encouraged us to move forward responsibly as we engage with our community. I think the most applicable thing that was driven home by this project was the idea of a assessing the needs of a community rather than offering a group what you think they need. Too often people with the best of intentions cause more hard then good because they fail to evaluate the community they are trying to help. In my opinion, the only way to work in the world responsibly is to recognize that we all have more to learn than we have to teach. Reaching out to different communities in the FM area demonstrated this idea to me again.

That’s All Folks

Whether looked at through the lens of liberal learning or understanding biochemical signaling pathways, it has been a semester full of learning. I have not only improved as a biochemist, but also learned a lot about communication and critical thinking, and to me that is what it means to be a liberal learner. The semester wasn’t without challenges; the CAP was full of setbacks and struggles, discussions sometimes fell short, and pathways became muddled. Nevertheless, I learned a lot this semester, including from the challenges. As I continue my education, I look forward to continuing to improve on the communication and critical thinking skills that I practiced often during this course.  I am excited to weave this course into my narrative, and will continue to look beyond the brain, and beyond the classroom.

Uncategorized

The Controversy about Cannabinoids

Posted on by / 0 Comment

What are Cannibinoids?

Cannabinoids exist naturally in the body as N-arachidnonyl-ethanolamine (AEA) and 2-arachidonylglycerol (2-AG). They bind to two different types of cannabinoid receptors CB1R and CB2R. AEA and 2-AG are produced by the body in response to increases in the concentrations of calcium in the cell. These molecules are different from other neurotransmitters in the brain because they are unable to diffuse freely in the brain and have to rely concentration gradients or transport systems. Cannabinoids can also come from outside the body in the form of cannabis or synthetic cannabinoids who have similar effects on the body as endocannabinoids.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29533978

Endocannabinoid Signaling

The image above gives a good view of cannabinoid signaling. The cannabinoid receptor is a G-protein coupled receptor and when it is bound to the G protein, which in this case is an inhibitor or can regulate enzymes and channels. As seen in the graphic it inhibits adenylyl cyclase and its downstream effects, activates ERK which slows the cell cycle, and through the actions of ceramide it can inhibit AKT and mTOR which have a role in cell death. This particular graphic is focused on the role of endocannabinoids in cancer patients so this is where the halting of tumor progression via the actions of RhoA and the inhibition of the cell cycle resulting from the activation of ERK is important in the disease progression and treatment through cannabinoids.

https://www.cell.com/trends/pharmacological-sciences/fulltext/S0165-6147(13)00044-8

Cannabinoids for Disease Treatment

There are currently three canabionoid derived medications that are approved by the FDA for disease treatment. Epidiolex is a drug that has been approved for the treatment of seizures that are related to Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome and Dravet Syndrome. There is also a wealth of anecdotal evidence about the efficacy of people using cannabis derived products for the treatment of epilepsy. Other drugs have been approved to treat weight loss that is associated with anorexia and with AIDS. Research is also ongoing about the use of these drugs to treat weight loss in cancer patients.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/public-health-focus/fda-regulation-cannabis-and-cannabis-derived-products-including-cannabidiol-cbd

Thee has also been some research suggesting that cannabis derived products can block the pain pathway and might be a solution for people suffering from chronic pain. Some research has also looked a the treatment of movement disorders, including those seen as a result of Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, and tardive dyskensia and found that the cannabis derived products can help reverse some of the uncontrollable movements that are seen in these disorders.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29533978

However, as the feature image on this post suggests there is concern about the potential for side effects as a result of the use of cannabis-derived products. These concerns include a potential for an increase in the number of seizures, memory impairments, paranoia, and depression. However, because cannabis is listed as a schedule 1 drug by the DEA this limits the amount of research that can be conducted. Schedule 1 implies that there is no medical use for the drug and implies that there is no use in studying potential medical uses. This limits the amount of studies that can be done on the use of cannabis-derived products and our understanding of their effects.

Disease/Health

Cognitive Reserve – The Retirement Funds of the Brain

Posted on by / 0 Comment

Aging.

It’s a word that most of us don’t like to think about. For some, the idea of growing older is a scary thought, and for others it exists only in the back of the mind until the future arrives. Bottom line is, aging often gets a bad rap. And here’s a shocker – just like you, your brain ages, and once it hits its own point of “retirement,” the natural cognitive decline associated with aging is, unfortunately, irreversible.

End of story? No! You probably didn’t come to this article to hear about all the bad stuff that comes with this natural, inevitable process, so what’s the deal? Well if you haven’t guessed yet, there is one aspect of getting older that many of us look forward to. Yup, that’s retirement. We might dream about our future selves living carefree lifestyles – never-ending days of no work, lounging around at home, or worldwide traveling without a care in the world. But in order to achieve this lifestyle, there is (like in everything else) a monetary factor. You might be familiar with the concept of retirement funds and how important they are for making the future as comfortable as can be. As for your brain, fortunately, recent research suggests that there are numerous activities that can enrich your thinker and significantly lessen the impacts, or at least slow the effects of, cognitive decline and even neurodegenerative pathologies. As it turns out, being exposed to more of these things early on builds into a special “reserve” (almost like a retirement fund!) that the brain can draw from to function more ‘comfortably,’ if you will, even as it enters its own stage of retirement. So let’s get to it!

The Brain’s Reserve – What is it?

What is the brain’s existing resource bank?

Your brain’s reserve can be divided into two categories – cognitive reserve and brain reserve. Though they are quite similar and both beneficial in the long run, the differences between the two should still be noted.

  • Brain Reserve – The available “hardware” (neurons, brain cells, mass, matter, connections, overall volume, etc) your brain has. Like most things, more is usually better. Harvard Medical School gives this useful analogy: “Just like a powerful car that enables you to engage another gear and suddenly accelerate to avoid an obstacle, your brain can change the way it operates and thus make added resources available to cope with challenges.”
  • Cognitive Reserve – Your brain’s ability to use existing “hardware” in the brain reserve to cope with or adapt to changes, such as those seen in neurodegenerative diseases or age-related decline. Below are some examples of cognitive reserve functions that can be boosted by enriching the brain’s neuroplasticity (capability to change)
    • Adult neurogenesis – Formation and differentiation of new neurons, even into adulthood (previously believed to be possible only in children).
    • Gliogenesis – Proliferation of supporting, non-neuron brain cells (glial cells) that can help with cleaning up waste, adding structural support, and protection.
    • Angiogenesis – Generation of new blood vessels that can increase blood supply and thus oxygen to the brain.
    • Synaptogenesis – A form of neuroplasticity where existing neuronal ‘connections’ (synapses) are modified, or more synapses are formed. This is what you think of when you hear more brain connections.

To learn more about cognitive and brain reserve, visit this article here.

The link between the two is quite clear – available brain reserve can allow for more cognitive reserve functions to take place, and increased cognitive reserve can help build on to brain reserve. It makes sense, really. If brain matter and neuronal synapses are lost with cognitive decline, then having more “stuff” for the brain to work with will mean less information lost when things start falling apart, and an increased capability to use what’s left to make up for the loss. In neuroscience terms, the building a brain reserve is “neuroprotective” (quite literally ‘protects the brain’) against the effects of such degeneration.

Just like a powerful car that enables you to engage another gear and suddenly accelerate to avoid an obstacle, your brain can change the way it operates and thus make added resources available to cope with challenges.

Building the Reserve

What are some ways we can build our brain’s available resources?

Great, so now you’re probably wondering – how can I ‘add funds’ to my brain’s reserve, so I can save for those rainy days? Luckily, there are many different forms of enrichment that can help the brain add hardware and increase its adaptability. Although a part of brain reserve is genetic (how much brain capacity and matter you’re born with), research on animal models increasingly points towards the importance of an enriched environment. Continuously doing these activities throughout one’s life can help enhance the reserve:

  • Physical exercise – voluntary exercise has been found to increase cell proliferation and survival rates in the brain by enhancing the production of brain growth factors, called neurotrophins. Works best when paired with a good diet.
  • Bilingualism – learning a new language is no easy feat, but that’s why it’s so good for your brain! Lifelong bilingualism has been found to decrease the effects of Alzheimer’s and general cognitive decline. In fact, in some studies, bilingual individuals with severe atrophy in the brain were found to out perform monolinguals with less atrophy in cognitive tasks!
  • Education and Cognitive Training – This one’s pretty obvious. The more you use your brain, the stronger it gets. Being a lifelong learner constantly stimulates your brain to make new synapses and utilize its hardware for storing information and memories. Though not 100% proven, other mentally stimulating activities such as reading and doing puzzles has been associated with building the reserve. Learning is associated with better cognitive, memory, and language capacity into old age.
  • Social engagement – Meaningful social engagement that allows for self-expression is shown to be a crucial part of an enriched environment. This can mean anything from engaging with friends, being part of a group or team, or participating in consistent volunteer or charity work. In some studies, those who were divorced, widowed, or single were found to have a higher likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia.
  • Music and learning an instrument – They say music is like another language, and that holds true for the cognitive reserve as well. Learning an instrument is a mentally stimulating task that can help build your reserve.
Learning another language is a great way to stimulate the brain and build neuronal connections.

And that’s definitely not all. For more about building the cognitive reserve and its neuroprotective effects, you can visit this handy article here.

The Reserve at Work

The bottom line is, keep the brain busy, and it will grow. But how does all this magic happen? The mechanisms and proposed pathways that occur in building the reserve are numerous and depends on the type of enrichment, but most of them have been linked to boosting levels of neurotrophins, which are crucial in growth and development of the brain, and to some extent regulating the neurotransmitters (communicating substances of neurons). For example, physical activity requires high energy metabolism, which places demands on the liver. Mitochondria (yes, the powerhouse of the cell!) in liver cells work hard to metabolize energy, and in doing so create a substance called DBHB (a type of ketone). This is not only used as an energy source of the brain, but has also been found to promote gene transcription of BDNF (a type of neurotrophin) by blocking an enzyme that would normally down regulate the process (if you’d like to learn more about the DBHB hypothesis, refer to the link above, in ‘Physical exercise’)!

With that said, it’s no surprise various studies show that those who invested into building their cognitive reserve displayed less cognitive decline, even in patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and even Parkinson’s and other usually fatal pathologies. We are quick to consider all the inevitable negatives that come with such disorders and diseases, but the cognitive reserve gives us hope that something out there exists to combat the outcomes.

But whether a dementia patient or a college-age student, everyone can benefit from enriching their mind. At the end of they day, the body operates on a very much “use it or lose it” basis, and unfortunately, that holds true for the brain as well. But by stimulating and giving the brain more resources to work with, even well into its own days of retirement, we can have some peace of mind in knowing that not all is lost with the passage of time.

 

Spam prevention powered by Akismet