Sheep Eye Dissection Analysis

In class, we dissected a sheep's eye to better understand the structure and physiology of the eye. First we cut all the fatty tissue off of the eye and there was a significant amount of it. This is because it is the cushion for the eye while the extrinsic muscles move the eye. The cornea was the bluish part while the optic nerve was behind that. Then we cut through the sclera which is very tough and makes up the 'whites' of the eye. When we cut it open we saw the retina, vitreous humor and choroid, which was behind the retina. The retina contains the photoreceptors for vision while the vitreous humor is a clear gel-like substance and the choroid which brings blood, nourishment, and oxygen to the eye. The tapetum lucidum is a part of animal eyes that is not a part of human eyes as it helps with night vision as it reflects light. The ciliary bodies surrounding the lens encircle the lens and controls lens shape while the lens focuses light on the retina. One condition of the lens is cataracts which is when the lens becomes cloudy and the amount of light reaching the retina is lessened or prevented. When the lens is removed, it reveals the iris and pupil; between the iris and cornea is aqueous humor which also helps maintain the shape of the eye. A condition of the aqueous humor is glaucoma where fluid pressure becomes too high and it damages the eye. Like with the tapetum lucidum, a sheep's eye is different from a human's also because the pupil of a sheep's eye is more oval-shaped compared to that of a human's. From this lab, I could clearly see the different structures and functions of the eye and how significant the relationship between the two is, such as with the shape of the pupil and retina.

20 Time Blog #4: Presliced Fruits!

So far I have gotten to research a lot about this topic as Cornell has a branch of study regarding food psychology. By doing this instead, there is already completed research and it is up to me to sort and pick out the research that is relevant and more worthwhile. Some things to note were: Don’t force little kids to clean their plates which shows that parenting has a role in obesity/eating behaviours; Putting healthy food such as fruits out on counters instead of unhealthy foods such as chips subconsciously help you eat healthier; children are more likely to eat pre-sliced fruits. I've learned that although research is research, there can be clear bias in the analysis of that research, especially when an outcome is 'predetermined,' so to speak. My next step will be to continue to research and to start a compiled paper on this. This topic is definitely applicable to myself and my community/country as America is becoming increasingly related with obesity.

The 'Clay' Brain

In this 'Clay Brain' lab, my group and I made models of the left hemisphere from the right looking at the sagittal plane and a lateral view of the right cerebral hemisphere with Play-doh. This helped us better be able to recognize and map out different sections of the brain. It also showed us how complex the brain is.

A Woman without a Cerebellum

I just read an article about a woman found to be missing her cerebellum. Surprisingly, this was not discovered until she was 24 years old, already a significant age for a person growing up without a cerebellum. As the cerebellum controls voluntary movements and balance, it is also involved in many other functions such as speech and motor skills. In this case, the woman had problems walking steadily and had difficulties when she was young. However, other parts of the brain took some responsibility for the role of the cerebellum, allowing this woman to grow up fairly normally.
If a person's medulla oblongata was missing or severely damaged, involuntary actions would be severely limited. The medulla oblongata controls autonomic functions, relays nerve signals between the brain and spinal cord, and helps coordinate body movements. It may be possible for a person to survive but their capabilities will be very limited as the medulla oblongata is even involved in heart beat. However, like how other parts of the brain took over some of the cerebellum's roles, the same could happen with the medulla oblongata. Most likely though, the person would not be able to function for very long without medical help.

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Nervous System Power Hour Reading

Why everyone (else) is a hypocrite: evolution and the modular mind
By Robert Kurzban
Consistently Inconsistent
In this book, Kurzban aims to convince the reader that the brain is made up of "modules" which are different parts of the brain that as a whole, shape human behavior. He argues that the human mind is made up of many different mental processes that do not always align. For example, split brain patients. In an experiment by two neuroscientists, they showed that one hemisphere could see something that the other hemisphere couldn't. A simpler example Kurzban used is the phantom arm example where people with amputated arms and legs say that they can still feel those missing limbs. Kurzban argues that this is because some of the nervous system truly believes that the limb is still there. Another one of Kurzvan's arguments is that people should not believe everything that comes out of a person's mouth because the "talking portion" of the brain is not connected to everything else. In other words, the "talking portion" does not accurately portray what the rest of the modules believe; this is the reason for apparent contradictions, why everyone else is a hypocrite and you're not. kurzban's entire book rests on his argument that there are different modules which is why we have inconsistencies, specifically moral hypocrisy.
Kurzban's introduction began with the argument that "Being ignorant, wrong, irrational, and hypocritical can make you much better off than being knowledgable, correct, reasonable, and consisten. As long as you're ignorant, wrong, irrational, and hypocritical in the right ways." In later chapters he discusses how knowing more information can just be disadvantageous, especially to a person's moral compass but that does not make his previous claim any more believable or credible  That is, unless a person wants to stay ignorant, wrong, irrational, and hypocritical. However through his examples, I can see how a person's brain has different modules that either work together or separately.
On a side note, his "wit" and "sometimes hilarious" personality, is not obvious in this book.

20 Time Blog #3: Shifting Directions?

I have been trying to research more about color, but I find that my research has taken me in a direction I did not plan for- subconscious cues. My original topic came about through an article with underlying information on subconscious cues as well but at the time I chose the color aspect. However, now I am finding increased interest in these "cues" as well as that my experimentation takes time and money, both of which are not easily available to me right now. Like we said in class, I think I went for a too ambitious experiment. Much of the information I have come across is backed up by research and experiments which have hundreds of people behind them, showing me just how many resources I would require. However much of what I have studied will be useful as well. Therefore, I am thinking, but not sure yet, of turning my 20 Time project in a different direction, one that I hope will be able to more significantly impact other people. (Advice on this would be much appreciated!)

Unit 7 Reflection

In this unit we learned about directional terms and joint movements, muscle fibers, performance enhancers, and of course, the muscular system! Projects that we did interspersed between lectures really helped bring together and highlight the ways our body works together (such as in our Muscle Contraction Skit Video). This skit depicted the specific steps of contraction in an easy and thorough way since we were able to apply what we learned and not just read it off a piece paper. In addition, the dissection of a chicken that we did helped solidify my understanding and knowledge of the muscles and how they work with tendons and bones to move (Chicken Dissection). I would like to learn more about different muscle diseases and how they affect the person with that disease and the muscles themselves. Learning about the Performance Enhancers touched on that subject but I would like to go a bit more in depth with natural consequences as well.  In regards to my New Years' resolutions, the anabolic steroids 'ad' let me research more about it, as did the chicken dissection. I would say that I am following it sometimes but since it takes more time for me because I like going into more depth, I would like to modify my resolutions to be at least once a unit.

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