Amanda Russo

Amanda Russo, a PhD student in the Integrative Neuroscience program at Stony Brook University, took a quick break from her research to give an enlightening and informative talk on some basic functions of the brain. She studies the neurobiological mechanisms underlying long-term memory formation. She uses a Pavlovian fear conditioning paradigm to delineate the neural mechanisms involved in the learning and recall of fear extinction, according to Stony Brook University.

The topic that really stood out to me was of memory and Patient HM. Amanda discussed Retrograde Amnesia, the inability to recall information prior to brain damage, and Anterograde Amnesia, inability to form new memories after brain damage. She also mentioned the popular movie “50 First Dates,” and how there is only one known case of such a phenomenon but it is not significantly backed up or researched.

I find it almost unbelievable that patient HM had so many valuable parts of his brain taken out and still be able to somewhat function. He was a massively important individual to research however, because it showed that the temporal lobes are important for forming information.

Professor Hoi-Chung Leung

On October 2, we viewed a wonderfully enlightening presentation by  Professor Hoi-Chung Leung about seeing from the brain. She went into great detail about how the brain works and reacts to us seeing from our eyes. I did not realize how much our brains had to do with our eyesight.  A topic that stood out to me the most was the comparison between how we see and the way animals see. I figured that most animals see in greyscale because I know dogs are colorblind.

But Professor Leung showed us that not only do animals not see the way we do, but they may even see colors that we don’t see. For instance, Bees’ and butterflies’ range of color vision extends into the ultraviolet spectrum.  This is due to animals having different cone structures in their photoreceptors than humans do. There is no real definite way of knowing what other animals see, but examining these cones in the eyes help scientists estimate what colors they can or cannot see. For many animals, their vision has evolved so they could adapt in the wild by knowing what foods to eat/avoid, and what predators may be nearby.

“Migraines” by Oliver Sacks

For Project II, I used Oliver Sacks’ book “Migraine” to get collect inspiration and research how migraines differ between patients. This book goes beyond the basic understanding of the condition, which most associate with a raging headache that can occur on a specific or several areas of the brain. But in truth, migraines go far beyond that scope. Sacks takes a magnifying glass to the many different manifestations and rare symptoms, while revealing just how complex and unique migraines can be to every individual.

Sacks heavily uses the idea of “Migraine Aura,” which are the symptom episodes that follow the manifestation of the migraine. One of these Aura characteristics that stood out to me was visual alterations, perhaps a form of hallucination. This part significant stood out to me because when I would experience very severe migraines, I would often feel like some items/spaces are bigger or smaller than they actually are. He reveals that this is a very common aura and an extreme version of this can be viewed in the famous story “Alice in Wonderland.”

Micropsia is when an individual sees items smaller than they appear, while Macropsia is the opposite. Sometimes these changes can even appear gradually, similar to changes in “focal lengths of a ‘zoom’ lens.” It is also possible to see mosaic vision, which is when things may be seen as irregular, crystalline, or polygonal (Sacks 74).

I also found the presence of “scotomas” during a migraine aura to be incredibly fascinating. That is when parts of our vision become blacked out, sort of like a darkness or a shadow over specific parts of what we see. Professor Leung talked about this phenomenon as well, and it is also considered a common symptom in severe migraine sufferers.

Oliver Sacks quotes a fascinating case, about a woman in her sixties that suffered a massive stroke. The deep portions of her cerebral hemisphere were damaged, causing her to not see the objects to her left. What’s especially interesting in this case is the fact that she did not think to turn her head to the left to see if there’s anything there. She automatically assumed that everything in her line of site was the truth.

For instance, she would regularly complain to nurses that they forgot to give her dessert and coffee, but those items would be on the left of the tray always. The nurses needed to remind her every time, and every time she would be surprised that she did not see that. The subject would also only eat half her plate and put on half her makeup. They called this “hemi-inattention (Sacks 96-97)

“Minamata” by W. Eugene Smith and Aileen Smith

“Minamata” by W. Eugene Smith and Aileen Smith is a collection of photographs and words about the spread of Minamata Disease in a Japanese town of the same name, in the 1950s. Chisso Corporation, a Japanese chemical company, released an absurd amount of mercury into the waters of Minamata, Japan. This resulted in the fish absorbing the extremely toxic Mercury and infecting thousands of people due to the strong fish and shellfish diet of the Japanese people. This disease has the potential to cripple one’s muscles, the ability to hear and speak clearly, and in some extreme cases it may cause coma, insanity, and death.

Smith and his wife happened to live in Minamata in the 70s, being surrounded by the very heartbreaking and gruesome symptoms that lie in some of the townspeople. So, they took this opportunity to create a photo-essay to show the world of the horrible pain that the Chisso Corporation has caused. In fact, some of the employees of the Chisso Corporation attacked Smith, in an attempt to stop him from publishing the book and revealing this evil to the world. But even with that trauma, Smith’s wife continued to document the happenings. 

A part of the book that really resonated with me were pages 112-113. The patients of Minamata disease were documented being positive, happy, and partying together. The observation and photographs were incredibly touching. It demonstrated that even with such an overwhelming and unfortunate disease taking over them, that was no excuse for them to not live the best life they could. 

It really inspired me to think differently in times of distress and to not take things so harshly. There are people out there who have to suffer physically and mentally everyday, yet they are happy and don’t let that bring them down. Everyone in this world, including myself, should take a step back and realize that no matter how hard life may be, we should never stop embracing the beauty and happiness that is always around us. 

Arianna Maffei

Arianna Maffei, a researcher in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, gave a fascinating talk about Neural Circuit Plasticity. She researches the connections of neurons in the brain and how they have been modified by a certain experience or skill. Maffei sees neural plasticity as a mechanism for learning and has been using rats to study how new findings influenced a certain pattern of behavior.

I found the information about our taste buds, and why we make certain food choice decisions, to be very interesting. I always associated taste buds to be separated as groups throughout the tongue, primarily because that’s what I remember from elementary school. If that isn’t the case at all, I wonder why we were taught that in the past; was the research at the time not as advanced as it is now?

The tongue actually has taste receptors scattered all over the surface area. The traditional four tastes that we are known to experience include bitter, sour, sweet and salty. But in truth, there are many more flavors that are experienced, including menthol, spicy, temperature, fat, and much more.

The food choices we make are based on our palatability. This includes what is good for you, what tastes good, sweetness (represents calories), saltiness (represents electrolytes) and umami (represents amino acids). The aversive tastes are particularly interesting, for they warn us of potential harm. These tastes are bad (suggests it is rotten), bitters (poisons), and sours (acids).