Author: Gracie Potokar

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An art piece at the museum

In the third week of the program we visited the Neandertal L’Expo. This museum had very interesting models. There were life-like figures of Neanderthals and realistic figures of brains from all different time periods. Since the beginning of time, our brains have been evolving. Our brains have been getting more specialized with increasing efficiency and ability. It was so interesting to understand how life differed back then and how we evolved from these people. We have learned about the evolution of the brain in many of our classes but it was so cool to actually see how these different brains created this different kind of lifestyle. It was interesting to be able to take a glimpse into what their life might have been like.

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In the last week of the program we visited the Musee de Fumeur. This museum was more of a smoke shop but was still interesting. Smoking has become a cultural norm in Paris which is interesting because smoking is kind of looked down upon in the states. Cigarette addiction is thus extremely common in France which results from chemical changes in the brain that occur during repetitive use of them. This dependence on cigarettes is very difficult to overcome. This was quite the experience!

Ruhee and I at the smoke museum
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In the last week of the program we visited the Musee Service de Sante des Armees. I thought this museum was so interesting. There were so many paintings of soldiers being treated after the war and of tools that were utilized to treat soldiers. Physical injuries are not the only thing a soldier comes home with but also mental injuries as well. PTSD affects many soldiers because of the intense environment and psychological distress experienced during war. Now a days, there is therapy that can reduce the effects of PTSD and medicine but regardless, PTSD takes months if not years to recover from.

A box containing samples of Atropine which was used as a muscle relaxer in the war.
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The assortment of cheeses at the tasting!

During the second week of class we visited the Frommagerie for a cheese tasting. We were able to taste six different cheeses and an assortment of juices. In class we were reading about how fermented foods can benefit cognition. Foods, such as cheese, fermented with P. Candidum have anti-inflammatory effects (Ano et al. 2015). With life-expectancy increasing, it is important to find substances that have neuroprotective effects. Camembert cheese was noted to have the most anti-inflammatory effects and it was surprisingly my favorite cheese there!

References:

Ano, Y., Kutsukake, T., Hoshi, A., Yoshida, A., & Nakayama, H. (2015). Identification of a Novel Dehydroergosterol Enhancing Microglial Anti-Inflammatory Activity in a Dairy Product Fermented with Penicillium candidum. PLOS ONE, 10(3), e0116598. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116598

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The Dangers of Rugby

Coco, Janet, Ruhee and I at the rugby game
The stadium where the rugby match was

On June 2nd, we had the privilege of attending a professional rugby match. The teams playing were Montpellier and Upstarts Castres and was held at the Stade de France. This was my first rugby match and it was quite the experience. I had never realized how prominent rugby was in Europe. When people said that rugby was Europe’s version of football, I thought it was an overstatement, but I was wrong. The stands were packed wild fans, passionately cheering for their respective teams. It was difficult to not get swept up in all of the craziness. I knew rugby was dangerous but I never realized how dangerous it was until 15 minutes into the game when medics were rushed to the field to attend to a player who got hit. Continue reading “The Dangers of Rugby”

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The Rich History of Cocoa

Ruhee, Coco, Janet and I at the Chocolate Museum holding our creations!
The 5-foot chocolate Eiffel Tower at the museum.
Cocoa was used as medicine in the 1800’s.

Two weeks ago, we had the privilege of visiting Le muse gourmand du chocolat. The gourmet chocolate museum provided insight into the 4000-year-old history of cocoa. I didn’t only enjoy the abundance of free samples scattered throughout the museum but also learning about the origins and evolution of chocolate. This museum was the home of decadent chocolate structures such as a 5-foot chocolate Eiffel tower which is shown in the picture. Not only did we get to learn about rich world of chocolate, but we also had the opportunity to make our own chocolate. We made little praline filled chocolate stars in the workshop and were able to take a bag home! Continue reading “The Rich History of Cocoa”

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Chateau d’Amboise

Bonjour!

My neuroscience class visited Chateau d’Amboise on Friday, June 15. This beautiful chateau overlooked the Loire River and was used by many French royals. Our tour guide, Roxie, was telling us about all of the royals who spent time in this chateau, including Henry the Eighth.

Roxie told us an interesting fact that Henry VIII had syphilis. His wives, Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, had numerous miscarriages which lead people to believe that Henry VIII had some disease that spread to his wives and affected their ability to carry children. I looked into this topic a little more and what I learned leads me to believe that Henry VIII did not have syphilis which is what some people still believe.

Continue reading “Chateau d’Amboise”

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Visit to Musee d’Histoire de la Medecine

My class visited the Museum of the History of Medicine in Paris. This museum contained an abundance of medical and surgical tools that were used in the past. Some of the collections for this museum were first put together in the 18th century! I had quite the experience and want to share a little more about what I saw there!

Next to the “Machine du type de Ramsden”

Continue reading “Visit to Musee d’Histoire de la Medecine”

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The Music Lives on

On Thursday, May 31, 2018, we visited the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Huge mausoleums were seen surrounding the entrance as we walked in. Some of the mausoleums were over one hundred years old and still standing beautifully. Stained glass windows were illuminated as the sun shined through these antique structures. This cemetery had much more to offer than its serene appearance; it would contain the bodies of many noteworthy individuals such as Frédéric Chopin.

This is a picture showing the different activation patterns of musicians and non-musicians as they play an instrument. This shows how musicians are activating less of their brain, which is similar to how Chopin’s brain would look.
https://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/november16/music-111605.html

Continue reading “The Music Lives on”