On Monday June 18th 2018, my fellow Neuroscience classmates and I attended the Musee des Moulages in Paris, France . The museum was filled with casts of various diseases that have dermatological signs, including syphilis. We walked into a big room with two floors; displays filled with various casts spanned from the ground to the ceiling on both floors. We started walking around the room and everyone reacted in disgust at least once or twice, at least I know I did. The casts were all super detailed and showed dermatological effects that I had never even seen before. I couldn’t even recognize some body parts due to the extreme growths that covered it. As I walked around to the back of the first floor, there was a whole back wall solely dedicated to representing the stages of syphilis. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any photos in the museum, but it was really interesting to see how much of a dermatological effect that the different stages of syphilis could have. (There was even a cast of syphilis affecting the eyeball!) Continue reading “Got Syphilis?”
Versailles Pleases my Eye
The Palace of Versailles is probably one of the top must see places for anyone visiting France. Its intricate design and rich French history appeals to the millions of tourists visiting Versailles each year. On Friday June 1st, my neuroscience class and I added to the millions and took a trip to the glorious palace. We were guided through the palace learning about all the King Louis’ of France and how the ginormous palace started off merely as a small hunting lodge. We saw ceiling painting after ceiling painting and I was in awe of all of its elegance. We passed through the Hall of Mirrors and were even taught a line dance that people used to do in the hall. We ended the tour outside of the palace but still inside the gates and we were all free to roam the massive gardens outside. Continue reading “Versailles Pleases my Eye”
Photo post 4: Eiffel Tower
This is a picture I took of the Eiffel Tower at night. It is truly a beautiful sight that many people have seen. What some people may not know is that the names of 72 scientists are engraved on each of the four sides. The names were listed in special honor of the men of science during the time the Eiffel Tower was being built. One of the names engraved is Marie François Xavier Bichat. Marie was a French anatomist and pathologist who had theories that life was regulated by the ganglionic nervous system, “a collection of small independent “brains” in the chest cavitiy.”
Stanley Finger (2001). Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations Into Brain Function. Oxford University Press. pp. 266–. ISBN 978-0-19-514694-3. Retrieved 1 January2013.
Photo post 3: Musee d’Histoire de la Medicine
This picture was taken at the Musee d’Histoire de la Medicine. This machinery was used in the past to help those with mild depression. Electricity was run through the contraption and the patient would touch the metal bar to get a “treatment” of electricity. It was thought that electrical stimulation of some sort could have neurological effects. This concept is still used today to possibly treat various diseases with specific electrical stimulations throughout the brain. Some people have even been using methods like transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to enhance their cognitive abilities.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-diy-brain-booster-devices-work/
Photo post 2: Chopin
This picture was taken in front of FrédéricChopin’s grave in the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise. Chopin was a genius pianist and composer who was always of poor health and died at the young ag e of 39. He is supposed to have died of tuberculosis, but some researchers believe that his death may actually have had something to do with his neurology since little was known about the brain during the time of his diagnoses. Based on accounts of Chopin’s close friends and students, some researchers believe that he may “have suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy, which caused him to have frequent hallucinations.”
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2011/01/fr-d-ric-chopins-madness-diagnosed
Photo post 1: Catacombs
This is a picture I took of only a couple of the millions of skulls in the Catacombs. Beneath the city of Paris lie tunnels of around 7 million skeletons. The catacombs were created in order to help relieve the overflow of the city’s cemeteries. Bones contain a lot of more information than one would think. Dr. Philippe Charlier, a modern anthropologist who conducts autopsies on the “rich and powerful who made French history”, is able to forensically look at bones to uncover characteristics at the time of death, including cause of death. In 2010, Dr. Charlier identified Henri IV’s partly preserved severed head. Henri IV was assassinated in 1610 and his head was stolen and kept as a souvenir. Dr. Charlier was even able to extract samples of Henri’s cervical muscles. Each and every skeleton in the catacombs has a story of its own just as Henri IV’s skull did.
Coocoo for cocoa.
Fact: “Nine out of ten people like chocolate, the tenth person always lies.” All right, maybe that statement isn’t quite fact, but I’d like to think it is!
Walking around any street in Paris, you can probably find a Chocolatier store filled with gourmet homemade chocolate and other related treats. On Monday June 11th 2018, my Neuroscience class and I attended a chocolate museum and were able to make our own chocolates at Le Musee Gourmand Du Chocolate. As I walked into the museum, I was consumed by all of the rich chocolate smells. Free samples were everywhere and I filled my stomach with tens of the little round treats. My classmates and I walked into the chocolate making room, put on aprons, and watched the chocolate connoisseur carefully and skillfully scoop a full ladle of melted dark chocolate into a pre-maid star mold. He scraped the top layer off and quickly flipped the mold over to drain the chocolate in order to create a perfect outer coat. It was then our turn to (try to) follow suit.
Concussed much?
Who doesn’t love watching a good rugby match? The French sure do! On Saturday June 2nd 2018, my Neuroscience class and I attended a rugby match. Apparently it was a pretty important one at that! As we hopped off the RER onto the stop where the Stade de France is located, we were greeted by enthusiastic fans; they were cheering, drinking, socializing, singing and getting hyped up for the game! It was such a great atmosphere being surrounded by a unified group of people. We walked with large crowds towards the 11thsection of the stadium and found our seats. There were flags on our seats that we waved continuously throughout the game since we could not for the life of us figure out which team they were for (I still don’t know which team the flags represented, but hey, I always love a free souvenir ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) Continue reading “Concussed much?”
Say Cheese!
La Fromagerie is the essence of French culture. Cheese has always been a very important part of every day life for the French, so on May 30th 2018 my Neuroscience class and I went to a cheese tasting and tried a variety of cheeses. We were told that there are over 1000 types of cheese and we learned how certain cheeses are only produced in certain areas of France, which protects its origins and culture. One of our connoisseurs named Ashley even up and left the United States and moved to France because of how enamored she was by the rich blend of science and culture behind cheese making.
My fellow students and I recently read and wrote a review on how dehyroergosterol, which is a compound found on the outside of dairy products fermented with Penicillium candidum, can enhance microglial anti-inflammatory activity and has neuroprotective properties (Ano et. Al., 2015). Researchers first identified DHE as the novel substance with anti-inflammatory effects on certain cheeses then proceeded to test DHE’s effect on levels of certain cytokines related to its anti-inflammatory effect. With further testing, dietary changes could potentially be an alternative and/or additional treatment method for those with neurodegenerative disorders. We also read about how there have already been other studies on how other fermented foods such as kimchi have at large health benefits regarding brain and cognitive function (Kim et al, 2016). I had never really thought about how certain diets could truly affect the brain. Reading these articles before heading to the cheese tasting gave me the opportunity to truly think about every aspect of my visit on a much deeper level than ever before. Continue reading “Say Cheese!”