Musée des Arts et Métiers had a collection of radios. Radio technology became widely used as a form of delivery of information to the masses in form of radio news. This technology became prevalent at the turn of the century in the beginning of the 1900’s. During this time of war, lack of civil rights, and economic hardship people wanted knowledge, a voice to share the opinions through, and a sense of faith in belonging to a community. In many ways the radio offered a solution to these culture needs. Similarly, technology like MindRider and digital psychiatricy neurotechnology is offering a way for our bodies and minds to communicate to us and allow u to know when we need help or how we feel physically. These methods of communication respond to the culture desires to want to understand our subconscious, or the information our neurological functioning can relay to us about our health and mental health.
Photo Post: Getting Sick
Many of us got sick, which allowed for cross examination between French and American medicines. I got Humex/ cold medication form the pharmacy. Humex provides a day pill containing Pseudoephedrine. American decongestants also contain this chemical. Pseudoephedrine contains properties that allow it to act as a stimulant to promote wakefulness. This chemical demonstrates that people who are sick often desire a mental boost. When people feel vulnerable, such as being sick, they might desire a cognitive enhancer. Better cognitive operating can provide security in many systems that rely on mental ability to function, such as work places and precise, cautious work.
Photo Post: Rugby and Concussion
Luckily, while the NBB program was taking place, simultaneously so were Rugby matches at Stad de France. We were lucky enough to attend a very important match, that even included a performance by a world renowned rockstar, MIKA. The sport was similar to American football, but there was no head padding involved. The plays were tactful and fast, and included a wrestling-like component when competing in direct contact for the ball. I was amazed by the level of injury these players endured. They never seemed to stop playing, even after being knocked to the ground, falling on their backs, getting hit in the head or body. They were extremely impervious players. We went to count how many potential concussions were endured by a single player. The numbers were dangerously high. The recurrent concussions sustained by professional rugby player may actually play a role in longterm depression and other cognitive disorders. A growing concern around neurological disorders and contacts sports has lead neuroscience research on this topic
Photo Post: Foumagerie
During my stay in Paris, the NBB class took a field trip to a foumagerie. We learned about the history of cheese-making, many types of which originate in France. We tasted various cheeses, including goat and bleu. We were able to identify various scents used in cheese-making from vanilla to pine. In addition, they talked about different techniques used. They explained the outside of cheese are treated with fungus to make the skins, one of the explanations for the strong taste and smell often associated with some cheeses. A few of the cheeses presented were slightly difficult to stomach! Many of us developed a better understanding of how cheese tasting involves the smell before eating and the actual flavor while eating. Another fun aspect of the trip was that NBB class related these techniques used in fermentation to our understanding of dairy consumption and cognition. Apparently certain types of bacteria produce a compound, DHE, during the fermentation process. DHE has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective effects and may help in cognitive aging to prevent dementia.
Class Visit Musee de Fumeur
The Musée du Fumeur is a private museum of smoking. The museum is located in a smoke shop. The collection contains smoking instruments including European pipes, 17th century clay pipes, Native American ceremonial pipes, hookahs, Chinese opium pipes, Egyptian sheeshas, and snuffboxes, as well as cigars, tobacco samples, hemp-fiber clothing, and etchings, portraits, photographs, videos, and scientific drawings of tobacco plants. Explained through the museum’s website, “the usual objects of the smoker in different places or times mingle with the smoked plants around the world: the tobacco leaves are side by side with the sinsemilla flowers; the sieve for extracting the hemp resin, the cigar mold and the briar mouthpiece accompany the fragile earthen pipes of the eighteenth century or copper, which Chinese dignitaries wore on their belts to smoke opium” (museum website). As elucidated by the museum website, smoking is a unison of both the culture of a civilization and the geographical, geological environment which encompasses a civilization. Smoking, in a sense, resembles the balance between an individual and his or her relationship with the place in the world that he/she is located, a representation of the active, two way dynamic between an individual and mother nature. Continue reading “Class Visit Musee de Fumeur”
Chateau de Chenonceau
Chateau de Chenonceau is one of the many chateaus located in the Loire Valley. The chateau spans the River Cher near a village called Chenonceau. In 1514-1522, the chateau initially was built upon the foundations of an old mill and later stretched the River Cher. The Chateau belonged to many French families, beginning with the Marques family to the royal family and their mistresses. With each new inhabitant, more adjuncts, gardens, and bridges were added until it became the chateau that stands today. One notable owner was Diane de Poitiers, who built a bridge to attach the chateau to the opposite side of the river and designed the flower, vegetable, and fruit gardens. Another major contributor to Chateau de Chenonceau is Catherine de’ Medici who added more gardens to decorate the perimeter of the chateau as well as rooms within the chateau’s walls. Catherine had many grand parties there, including one with the first firework show ever. The chateau was reflective of not only the wealth that France’s elites possessed, but also the architectural magnificence and intellect that humans were capable of. We are able to think up and create these structures that outlive us in longevity and tower over us in size because of our brain’s ability of creativity.
Musee de l’Homme Neantherthal Exhibit
On an excursion to Musee de l’Homme Neantherthal, our class ventured into human history. When I say human, I’m referring to the hominid family, which encompasses several species within the homo genus from which our modern human lineage formed. Long ago, in early human evolution, we co-inhabited this planet with other species of hominids, including Neanderthals. Neanderthals only recently went extinct at around 35,000 years ago. Leaving behind skeletons, skull bones, and Lithic tools, Neanderthals have left scientists with enough information to piece together their 350,000 plus history on earth as well as insights to the known Neanderthal-Sapien encounters that occurred in our migration out of Africa (“Néandertal L’Expo,” 2018).
The exhibit displayed old hunting and cooking tools of these ancient humans, dwellings that have been attributed to Neanderthal tribes, simulations of their sounds and language, analysis of the Neanderthal brains based on fossil records, replications of the Neanderthal male and female, and hypothesises around the encounters that occurred between our own species and this extinct species. Interestingly enough, Neanderthal DNA was found in modern humans. When we encounter this species, genetic testing suggests that interbreeding definitely occurred. Genomic studies discovered that keratin filament genes in non-African humans display a high frequency of Neanderthal alleles. These findings suggest Neanderthal alleles may have improved our ability to adapt to the non-African regions. While some Neanderthal DNA may contribute to our global existence today, the study also found some Neanderthal alleles found in our DNA today can confer risk of disease. These disease include lupus, biliary cirrhosis, Crohn’s disease, optic-disk size, smoking behaviour, IL-18 levels and type 2 diabetes (Sankaraman et. al., 2014).
Musee Fragonard at the Ecole Veterinaire d’Alfort
The Musee Fragonard is a historic museum dedicated to animals located in the Ecole Veterinaire d’Alfort. The museum holds collections of many animal bones, 3-D examples of animal structures, remannts of many genetic anomalies, and much more. The museum was founded in 1766 and is one of the oldest museums in France. Though the museum is created for veterinary knowledge, and includes content related to animal medicine, because animals are useful for insight to human anatomy and physiology, the museum was actually instrumental to the beginning of comprehending the human body from a medical perspective. Many of the physically abnormal animals possessed genetic diseases that could be seen in humans, allowing for these animals to act as model organisms for insight to human genetics. Moreover, the museum even possessed human skeletons, fetuses, and other persevered body parts, showing how the museum’s collection was dedicated to understanding anatomy and physiology for all organisms across taxa.
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Musee d’Histoire de la Medicine
Musee d’Histoire de la Medicine was established in 1905, added as a wing to the Collège de Chirurgie by architect Ginain. The museum possesses a large variety of medicinal tools, machines, writings, among other interesting medically-related items. The most ancient of items included an Egyptian form of “Sunglasses” to “scalpels” from the Roman empire. The medicinal equipment was extensive, spanning primitive forms of surgical tools, such as saws for amputations, to the first-forms of autoclaves and electrical therapy machines for depression. Passing by the surgical tools, I realized much of today’s modern medicine has made few advances in areas such as surgical tools or eye protection to name a few examples. The shapes of the blade used for surgery in the medieval ages were sometimes identical to the ones we use now, especially for orthopedic-based tools.