Category: Blog Post 2

This past Wednesday I went on a picnic with some of my classmates under the Eiffel Tower. I was hesitant in going as I had already seen the Eiffel tower on our boat trip and didn’t see the point of seeing the Eiffel Tower from that close… but oh was I wrong! When we got there we saw so many sections of open turf occupied by so many people from all over the world. I heard all these different languages and saw many different faces, which reminded me of home with the extent of the US’s diversity. One thing that connected all these different people was our collective shared experience of witnessing the awe of the Eiffel Tower. This same phenomenon happened to me and my classmates. As the evening continued I noticed another perk of being here instead of the Arc de Triomphe. I saw that we were growing closer and started to share things we had in common. It was then that I realized that new friendships were sprouting from one of those turf patches.

It didn’t take long for laughs and overall good vibes to flood our conversations. Someone soon suggested that we do a little photo shoot which really kicked things off. Often times we get a little insecure when we lose for photos but that didn’t happen here with so many of us hyping each other up allowing us to take some amazing photos. The energy of these photo shoots reminded me of the same energy that’s created with my friends back home, which prompted me to dive deeper into the neuroscience of friendship. From this, I learned that striatum plays an important role in social behavior as it encodes rewards from social situations (Báez-Mendoza and Schultz, 2013). One thing that i found is that social isolation during chronic social isolation can actually weaken the dendritic spine density in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, so I am really happy I went and have been willing to go out more than I do back home in the states (Báez-Mendoza and Schultz, 2013). This newly found information really opened my mind up to the science of social behaviors and friendship. Upon searching the literature is there were very few recent studies looking into this topic which came as a surprise to me. Altogether though, this was a fun experience! 10/10, I highly recommend!!

References

Báez-Mendoza, R., & Schultz, W. (2013). The role of the striatum in social behavior. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2013.00233

Samantha Feingold

As of today, I have officially been in Paris for two and a half weeks. As it is my first time in Europe, I continue to ask myself why the French are healthier than Americans, with one of the “lowest rates of cardiovascular disease in the world,” and what aspects of Parisian lifestyle I can incorporate into my own (Powell et al., 2010). I have internally balanced the cultural differences I have observed, trying to determine what factors outweigh the negatively viewed characteristics. Does the amount of walking Parisians do override the amount they smoke? Does the local food that is less processed outweigh negative effects of foods high in saturated fats like cheese? Is the secret to their health simply attitude and social culture, which results in less stress and greater happiness, the reason they live longer? To answer the question you’ve all been waiting for, and one I hear over and over, how do Parisian’s drink so much wine but stay so healthy? I have found myself wondering if the increase in my own wine consumption during the trip is problematic but realized that is only by American standards. Perhaps, the cultural view of alcohol (where it is viewed as a guilty pleasure) in the United States prevents the reduction in stress and otherwise positive benefits that are seen in France (Hansel et al., 2010).

Two weeks in, I currently believe that all these factors have close relationships with stress and stress may be the leading cause of negative health outcomes after comparing populations: “Americans can and should look to the French as a model for a healthy lifestyle that includes not just what a person eats, but the attitudes, behaviors, and social context within which one operates” (Powell et al., 2010). While one study (Hansel et al., 2010) studied the relationship between moderate drinkers to those that never drink and found cardiovascular and other health benefits in the moderate to low drinkers, stress undoubtedly connects as well. In Paris, the culture regarding wine is carefree and people take time to enjoy their meal (and take their time off work quite seriously- getting about 6 weeks of vacation time per year) (Powell et al., 2010). While the connection between potential health benefits and wine consumption is challenging to statistically separate from stress, I have concluded that when in combination, if I take the time to taste life (like the French taste by savoring) I don’t need to feel stressed about justifying ordering wine with dinner.

Sources

Hansel, B., Thomas, F., Pannier, B. et al. Relationship between alcohol intake, health and social status and cardiovascular risk factors in the urban Paris-Ile-De-France Cohort: is the cardioprotective action of alcohol a myth?. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 561–568 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.61

Powell, L. H., Kazlauskaite, R., Shima, C., & Appelhans, B. M. (2010). Lifestyle in France and
the United States: an American perspective. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 110(6), 845–847. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2010.03.029

 

 

Last Sunday, my roommate and I woke up bright and early to head to Disneyland Paris and enjoy the day at the happiest place on earth! Once it was confirmed that I would be traveling to Paris, I made sure to pack my Minnie Mouse ears– a souvenir that I have held onto for the last ten years. 

 

Once we got there, we got a map and created a list of attractions and rides that we wanted to make sure to cross off of our list. We started the day off at Frontierland where our first attraction was a spooky tour of the Phantom Manor which was the perfect ride to begin with– nice and slow. However, once we headed over to Discoveryland, I began hearing loud screams coming from the Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain. I should probably note that I’m not a big fan of rollercoasters, in fact, I try to stay away from them. I knew that the main park was meant to be family-friendly, so I was anticipating the classic attractions such as the teacups. 

 

After some internal conflict, I decided to carpe diem and go for it– I was in Disneyland Paris after all. Once we were close to the front, we could see people turning back after being so close to facing their fear. We could also see the look of shock in people stumbling off of the ride, with their hair in disarray after facing such speed. During the ride, I held onto the restraint as if my life depended on it– which felt like the actual task. My head and body were shaken back and forth, hitting the sides of the seat. Once the two minutes of darkness were over, I struggled to get out of my seat and felt very dizzy. After surviving the ride, I had a small headache for the next 30 minutes. 

 

 

This experience made me wonder if rollercoasters and head discomfort/injuries could be associated. I found that evidence suggests that motion during a roller coaster ride does not meet the threshold of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) (Evans, 2020). While there are case studies that present individuals who have suffered brain injuries after a ride, it cannot be solely attributed to the ride itself, but the condition of the rider and if they have prior known – or unknown- brain/neck injuries. Learning raised concerns about the insufficient warnings for the “thrill” rides, even at Disney. Should theme parks be more explicit in their warnings or should riders be the judge of their participation in rides? 

Evans, V. (2020). Newton’s laws, G-forces and the impact on the brain. Australasian Journal of Neuroscience , 30(1), 24–29. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.273755632351926

 

 

I have been going to Disney since I was five years old. Only a few months after immigrating to the United States, I was taken by family friends for the very first time. I remember how fearful I was of all the characters and many of the rides. Living in Florida, only a few hours away from the Parks, my parents would do their best to bring my sister and me as often as they could. Over the years, I slowly outgrew my fears and began to enjoy myself. While doing some research on potential activities in Paris, something that caught my eye was Disneyland Paris. It had been three years since I had last been to Disney, so I knew that I had to go. 

On Sunday, May 29th, Khushi, Sharay, and I boarded the RER A towards Marne-la-Vallée at around 9 A.M. After a few wrong turns, we arrived at the park just minutes after opening. Although the weather was much colder than in Florida, the smells, views, and excitement were all identical. Upon entering the park, the smell of freshly made popcorn surrounded us and tempted me, even though I don’t even like it. Everyone around us seemed to be happily munching on popcorn. This reminded me of an article I had read about the Disney company using smells to persuade visitors to make purchases during their trip. After doing more research, I found that Disney Parks use machines called smellitizers to release smells associated with tasty foods, such as popcorn or chocolate, to increase purchases of those items. Additionally, they also manufacture smells and scents during the rides for the purpose of making guests “forget about everything that may be going on in the world and just really enjoy themselves and their family time and make memories that will last forever” (MacDonald, 2020).

The concept of smell as a memory enhancer has been investigated by many scientists before. In a study conducted by Morrin, Krishna, and Lwin in 2011, memories that are associated with or enhanced by smells were tested to see if they can be affected by “retroactive interference”, or the act of diminishing memories after new memories are introduced. After testing one hundred and eight undergraduate students, they found that retroactive interference can have a negative impact on memory retrieval despite being enhanced by smell. However, as soon as the original smell cue is reintroduced, the original memory comes back. This means that, now, anytime I go to the movie theater, I will be reminded of the fun had at Disney!  

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References:

On Monday, May 30th we took a class visit to Choco Story-a chocolate museum. This was the most exciting visit for me because I love chocolate enough to be able to survive on only chocolate for the rest of my life!

The visit started with all of us participating in a chocolate workshop. We went down to the basement and saw amazing chocolate sculpture artworks outside the workshop. The huge Eiffel tower sculpture gave me a kick start for the workshop. We began by learning how to cover various foods in melted chocolate including candied orange strips, marshmallows, and chocolate fudge. We could either dip the in dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate. I learned that if the chocolate isn’t churned well enough and melted at the right temperature, it will solidify very easily and turn into a huge chunk of chocolate rock. I had always tried chocolates that included orange peels but had not tried fresh orange peels in fresh dark chocolate and it was the best thing ever! I even got the market the chef got the peels from and got some more from there later.

 

After learning how to coat them with chocolate, we made our own chocolate bars. This was the most fun part of the visit because it was a great way to learn from the chef how we can incorporate beautiful designs into chocolate. The chef made musical notes on the chocolate bar and it was a moment of “Wow!” (Picture below). Then we took a tour of the museum at our own pace to end the visit.

Chocolate, as I learned from Socci et al.’s literary review, has been known to already enhance cognitive abilities and cocoa flavonoids- present in all cocoa products produce a neuroprotective effect. The main sub-class of flavanoids that are known to reduce the rate of age-related cognitive decline are flavanols. These flavanols and to an extent all cocoa-driven products are known to sustain cognitive abilities such as executive functions, attention, and memory. Ongoing studies are also showing the ability of dose-dependent cocoa products to provide for better working memory and fluid intelligence. Further, recent studies and their conclusions are describing chocolate and cocoa products to be neutraceutical. A neutraceutical is a substance present in a food or group of foods generally that has health and cognitive benefits that could include treatment or prevention of disease. 

With this information regarding the chocolate and its nootropic effects on my cognitive abilities, I am glad I did not stop eating chocolate at a young age after my mom told me to because “it would rot my teeth”. Overall making my own chocolate goods and bars and eating them as dessert every day has been the highlight of my experience so far!

References:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2017.00019/full

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/nutraceutical#:~:text=A%20nutraceutical%20is%20defined%20as,Nutritional%20Aspects%20of%20Buckwheat%2C%202016

This week, our class took a trip to the Musee de Chocolat (Chocolate Museum). It did not take me long, however, to realize that our trip to Musee de Chocolat was not going to be any ordinary museum visit. Upon entering the building, we were greeted by one of the head chocolatiers. He was wearing a thick, white coat that ran to just above his ankles, and his white shoes, well, let’s just say they had seen better days. He instructed us to wash our hands, and, as the cold water trickled down my fingers… I had my EUREKA moment. We had not come here to simply learn about the history of chocolate. We were actually going to be making it! 

            On the way downstairs, I was absolutely floored by the French architecture that the chocolatiers had brought to life with chocolate. I was most impressed by the Chocolate Eiffel Tower. It stood roughly 6 feet tall and its silky coat of brown was glistening in the light that shined from above. I asked the head chocolatier how much time it had taken to construct, and he promptly responded to me with “3 months”. Safe to say, that was just the beginning of an hour full of surprises. 

 

 

 

 

 

Once inside the chocolate making room, we were instructed to put on our aprons and choose a table mat to work on. Next to me were three massive, chocolate churning machines that were dripping milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. Our instructor conducted a few demos on how to use the chocolate to decorate our marshmallows, orange peels, and fudge blocks. He made it look incredibly easy. We strengthened our chocolate decorating skills for roughly 45 minutes then headed back upstairs to learn about the history of chocolate making and its roots stemming from Mexico. 

Through this museum and my personal research, I have learned much about chocolate. In particular, I found it fascinating how brain studies have shown that dark chocolate is associated with increased verbal memory performance for two hours post consumption (Lamport et al., 2020). This is most likely due to the effects of dark chocolate having increased flavanol-rich cocoa which increases cerebral blood flow during the first 2-4 hours after first intake (Sorond et al., 2008). I was able to gather so much information from this trip with the added bonus of strengthening my chocolate making skills. Even better, I found a reason to continue indulging in this creamy treat, within reason, of course! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Lamport, Daniel J., et al. “Beneficial Effects of Dark Chocolate for Episodic Memory in Healthy Young Adults: A Parallel-Groups Acute Intervention with a White Chocolate Control.” Nutrients, vol. 12, no. 2, Feb. 2020, p. 483. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12020483.

Sorond, Farzaneh A., et al. “Cerebral Blood Flow Response to Flavanol-Rich Cocoa in Healthy Elderly Humans.” Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, vol. 4, no. 2, Apr. 2008, pp. 433–40. PubMed Central, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2518374/.

At the beginning of our trip, I told myself I would kick my newfound caffeine addiction, but I quickly realized the importance of coffee in French culture. I decided to make the most of the rich culture while I am here, so, instead of avoiding coffee, I made the goal of trying coffee from a different cafe every day. In America, we are always on the go, which is incorporated in our coffee preferences. At school, I find myself preferring to grab a coffee from Blue Donkey or Starbucks on my way to class instead of enjoying the drink while sitting with my friends. In France, coffee and meals are a social event, and I have noticed myself finishing my food and drink faster than other patrons, something I try to be mindful of while I am here. I have enjoyed the slower pace of meals in Paris, as it offers a great time to catch up with friends and destress after class, homework, and our various excursions.

In our neuroethics class, we discussed whether coffee is considered a cognitive enhancer, an interesting question when you consider how popular the drink has become in modern times. During our discussion, one of my classmates mentioned the neuroprotective properties of coffee. Wanting to investigate this more, I searched for further research and stumbled upon an article about the effects of elevated coffee intake, defined as consuming more than three cups of coffee per day, in patients coinfected with HIV and HCV. In our NBB 402W class, we read and reviewed a paper discussing the coinfection of HIV and syphilis, so this research seemed related. As I read the paper, I learned that people who are coinfected with HIV and HCV experience an accelerated aging process and cognitive impairment. The authors researched regular coffee intake and neurocognitive performance using data from 139 coinfected patients. Their results found a significant, positive correlation between elevated coffee intake and neurocognitive performance in verbal fluency, psychomotor speed, and executive functioning, suggesting that increased coffee intake may preserve neurocognitive functioning in people living with HIV/HCV coinfection (Antwerpes et al., 2020).

Although this study focused on sexually transmitted diseases, I wonder about the correlation between coffee and neurodegenerative diseases. With a history of dementia in my family, and the amount of coffee I have been consuming this past year, it brings me hope that my coffee addiction could be doing something other than charging my credit card $5 a day.

Citation:

Antwerpes, S., Protopopescu, C., Morlat, P., Marcellin, F., Wittkop, L., Di Beo, V., Salmon Céron, D., Sogni, P., Michel, L., Carrieri, M. P., & The Anrs Co Hepavih Study Group (2020). Coffee Intake and Neurocognitive Performance in HIV/HCV Coinfected Patients (ANRS CO13 HEPAVIH). Nutrients, 12(9), 2532. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092532

On Saturday, May 21^st, Lauren, Sam, and I visited Sacré-Cœur Basilica, known in English as Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The Basilica is located in the 18^th district, an easy walk from our apartments. We walked over stopping for some delicious ice cream along the way. When we got to the Basilica, I did not realize it was located on the summit of the butte Montmartre, which is the highest point in the city. While this created a very picturesque scene, it also meant a lot of stairs to get up. Taking a couple of breaks along the way, we made our way to the top and were rewarded with a gorgeous view of the city. We then entered the Basilica to take in its beauty and learn about its history.

The Basilica’s construction was complete in 1914 and it was consecrated in 1919. It is a Roman Catholic church that is considered both a political and cultural monument. On the inside, the walls and ceiling are covered in paintings and stained glass windows. There are also exhibits highlighting key figures in their history. Although I am Jewish and did not recognize many of the figures or understand their traditions, I could appreciate the beauty and significance of the Basilica to those who connect with it.

When thinking about how to connect this visit with class content, I was curious if there was literature on the neuroscience of religion. I found a review examining religion, spirituality, and their neurobiological correlates (Rim et al., 2019). The review pulled from studies where individuals with different opinions on the importance of religion/spirituality and different levels of engagement in religious/spiritual behaviors were studied using EEG, fMRI, and sMRI to explore neural correlates.

One study in the review that stood out to me was where fMRIs were done while praying (Schjødt et al., 2008). They found that there was increased activation in the caudate nucleus during religious recitals compared to secular recitals. With this finding, the researchers were able to support their hypothesis that repetitive engagement in religious prayer can stimulate the dopaminergic reward pathway. As someone who grew up in a religious environment but never felt spiritually connected, I found this very interesting and it helped me understand why others can feel so connected to religion and prayer while I might not.

Overall, I enjoyed the beauty of the Basilica both inside and out and found it fascinating to explore the neuroscience of religion.

Reference

Rim, J. I., Ojeda, J. C., Svob, C., Kayser, J., Drews, E., Kim, Y., Tenke, C. E., Skipper, J., & Weissman, M. M. (2019). Current Understanding of Religion, Spirituality, and Their Neurobiological Correlates. Harvard review of psychiatry, 27(5), 303–316. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000232\

Schjødt, U., Stødkilde-Jørgensen, H., Geertz, A. W., & Roepstorff, A. (2008). Rewarding prayers. Neuroscience Letters, 443(3), 165–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2008.07.068

By Ally Grubman

This past week, we went to Musee du Chocolat in the 10th arrondissement. Within the museum, we were able to walk around, learn about the history and process of chocolate making, and my favorite part, make our own chocolate bars and chocolate-dipped goodies.

We were given the opportunity to dip marshmallows, candied orange slices, and chocolate squares in milk or dark chocolate and decorate them however we wanted to. We then made and decorated our own chocolate bars, getting fancy and mixing different types of chocolates. This was a fun and yummy experience for all of us!

From an NBB perspective, I learned and feel more confident about my knowledge of chocolate and how it affects the brain. Specifically, within our neuroethics class, we have been talking about drugs and how some have the capability to change or enhance moods. Chocolate is also known to be addictive, something else that it can have in common with certain types of drugs. Wong and Lua (2014) found that chocolate has an incredibly complex relationship with the brain and the way in which it affects an individual’s mood. Each individual is different and can be affected in their own unique and inspiring way. This was something that I found immensely interesting and wondered about after our trip to the Musee du Chocolat. Additionally, Macht and Mueller (2007) found that it was specifically the palatability of the chocolate that immediately improved negative mood within their study conducted on 48 healthy men and women. This reminded me of our assigned article 1 from our NBB402W class, which discussed the effect that cheese has on the HPA axis and stress. Both showed that the palatability of specific foods has the ability to either reduce stress or enhance mood. This is clearly a topic of research that is important for everyone to look at with a closer eye and hope that it is true!

The chocolate museum was a great experience because it taught me a lot about chocolate and piqued my curiosity about the topic. It was also very fun to be able to learn how chocolate is made and see how it was done by a professional. Plus, the goodie bag of chocolates was not bad either! Overall, I think I speak for everyone in the class when I say we really enjoyed the Musee du Chocolat and would recommend it to anyone visiting Paris!

Citations:

Macht, M., & Mueller, J. (2007). Immediate effects of chocolate on experimentally induced mood states. Appetite, 49(3), 667–674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2007.05.004

Wong, S. Y., & Lua, P. L. (2011). Chocolate: food for moods. Malaysian Journal of Nutrition, 17(2), 259–269.