NBB Summer Program in Paris

During the first week, we visited the Musée Fragonard.  This housed a series of preserved animal and human displays with a variety normal and abnormal morphology.  Animal research has always been a key component of scientific exploration.  There are many biological processes corresponding to human functioning and animal models allow an in depth look at these mechanisms and their dysfunction.  For example, they had a lamprey on display, which is a common experimental model for central pattern generators in neuroscience research.  However, the issue, especially relevant in the world of neuroscience, is that there are limits to comparing animal and human processes.  Therefore, without human models we have a restricted understanding of risks and safety of certain treatments.  However, as exemplified by the flayed human display (shown above) and the ‘Our Body’ exhibit, we have strict expectations regarding manipulation of human bodies, even after death.

A couple weekends ago, I visited the Artists and Robots exhibit at the Grand Palais.  The show included a series of robots that could “see” and “draw,” digital and sound engineering displays, as well as humanoid robot designs.  There is a similar exhibit up in the High Museum of Art in Atlanta titled “Design in the Digital Age,” that showcases work by the Joris Laarman Lab in digital design and creation of works of art.  The issue that both exhibits are trying to examine is what role does new technology have in our lives and in our modicums of human achievement such as art.  As our understanding of the brain grows, we are getting closer to modelling human processing and creating potentially conscious robots that exceed our current limits of human ability.  We need to think about what role and limits this neurotechnology should have.

On June 4, our class travelled to the medical school to tour the Musée d’Histoire de la Medicine.  They have on display a series of medical advancements and tools, ranging from the first prosthetics to horrifying instruments used to remove kidney stones, all the way to a small decorative coffee table made completely out of human parts.  One of the larger spectacles was the electroshock therapy.  In the 19^thcentury, this machine, used to deliver a light shock to the patient, was thought to cure depression or insanity.  While this contraption looks archaic, the use of electrical impulses to modulate brain activity remains prevalent today. Treatments range from deep brain stimulation for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease to home transcranial direct current stimulation thought to improve a range of cognitive functions (Wexler & Hamilton, 2017).  There is evidence of behavioral changes, although questions of the underlying biolgical mechanisms remain undetermined.

 

Works Cited:

Wexler, Anna & Hamilton, Roy H. (2017). Crowdsourced tDCS Research: Feasible or Fanciful?AJOB Neuroscience, 8(1), 50-53.

On May 30^th, we travelled to a local fromagerie for a cheese tasting. We tried 6 different cheeses from different regions of France, including one from the northwest region of Normandy known as camembert.  Camembert is a soft cheese that features a creamy center and fermented outer shell. Recent research has been investigating the possible neuroprotective aspects of cheese and dairy products, specifically cheeses that have been fermented with bacteria.  Epidemiological studies have shown preliminary evidence that fermented dairy products may be associated with prevention of cognitive decline.  A recent study specifically examined the anti-inflammatory effects of microglia, possibly implicated in cases of dementia, and potential components of the cheese surface that could promote this activity (Ano, Kutsukake, Hoshi, Yoshida, & Nakayama, 2015).  While this data is not yet clinically applicable, this line of research into neuroprotective effects of simple dietary changes has a lot of potential.

 

Works Cited:

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). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0116598

It isn’t an official trip to Paris if you don’t go and visit the Eifel Tower, and it is arguably most beautiful at night when it is all lit up. This is why I went to see it one night when I felt claustrophobic in the house. The view of the Eifel and the breeze over the Seine if definitely a great study break. However, I am glad I do not live very close to the tower, because it would be rather hard to sleep with all that illumination. With all our technology nowadays, it is a known concern that our sleep schedules are getting thrown off. I am at least happy for the people of this neighborhood that the Eifel uses high temperature yellow light that puts you at ease, and not the cold, blue light that comes of off computer screens, which has been shown to have alerting effects.

The Thinker has been a representative figure of a man philosophizing about life for many years. But how many of us actually know that this figure was originally made by Rodin for his depiction of Dante’s Gates of Hell? Inferno is an epic that informs the reader of the fates of several different levels of sin and how they are punished, it is also Dante’s way of taking a jab at his contemporaries who have failed to see his genius, by condemning them to hell for their several sins (I can’t help being reminded of Dr. Canavero here, as he also feels disenfranchised (Ren & Canavero, 2017)). My neuroethics class has shown me that as neuroscientists, we tow the line of science and the spiritual beliefs people hold, especially about their selves and the brain. It may be good practice for us to ponder about the next life too, or at least the implications of our future innovations on peoples already held beliefs on the topic.

Citations:

Ren, X., & Canavero, S. (2017). HEAVEN in the Making: Between the Rock (the Academe) and a Hard Case (a Head Transplant). AJOB Neuroscience, 8(4), 200-205. doi: 10.1080/21507740.2017.1392372