Over the years science has always been an interest of mine. I can remember from elementary on up loving science class. The "why's & how's" of life have always fascinated me. I have finally found a focus of my love of science: Neurology.
Our brains control everything we do. When things go coo-coo upstairs, we can't function properly. I've witnessed firsthand what can happen when chemicals are off balance, and the havoc that it reeks on ones life. I want to find out more about what we can do to fix our brains. I want to research and makes discoveries about the human brain. I want to make connections between our brains, the choices we make, how it effects our bodies & our spirits, and so much more.
Due to my desire to raise my children, I am putting off going to school to become a Neurologist. And, due to the money, time commitment of becoming a doctor and doing it later in life, I may just become a Neurophysiologist. It's only 8 years of school instead of 12. We shall see. In the meantime, I'm reading as much as I can about my chosen topic and loving every minute. If I could spend all day reading neuroscience books, I would. I know, geeky, but it's struck a cord in me!
Currently I am reading the book Brainscapes by Richard Restak, M.D. I've learned so much already from his book (which was published in 1995...just think of everything else I could learn from the books published since then!). I had an 'ah-ha' moment when I read the following paragraph:
"Special drugs that prevent the reuptake of serotonin from the synapse produce the most efficient and successful antidepressant effect of any pharmaceutical treatment in history. Included in this category is Prozac, a psychiatric drug that has exerted a powerful social and cultural impact on American society. Its truly astonishing effects on deep-seated and prolonged depressions have revolutionized our ideas about emotions and thought. If a person can begin to feel better about himself or herself as a result of a chemical that modifies the action of a brain neurotransmitter, even in situations when no outward change has taken place in that person's day-to-day existence, what does that imply about the biological foundation for our inner life? At the very least it supports what neuroscientists have been suggesting over the past three decades: All things mental are embedded within the chemistry and neuronal circuitry of the brain.....it's sufficient to point out that panic disorders, anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are no longer looked upon as the result of mysterious and controversial psychological dysfunctions, but the outer manifestations of intrinsic brain malfunctions." - page 56
I've got a number of other such moments, but I'll save blogging about those for a later time.
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