My son’s school had career day last fall and I was excited to present as a student neuroscientist.
My lab examines the axon initial segment (AIS), where action potentials are propagated. Evidence suggests that some of the proteins located in these areas undergo structural remodeling in response to environmental and pathological conditions, such as diabetes. This modification in change of density and location of proteins helps to ensure that signals continue to fire appropriately, to an extent. The Nodes of Ranvier (NOR) are also anatomical regions of interest for my lab. NOR are little gaps in-between areas of myelination that help to increase conduction velocity of action potentials. They are composed of similar proteins as the AIS, and have been shown to behave similarly to the AIS proteins in experimental conditions. I’m currently looking at NOR in the Corpus Callosum through immunohistochemistry.
It was intimidating to sign-up to discuss a career that is definitely not a career career to present to 4th graders. I’m working on a masters degree and don’t plan to pursue a PhD. The last couple years have helped me to know that I love working with patients, and I would pick up extra shifts in the emergency department because I feel at home there. The parts I love about research can be done as an MD. However, I believe strongly in communicating to students that do not have STEM role models in their lives and exposing them to our work. No one in my family had careers in STEM. My mom left high school to marry my dad, and later earned her GED. She is mother to eight of us children, and truly flourishes in her roles. My family helped prepare me to be a wife and a mother, but not a scientist or physician. For most of my life, I did not know that a career in science could be attainable for someone like me. It is my biggest surprise that I am a pre-med in my late thirties as a single mom.
While my presentation would be heavily focused on neuroanatomy and electrophysiology, I wanted it to be consumed by anyone in digestible pieces. This also meant, that I wanted to make it visually appealing, and I have a background in graphic design so this is also near and dear to my heart. I drew inspiration for my neuron cell bodies from colorful tissue paper flowers my mother made to decorate for a presentation my grandparents did at my church when I was little. They sang in Spanish and my grandpa played guitar. I remember she was wearing a traditional colorful Mexican dress. Therefore, I wanted to make a demonstration that was colorful + simple to understand, much like the way I tutor college students in both physiology & neuroscience. It was one of my favorite memories of my grandparents, and I wanted to infuse that into this presentation. The image to the left is a screenshot of a video from that night in the late 80’s.
I made two neurons, and talked about the special shape that differentiates them from other cells. Then I spoke about how their job is to communicate to one another, and had two student volunteers stand across the room from each other and wear the neurons around their necks. Then, I asked for another volunteer to hold the “cable” that would connect them (a stretchy, plastic, rope found at the dollar store). Then I explained that when one neuron’s cable (axon) reaches another neuron, it releases information in the form of neurotransmitters. This was represented by the colorful pom balls I hot glued to the cable. My fingers had the blisters to prove that hot gluing tiny balls with plastic should not be attempted while in a hurry. Another volunteer held the neurotransmitters at the end of one neuron and close to another neuron to model a synapse. Since some neurons need to send messages very quickly, we took out bubble wrap and another volunteer wrapped one part of a neuron in bubble wrap to simulate a fatty myelin sheath that speeds up communication between neurons.
Once we had the circuit set-up, we could also discuss where problems could likely occur. What happens if you drop the cable? What happens if there isn’t enough or too much neurotransmitter? What happens if the myelin is degraded? The students seems to follow this visual, which made me proud.
Two of my professors offered to let me borrow a Wright State electrical circuit demonstration and a plastic brain. The Backyard Brains Claw is a neuroprosthetic device that uses the contraction and relaxation of an arm to control a robotic claw. After electrodes are applied, and the circuit is complete, the students could use the flexion/extension of an arm to open/close the claw and pick up plastic shapes on the desk. It was a really cool moment to watch them visualize this demonstration for the first time. My professors made sure I had enough electrodes for each student that had signed up, which was around one-hundred throughout the day! Some elected not to participate, but many of them did. After the initial “oohhs and ahhs,” we had a discussion about how someone that had lost a limb could possibly regain some function with the use a prosthetic device and nerve impulses from the side that was unaffected. While I worked with a handful of students applying electrodes and helping them sort plastic shapes with the claw, the other students made Play-Doh brains based off what they observed in the brain that I brought. The teacher who hosted me was very helpful with the students crafting brains. It was a nice balance between a hands-on demonstration and individual work, since the groups ranged from approximately seven to seventeen.
I was so happy encourage female students to use this device, and to see many of them participate. I took a seminar course at Wright State a couple years about gender differences in STEM, and some of the research we looked at indicated that we need to reach out to students in elementary school to help encourage them and exposure them to the sciences. This was on my mind when I decided to present.
My son Damian told me that he chose me as the THIRD career day presentation on his list, but I’m glad he was ok with coming to see my demonstration. I’ve been thrilled to be able to spend more time with my boys and become available for projects like this. It helps to keep me motivated and connected to the people I love the most.
Keeping my neurons and hoping to give them demonstration again.
-Andrea