Tuesday, February 20
Today I started doing EM reconstruction. In other words, I traced astrocytes. Astrocytes are the other cells in the brain besides neurons that support the structure of the brain and also affect signaling. The lab is looking at the different surface area, number, and volume of astrocytes in the brain during the day versus during the night. I trace the cells throughout different slides, then the computer program turns them into 3D models. The program is very finicky, so it took a while to get just one traced. I Skyped my mentor last Thursday to talk about my paper. During that time, I realized that rather than writing a paper about what dendritic spines are, I am suppose to write an actual scientific paper. That is, there needs to be a question and an introduction, methods, results, and discussion section. This has provided to be extremely challenging, especially since I am in the midst of taking my first biology course and I never taken a course in neuroscience. I am sticking with the challenge and trying to do as much research as I can, but at the moment every paper I read goes way over my head. To try to fix this problem, I met with Ms. Harrison (a former science teacher at my school) on Sunday night. She taught me some of the basics, and we tried to brainstorm what my paper will look like. While Ms. Harrison taught me a lot, we could not figure everything out and I have to ask Annalisa more questions about the part of the research that I missing. Since I am only at the lab for 3 hours every week, I feel like I am only getting little pieces of the puzzle (the puzzle being the entire research project that is happening in the lab). I have all these little bits, but they do not seem to be fitting together. This is frustrating to me because I learn best by seeing the whole picture and the connections between different aspects. I will continue trying to better understand what is happening in the lab, but right now I am struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, it will get better soon. ‘Til the next time...
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February 13, 2018
Today I did more spine analysis. I worked on three different dendrites with Justin. I figured out how to use a measuring tool to not only find the length of the dendrite, but also the spine’s neck length which made classifying the different spines significantly easier. However, I still need to find out how to find the spine density. This is an important part of figuring out the strength of the synapse. In other words, how strong the signal transfer between neurons is. The stronger the synapse, the denser the dendritic spine and the more that the organism learns. As I found out by working on my paper, the change in density or shape of a spine can completely change the function of the spine. This change in function can be normal for different ages and stages of growth or it can be abnormal and a sign of a neurological disease. On my way into the lab I ran into Annalisa. She was on her way out, but we had a quick conversation and I realized I completely forgot to ask someone else the passcode to the lab. Now I have to work on communicating more with other members of the lab. I also need to get back to work on my paper! ‘til the next time... February 6, 2018
Today I was able to actually do some dendritic spine analysis. I’ve been working on a paper assigned by my mentor on the topic, so it has been a wonderful opportunity to actually be able to analyze spines rather than just write about them. I struggled on the first dendrite as the image was very blurry. I tried to do as much as possible, but when I told Lianna how blurry it was she said to not waste my time on it and try another. I started working on the second one when an undergraduate came in and helped me. We worked together on the second one, but sadly I had to leave before the first one was completed. As for my paper, I’ve made a lot of progress. I sent a rough draft to my mentor last week. She just sent it back and did a great job editing it and giving feedback. Not even my teachers at Emma have given such thorough feedback. I am very thankful that my mentor was willing to take the one to go over it and help me learn. I’ve never even written a scientific research paper, so it’s nice to have an expert so willing to give advice. Hopefully my paper will turn out well and help me prepare for my presentation in May! 'til the next time... January 30, 2018
Today was another interesting day. I came to the lab and everything was locked. My mentor’s office was closed, the lab was closed. I stayed in the hallway and worked on my paper for 45 minutes. By that point it was obvious that I was missing something. So, I texted and emailed my mentor. Eventually a student showed up and unlocked the lab. I went into the lab, sat at a computer, and worked on researching dendritic spines and writing my paper. Turns out my mentor was at a meeting. She thought I knew the passcode to get into the lab and had everyone's contact information. Well, now I have that info at least. 'til the next time... January 23, 2017
Today I started researching for a paper my mentor asked me to write. The assignment is to write a 1000 word paper on what dendritic spines are, their different shapes, and the number of spines in different areas of the brain. While I had only been exposed to spine analysis two weeks ago, I was able to research and find out more about using Pubmed, a government website which contains scientific fundamental papers and reviews. One interesting thing I learned was that the thin spines I mentioned in my last post can be referred to as learning spines since they are able to grow and become stronger with more cognitive activity. Mushroom spines, on the other hand, are larger and stronger. They do not have the potential to grow as much as thin spines, but are called memory spines instead. I also learned that because the spines are able to change shape, size, and density they are connected to many neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders (including OCD). The dendritic spines are also a major aspect of communication in the Central Nervous System. The spines receive neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) from excitatory synapses. That is, the neurotransmitters go from the axon of one neuron to the dendritic spine of another causing sodium ions to be sent through the postsynaptic neuron and send the signal on to other neurons. For next week, I will try to finish a rough draft of the paper. The goal of the paper is to familiarize myself with the science and reason behind what is happening in the lab. In turn, this will help me present to my high school community in May. I did not go to my internship this week because I had to go home for a family emergency.
January 9, 2018
Today was interesting. When I got to the lab, everyone was surprised to see me. I guess they did not know I was coming in. This normally wouldn’t be an issue, but all three of the people in the lab had to leave for a class in 15 minutes so I was all alone. Lianna left me to do dendritic spines analysis (which I had never done before). So I spent most of the time just researching how to do it. From what I gathered, there are different spines on dendrites that have different shapes. We are trying to identify the different spines and record the number of different spines. The density of the spines is also graphed. The different types of spines include stubby, thin, mushroom, and filipidium. Stubby spines do not have a defined neck and the neck to head ratio is less than 1 micrometer. Thin spines have a length of 1-2 micrometers with a distinctive neck and small, bulb shaped head. Mushroom spines have a wide head and the distance from the dendritic branch to its head (aka neck length) is less than 1.5 micrometers. Filopodia have a spine length of 2 micrometers or more and have a distinct curve shape. These are rare, but there can be multiple on one dendritic branch. I know that the dendrites receive signals from other neurons. However, I’m still confused as to purpose of the spines and what the different shapes mean. From there, I should be able to better understand why there are a different number of spines for D1 vs D2 dopamine receptors. I’ll have to ask next week when I’m not alone in the lab. |
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