The Big Bad Brain

Hej san!

I'm afraid this will once again be a relatively short post, and I can already tell you not to expect much next week either. It's crunch time for neuroscience! Our final is officially less than two weeks away, and we present our research projects next week. This week has been crammed full of studying, revising my research paper, and occasionally some Swedish homework. The worst part is that it's been gloriously sunny at least every afternoon, and I really want to soak up all the rays I possibly can.

Despite my continual obsession with the sunshine, neuro is as fascinating as ever. This week we had lectures about behavioral genetics, neurotoxicology, neurogenetics, and consciousness. What does it mean to be aware? Is there a genetic component to intelligence, or sexual preference, or mental disorders, and if so, how much of a role does it play? These lectures were structured more as seminars because of their controversial nature, and it's a good contrast to just memorizing the different classes of receptors.

When I can't focus on neuro anymore I turn my attention to Swedish homework. Sometimes it seems like the most intuitive language (which could possibly be because of five weeks of exposure to it before the class started) and sometimes it's just downright puzzling. For example, when you want to make a Swedish noun plural, you don't just add "s" to the end, you have to add a different ending depending on what letter the noun ends with and whether it's an "en" or "ett" noun. (Swedish nouns have a "gender" the same way Spanish nouns do.) It's fun to learn, even though I don't know enough yet to really read anything all in Swedish.

Occasionally I can't help but go out in the sunshine. I discovered last weekend a trail running through the trees just past the ICA (grocery store) and it's my new favorite place to go walk or run. My other fun adventure for this weekend: Henri is teaching me how to makes crepes, the French way. I'm so excited! But after that it will be back to the crunch, at least for a little bit.

Until next time,
Hej då!