Happy Birthday to me!

Well, today is my birthday. I am officially a 22 year old. I guess that's old, but I don't really feel that much is different from yesterday. Maybe that's because I'm amidst the medical school grind. Oh and probably because I'm still one of the youngest (maybe the youngest actually, I have yet to meet someone younger!) in my class.

Today is a really good day. Not only did I get to hear from a gaggle of my friends and family, but I also got to...

1. Hold a real HUMAN brain!!!!
2. Eat my mom's homemade carrot cake. I'm really not sure that there is a better cake in existence.  
3. Begin dance classes at a local dance studio! It's been 4 years since I've consistently taken classes at a studio, so I was nervous to begin. I've really missed dancing since HC dance team ended in February, so it was nice to be back at it. The class wasn't as challenging as I expected, but dancing is still dancing. Tonight was lyrical and tomorrow will be jazz.
4. Wear my special cupcake necklace that is for birthday celebrations only! A local artist made it and my best friend Laura gave it to me a few years ago for my birthday present. I absolutely adore it! 
5. Go out for ice cream with my wonderful roommate. But she lost some roomie points because she was a jerk and put my gift in this bag: 

For those of you who don't know, I'm absolutely terrified of squirrels.  No seriously, I HATE them. Of course the running joke is always to get me squirrel-related presents, but seriously, on my birthday?!?? Anyway, she made up for it because she got me an AWESOME scarf and beautiful earrings.

So, some of you might not understand why holding a real human brain is so cool, but don't worry. I'm going to tell you my top reasons for why the brain is so freaking awesome. It's seriously incredible, but I think it's even more amazing because it does all of its cool brainy stuff in just 3-5 lbs of weight! I suppose that means that I can't use the excuse that "my brain is getting bigger" while at med school if I put on weight from study-snacking...

Look, even this picture depicts how awesome brains are. Aren't those glasses pretty snazzy? I sure think so!

Okay, but now what y'all have been waiting for...my top reasons the brain is awesome (I don't want to put a numerical limit on my reasons, because I'm sure to find out more as the years progress)!

The brain is awesome because...

1. Your personality is in there. What makes you distinctly YOU resides just above your eyes in the frontal cortex. Scientists (whether neurobiologists or psychologists) don't really even understand how it works...how cool is that!?!
2. It works on electricity. Seriously! Just like the stuff that comes out of the wall. Except I don't suggest that you add any additional external electricity to your brain because electrocution is a bad deal. Plus the body makes its own based on ion gradients (yay, biochem!).
3. It sends out cells to receive sensory information throughout your whole body (light touch, sharp touch, pain, proprioception), BUT it doesn't even have its own sensory cells! Once you get beyond the nerves of the bone and meninges (3 protective layers over brain and spinal cord), the brain doesn't actually "feel" anything. That's the reason why patients can stay awake during brain surgery! 
4. The brain processes things seriously quickly. We have some incredible computing ability up there and usually it goes faster than any machine that humans have built to date. 
5. All of your muscles work because of electrical signals (more electricity) sent from the brain. Think about how complex the motion of waving goodbye is... (1) Visualizing person to say goodbye to, (2) Processing thought "I want to say goodbye," (3) Raising arm at shoulder joint, extending forearm, making 'bye-bye' motion with fingers and wrist involvement, lowering arm, etc. That's a gross oversimplification of the process but you get the idea. AND there are a bunch of muscles involved in each of those actions that are even given their signal (innervation) by different nerves. All of those things have to go right for us to do even something as simple as waving. 
6. You don't have to think of automatic processes like breathing, blinking, temperature control, digesting, etc. Interestingly, you can also control some of these processes consciously too. 
7. The brain doesn't sleep. Even while your body catches some Zzzs the brain is processing and organizing information and experiences of the previous day(s). AND it is repairing itself (within reason) throughout all of that.
8. Speaking of sleep....dreams. Those are some crazy things. 
9. You have memories. We don't even realize that we remember most of the things that we do!
10. The brain is also controlled by chemicals. These chemicals work with the electricity to send signals to other parts of the body. Lots of diseases/disorders arise because of an imbalance of these chemicals. 

Okay, 10 reasons will be enough for today. I probably should actually do some studying. Surprisingly, the professors didn't give me the day off even though it's my birthday ;) (kidding, I never expected them to). 

Thank you to everyone who made this day extra special! I am seriously overwhelmed by the love and support I have felt today from all of you. Here's to another great year!