…It’s only been more than two months since I last posted.
Let me assure all of you readers (what’s left of you that is) that I’m alive. I had an UBERbusy quarter – not that that is in anyway an excuse for my lack of posting activity – the demands of which exceeded my capacity keep up with it I regret to say. At least I now know my way around the mammalian brain… not to the degree a neurologist does of course, but (hopefully) well enough to pass a graduate anatomy class on the subject.
For my rotation project this past quarter I learned the “bread and butter” technique of neuronal biophysics, patch-clamping; a technique which lead to the discovery of voltage and ligand gated ion channels in neurons (a discovery worthy of the Nobel Prize back in the day). I will not reveal how many rat pups were sacrificed so my klutzy ass could learn how to whole cell patch clamp. Let’s just say that if God has a preference to rats during my time of judgment, I face damnation.
After patch-clamping onto 3, layer 2-3, cortical neurons, I chose the best one and measured several of it’s dynamical properties so I could “fit” a simplified mathematical model to replicate it’s spiking behavior to steady input. Trust me, the process of “fitting” the model tested the limits of my sanity. But, in these few final days before I have to present my findings, I prevailed in solving for a set of satisfactory parameters so that I can now test the model’s response to dynamic input; the primary aim of my project. As I sit here typing this, I’m running analyses on my model simulations driven by white noise stimuli. The analyses will probably take longer than an hour and keep in mind this is on my new PowerBook G4. [This thing has already paid itself off and I’ve never been so in love with a machine before.] Secretly, I hope that the model is not sufficient to replicate the dynamic response. A negative outcome would make my talk buttloads easier. Below is a graphic of which I am quite proud. It depicts both the threshold response of my recorded neuron and that of the fitted simplified model.
This coming spring quarter, my final rotation will entail cognitive representation of complex visual stimuli in the IT cortex. My research interests are in movement, not cognition, and I know jackshit about this area of neuroscience so I have a lot of catching up to do. Who knows, I may even enjoy research on cognition, but the little exposure I’ve already had to this subject leads me to believe otherwise. My reasons for selecting this particular lab are more practical than anything else. I want to have exposure working with primates before I make the decision to land in a lab where such investigatory methods are used for studying movement (the lab of my fall quarter rotation does this, but the nature of my project did not involve working with primates).
Enough already. I hope that all of you are well. I miss you.