1. What three things did you find most interesting this week? Why?

1. The pain and pain perception topics were interesting. Before participating in
the discussion, I thought pain perception just had to do with the person’s
mentality and their “mental pain threshold”. Talking to other classmates
brought more perspectives, as other people talked about the pain modifiers
like sugar and other medication that would reduce pain (which were also
mentioned in the resource “Week 2: Pain Perception”)
2. The myelination and damage to myelin section was very insightful. As I want
to pursue a career related to biomedical engineering and pharmaceutical
engineering, the MIT Technology Review article was very interesting to me, as
I could be researching about this topic a few years later. I found it truly
amazing that something as small as a fatty layer around the axons could play
a significant role in learning new skills.
3. The neuronal damage unit was very interesting. While I watched the videos
about various neuronal diseases like congenital analgesia, diabetic
neuropathy, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Phantom Limb Pain, I noticed a
commonality: scientists are not even sure why the problem occurs and how to
treat these diseases. I did some extra research on the girl suffering from
congenital analgesia, and she was still alive and well in 2018. It’s surprising
how doctors and scientists still lack information about neurological diseases,
despite all the research being done.
2. What two things were challenging or difficult this week? Why? And what did you do
to overcome the challenge or difficulty?
1. 2.7 ND Project Research was a bit challenging. I haven’t learned much about
genes besides mitosis (as a part of IB Biology HL), so I had to do some extra
research about genes and how they go through transcription and translation
to produce proteins. Besides that, the research part was fun;
2. The neuron signaling quiz was a bit difficult. As I haven’t learned about the
synaptic transmission yet in IB Biology (I will probably learn next year), I had
to teach myself the neuron signaling processes, from actional potential to
synaptic transmission. I did this through watching the Crash Course videos
and drawing each process in my notebook.
3. What one thing describes your overall experience in the course this week? How so?
1. I feel like 2.6 Explore: Neuronal Signaling highlights my overall experience in
the course this week. Understanding this lesson was key to understanding all
the other lessons. Furthermore, learning this section was really meaningful,
since now I actually know how neurons transmit signals. Before the lesson, I
wouldn’t be able to explain the process of neuronal signaling to another
person. Now I can! :D