Refractory periods

So, the picture above is of an action potential, i.e the electrical excitation of a neuron. As you can see, there is a sharp spike, followed by a dip which is below the baseline of the initial spike. In this state, the neuron is unable to be excited and initiate another action potential. I would liken the graph to my brain. I studied my brains out in anatomy, took the last test, and have been in a refractory period wherein I can't excite my neurons to study hard again. Our new units are Cell Biology and Metabolism, which are really two sides of the same coin, but are separate classes. Cell bio is mainly histology, or the microscopic study of tissues. Metabolism is going to be protein regulation, and pathways, pathways, pathways. At the moment, we haven't had too much material that I hadn't at least had to some degree in undergrad. I'm actually glad that I studied the binding of O2 to Hemoglobin for 5 weeks in my biochem class. Anyway, back to the refractory period. So in essence, I'm having a hard time gearing up to study with the same intensity. I also have not yet figured out to what depth I need to know the material. In anatomy, it was easy but tedious. You just memorize the 9 pages of syllabus for the day and you were good to go. Right now, I don't have any idea what the best way to study is.

We have a lot of great resources to learn from here. For histo, the best thing we have is virtual microscopy. We have a microscope lab, and I can go there 24 hrs a day to look at slides if I want to. Or, I can stay at home and using my balky cable connection, I can access the same slides online. I can do all the same zooming, focusing, and examination, but with the added benefits of: no headaches from staring through lenses, having a thumbnail image to tell me where on the slide I'm looking, and best of all, labels that can appear to point out what the purple blobs really are. I have a friend who is red/green colorblind, but he seems to be doing ok. A lot to the slides we're looking at are H/E preparations (hematoxylin and eosin for the science geeks) so they're essentially various shades of pink and purple. He alleges, however, that he can figure stuff out from contrast alone, but we're all crossing our fingers he'll be ok.

Things are generally going pretty well, I have my one exam in Biostatistics this week, so I'll have to spend some time away from my main classes studying for that. Fortunately, as long as you study, the exam is reputedly an easy pass. Isn't that they way they all are? as long as you study, you won't have any problems? duh! Well, in anatomy, I don't know how I could have honored it unless I'd had the material before or unless I had a photographic memory, there was just so much in such a short time span. Fortunately, I like chemistry so this stuff now is pretty fun to learn. I might sing a different tune in the next few weeks, but that's how I feel now. It is time, however, that by hook or by crook, I must depolarize my brain again enough that I can study hard this week and get back to work.
-Spiff