Somehow my neuro rotation is already over. In theory neurology is really cool...but in practice it's one of the last things I would want to do. I love neuroscience. I love the brain. While I'm not wild about dissecting mouse neurons (and killing mama rats), figuring out how the mind works is the next frontier. So cool. I would love to stick people in fMRI machines all day and see what happens (aside from them getting really claustrophobic) just like in Why We Love.
So what don't I love about neuro? For the interesting diseases such as ALS, Muscular Dystrophy, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's there's only so much (or nothing at all) we can do to treat patients right now. While the doctors can provide support and guidance, really they're just there to watch you slowly die. You can give people who have strokes TPA if they get to the hospital in time, but if they don't you just verify that they had a stroke and send them off to rehab. And don't get me started with all of the chronic pain/headache patients. I have total respect for doctors who manage that sort of amorphous complaint, because the pain certainly can be real, but not necessarily physiologic. Sure there are some great seizure medications out there, but then you have to differentiate the real from the "ma'am, that was not a seizure, that was a dance move". Oh how I love pseudoseizures, excuse me, "non-epileptic seizures". Every day of the past two weeks I kind of felt like I would have one myself if I didn't get out soon.
In other words, I hope to continue learning as much as I can about the brain for my own enlightenment. What's not to love about Oliver Sacks and "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat"? Plus Eric Kandel's amazing autobiography "In Search of Memory", apparently now also a documentary, was one of the most inspiring books about research I've ever read. And then we have the story of our very own Jill Bolte Taylor...check out her priceless "Brain Bank Song" she sang on Oprah's Soul Series (Part 4 Minute 25:15). I could sure use some inner peace right now, but I'd like to pass on the hemorrhage.
