Runnig

(Xiang Liu won the 110m hurdle race world champion! And I'm actually thrilled~~~ My heart beat with his every movement in that 12.95 seconds. )

If THE muscles have the rhythm of the watch,
If THE body has the speed of the mind,
If THE legs have the accuracy of words,
If THE heart knows no intimidation,
If THE eye sees no other path,
If the worlds breath cannot hold the thirteen seconds...
Then we have a world champion!

I read this interesting note on baseline brain activity in an newpaper article today (although the newspaper is a few days old), that brings up some thought about fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). It's translated from the Discovery, but I cannot find the original article on the internet, so I'll just refer to the Chinese version (参考消息，07/08/01，大脑十大未解之谜). 

It brings up the notion for a reestablishment and reevaluation of baseline brain activity. We all know that our brain is active all of the time, even when you're resting or sleeping--this activity seems to be independent of external sensory input or concious internal mental processes(?). Hence, some argue that this baseline activity may be the true substance of our mental life, it's like a constant backstage program that monitors every mental activity. And the "activation" researchers observed during on-line task performing or during sensory input is likely to be a partial modulation or turn-off of the baseline "program" in some brain regions. (It's my own understanding, hope I get this right.^^)

I'm not familiar with researches in line with the baseline brain activity, but only recently started to learn experiment design to incorporate the fMRI. In an fMRI design, we seem to regard baseline only as the control condition, it is something we substract from the task condition activation, to get the meaningful data of "brain areas activated during task performance". 

From my understanding, this design has the underlying rationale of assigning a brain region or structure for a specific function, provided the task is specific enough to target a specific cognitive functional component. If the task involves multiple elements, the baseline should be more carefully matched, so as to cancel out the variances we don't want to include in the study.

Since the "baseline" mentioned here has quite a different role than in the fMRI design, it is helpful to know that there are alternative view points. Perhaps the baseline isn't such a simple and manageable backdrop after all.

Why do people interested in or have a career in science frequently get called NERDS or SCIENCE-GEEKS? Afterall, it's one's right to indulge in books if one wishes; and watching birds all day instead of seeing a movie is fine too. But relax, cause I don't think the majority of science students qualify as geeks, not at all. 

Science can be fun--yeah, for elimentary school kids playing with bugs maybe--it already holds little charm for the majority or bio-students I know, ever since we get a harsh dose of reality... 'Research=being lab potato' and is considered a boring and tedious acitivity. As a biology major I have to confess that I feel the same repulse to lab work. Maybe it is because little effort is made to render it more intellectually stimulating and less routine-like. We undergraduates enter the lab with the mind set to do what we are told, with little thinking towards the goal and meaning of the experimental procedures. Learning lab tech really shouldn't be a goal in itself--the rational behind the experiment design is what matters--although it is a necessary preparation. 

There's a saying among my classmates, that taking a major in bio means a dead end trip, worse still, there's no turning back. You can't get a good job related to biology as a college graduate, you have to go on to graduate school--which frequently lasts all the way to a Ph. D.--virtually endless schooling and frequently onerous lab work......

I don't know if some people are cut out for a career in science or that the brain of science-geek is wired differently than normal people; but I do think that without substantial and well-founded interest, one cannot keep up the constant effort.

To my new blog,

Hey you. You don't know me yet, I'm your owner, or should I say I just created you. To be honest I never know how to keep a pet, or a diary, or anything that requires constant effort. Writing can be an onerous task, it brings on expectations, and hopes make me want to hide myself, I hate pressure. Anyway, I abandoned the old blog a while ago, just thought you should know and don't start expecting too much or get hurt if I accidentally do it again.  Again, I may own you but I don't think you should be 'owned'. I created you but I hope you can live for yourself. Good luck. Cheers!

Jacks