Showing posts with label scientific methods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scientific methods. Show all posts

Monday, February 11, 2019

The Last Best Story in Teaching Anatomy & Physiology | Episode 37



01:17 | Feedback in Online Tests
08:17 | The Anatomical Compass
14:47 | Sponsored by AAA
15:12 | Reserve hematopoiesis
18:09 | Sponsored by HAPS
18:54 | Featured: Last Best Story in Adult Neurogenesis & ANS Pathways
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Scientific theories are tested every time someone makes an observation or conducts an experiment, so it is misleading to think of science as an edifice, built on foundations. Rather, scientific knowledge is more like a web. The difference couldn’t be more crucial. A tall edifice can collapse – if the foundations upon which it was built turn out to be shaky. But a web can be torn in several parts without causing the collapse of the whole. The damaged threads can be patiently replaced and re-connected with the rest – and the whole web can become stronger, and more intricate. (Massimo Pigliucci)

1 | Feedback in Online tests

7 minutes
In Episode 36, Adam Rich called in regarding how we can provide feedback to students taking online tests. I responded that I encourage students to get the correct response from their study buddies—or from me. After the episode aired, Krista Rompolski pointed out that this could be a challenge in very large courses. What do y'all think? Tell us. Really.


2 | The Anatomical Compass

6.5 minutes
Although you and I are comfortable in orienting ourselves to anatomical directions when looking at diagrams, photographs, and specimens in anatomy, our beginning student often are not. The simple process of adding an "anatomical rosette" reflecting the anatomical directions in each encountered diagram can  help students develop the skill of understanding anatomical perspective.

 anatomical rosette


3 | Sponsored by AAA

0.5 minutes
The searchable transcript for this episode, as well as the captioned audiogram of this episode, are sponsored by The American Association of Anatomists (AAA) at anatomy.org. Their big meeting is in April at the Experimental Biology (EB) meeting in Orlando FL. Check it out!
 American Association of Anatomists

4 | Reserve Hematopoiesis

3 minutes
Hematopoietic stem cells  (HSCs) may have a "back-up system" that helps out after damage to the working population. These "reserve" HSCs (rHSCs) may step up when the primed HSCs (pHSCs) cannot keep up with the demand for hematopoiesis.
  • Scientists have identified a bone marrow backup system (summary article) my-ap.us/2BmcoE0
  • N-Cadherin-Expressing Bone and Marrow Stromal Progenitor Cells Maintain Reserve Hematopoietic Stem Cells
    (report by Zhao, et al. in Cell Reports) my-ap.us/2Bk7vLN

 hematopoietic stem cell


5 | Sponsored by HAPS

0.5 minutes
The Human Anatomy & Physiology Society (HAPS) is a sponsor of this podcast. Did you know there's a one-day regional HAPS conference in March? Check it out. You can help appreciate their support by clicking the link below and checking out the many resources and benefits found there.
 HAPS logo

6 | Featured: Last Best Story in Adult Neurogenesis & ANS Pathways

12 minutes
The "last best story" is what I tell my students I'm providing to them. That approach emphasizes the evolving nature of scientific understanding. In this episode, I mention two stories that are evolving right now.
reading a book

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Transcript and captions for this episodeare supported by theAmerican Association of Anatomists.anatomy.org


The Human Anatomy & Physiology Societyalso provides support for this podcast.
theAPprofessor.org/haps

(Clicking on sponsor links helps let them know you appreciatetheir support of this podcast!)

Click here to listen to this episode—or access the detailed notes and transcript.


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Monday, November 28, 2016

Sacral Efferent Pathways are Sympathetic, Not Parasympathetic

A recent report in the journal Science proposed a big change in how we understand the sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways of the autonomic nervous system (ANS).

In a nutshell, the new model stipulates that the outflow (efferent pathways) are divided into a cranial division and spinal division—not the craniosacral and thoracolumbar divisions that we learned (and that exist in all A&P textbooks):

 Current model:
  • Craniosacral division (parasympathetic outflow)
  • Thoracolumbar division (sympathetic outflow)
New model:
  • Cranial division (parasympathetic outflow)
  • Spinal division (sympathetic outflow)
The authors lay out embryological and genetic phenotype evidence to show that the sacral components of the ANS outflow pathways are similar to sympathetic thoracic pathways—not to cranial parasympathetic pathways as we have long supposed. 

But wait, you say, what about the parasympathetic control of the genitals, rectum, bladder? What about, well, all kinds of things that now seem to unravel? I suggest reading the rather brief and plainly written article in Science for the full answer. 

However, a few quick points may reduce your blood pressure a bit—and perhaps pique your interest.

Quick points about the new ANS model

  • Thoracic and sacral pathways share common embryologic development by location and when looking at transcriptional markers associated with neurotransmitters that differ from the developmental pattern of cranial pathways.

  • Thoracic and sacral pathways have a ventral exit point from the spinal cord; cranial pathways have a dorsal exit point.

  • The pelvic ganglion has been considered a "mixed" sympathetic/parasympathetic ganglion because it receives fibers from both the upper lumbar and sacral segments. But if the sacral pathways are sympathetic, the pelvic ganglion is clearly a sympathetic ganglion (not mixed). 

  • Analyses of transcription factors show that cells of the pelvic ganglia resemble those sympathetic ganglia and do not resemble cells in cranial ganglia.

  • The supposed lumbar vs. sacral antagonism in the urinary bladder's detrusor muscle does not seem to hold up, with the lumbar inhibitory effects either not demonstrable in experiments or of questionable functional relevance.

  • The effects on vessel dilation in genitals can be explained as a "continuity of action—rather than antagonism"

  • The sacral pathway to the rectum seems to resemble sympathetic structure, not cranial (parasympathetic) structure.

What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P?

  • When covering the craniosacral/thoracolumbar scheme, consider mentioning this newly proposed model.

  • Consider using this scenario to illustrate the dynamic nature of science. Perhaps discuss that long-held dogma is occasionally challenged using newer methods and ways of thinking.

  • Consider discussing pros and cons of adopting the new model. For example, can evidence from mice extend to all vertebrates? Which is stronger, evidence for the current model or the new model? Which model is most useful in understanding principles of ANS regulation? A little critical thinking never hurt anyone (at least not much).

Want to know more?


 The sacral autonomic outflow is sympathetic
  • I. Espinosa-Medina, O. Saha, F. Boismoreau, Z. Chettouh, F. Rossi, W. D. Richardson, J.-F. Brunet. Science  18 Nov 2016: Vol. 354, Issue 6314, pp. 893-897 DOI: 10.1126/science.aah5454
  • Peer-reviewed research report describing this discovery, Includes an updated version of the classic diagram of sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways.
  • my-ap.us/2fNdcF3

Neural circuitry gets rewired
  • Adameyko, I. Science 18 Nov 2016: Vol. 354, Issue 6314, pp. 833-834 DOI: 10.1126/science.aal2810
  • Companion article to the report cited above, stating that "This finding provokes a serious shift in textbook knowledge, and, as with any fundamental discovery, it brings important practical implications..." and goes on to mention of a few of the implications (e.g., how to treat bladder dysfunction).
  • my-ap.us/2gg9O8P

The Autonomic Nervous System. Part I.
  • John Newport Langley. W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., Cambridge, 1921.80pp.
  • Classic "primary source" that codified the modern concept of the ANS. 
  • my-ap.us/2fYHt3M

 Gray's Anatomy ANS diagram
  • Henry Gray. 1918 (online edition at Bartleby)
  • Classic diagram by Henry Vandyke Carter of ANS pathways from an early edition of Gray's Anatomy.
  • my-ap.us/2fYGMaT or my-ap.us/2gcAmaW

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Monday, October 31, 2016

Sex-Gender Differences in Medical Research

We are only very slowly recognizing the many biological and medical differences between males and females (and masculine/feminine)—besides the obvious ones related to reproduction. There are divergent patterns in the anatomy and physiology of perhaps every body system. However, in medical research male and female subjects are often grouped together in a way that obscures those divergent patterns.

Two "viewpoint" articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) today focus a light on this issue and point the way to improved—more clinically useful—medical research. Links to both articles are listed below.

As one of the articles points out, women have been included in medical trials for only the past few decades. So there is still a lot of work to be done to shore up the database of male-female differences. But also a lot of work to be done in sorting out male-female patterns of health and disease. Then even more work in making this new knowledge part of the everyday practice medicine.

Both articles are brief and relatively nontechnical, but when read together, they provide an important message for those of us teaching pre-clinical health professionals in A&P. That message is that we should consider introducing—then reinforcing—the notion of body-wide sex and gender differences.

Both articles give examples of such differences, but many more are to be found elsewhere, as well. Not that we should teach every possible example in the undergraduate A&P course. However, the general concept of functional variation between males and females may be an important one to emphasize as a sub-theme in our story of the human body.


What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P? 

  • Consider making sex differences a sub-theme in your A&P course.
    • Occasionally point out examples of structural, functional, and clinical patterns of variation that differ between males and females.
      • Compare and contrast sex differences with other types of pattern variations.
      • Discuss "patterns of variability" in contrast to a strictly "binary" view.
    • Consider bringing up sex-difference research that is not yet fully supported.
      • Discuss whether more attention to sex differences across topics in scientific research might help advance this area of knowledge.
      • Discuss the opposing view that there are no clinically significant biological differences between males and females other than those related to reproduction.
    • Look for such examples in your textbook and other teaching/learning resources and point them out to your students.
    • Consider having a classroom or online discussion of this topic. 
    • Ask students to post links to articles that discuss male-female patterns of variation
      • Post to course discussion or course social media channel
      • Bring to class or email to instructor to share with class
      • Post on bulletin board

  • Bring up this issue when discussing how science is done.
    • Consider asking students what effects on public health a more thorough consideration of sex differences may produce.
    • Ask students to look at a study and ask whether sex differences were thoroughly accounted for in the methodology. Could this affect how the study is interpreted and applied in the clinic?


Want to know more? 


 Consideration of Sex Differences in Medicine to Improve Health Care and Patient Outcomes

  • Marianne J. Legato, MD; Paula A. Johnson, MD, MPH; JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH.
  • JAMA. Published online October 31, 2016. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.13995
  • One of the two articles cited in the post above.
  • my-ap.us/2f1pwEv


Reporting Sex, Gender, or Both in Clinical Research? 

  • Janine Austin Clayton, MD; Cara Tannenbaum, MD, MS
  • JAMA. Published online October 31, 2016. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.16405
  • One of the two articles cited in the post above.
  • my-ap.us/2f1jcwM


Let’s Talk About Sex…and Gender!

  • Amanda M. Rossi, PhD; Louise Pilote, MD, MPH, PhD
  • Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. 2016; 9: S100-S101 doi: 10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.116.002660
  • Brief article that addresses the issue of terminology, specifically distinguishing between terms that address sex (male, female) and gender (masculine, feminine). Includes a solid list of references.
  • my-ap.us/2f1Y3Tr
Q-angle image: OpenStax College
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Monday, October 3, 2016

Autophagy Discovery Garners Nobel Prize

The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Yoshinori Ohsumi for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy.

Overview


This year's Nobel Laureate discovered and elucidated mechanisms underlying autophagy, a fundamental process for degrading and recycling cellular components.

The word autophagy (aw-toh-FAY-jee) originates from the Greek words auto-, meaning "self", and phagein, meaning "to eat". Thus, autophagy denotes "self eating".

This concept emerged during the 1960's, when researchers first observed that the cell could destroy its own contents by enclosing it in membranes, forming sack-like vesicles that were transported to a recycling compartment, called the lysosome, for degradation.

Difficulties in studying the phenomenon meant that little was known until, in a series of brilliant experiments in the early 1990's, Yoshinori Ohsumi used baker's yeast to identify genes essential for autophagy. He then went on to elucidate the underlying mechanisms for autophagy in yeast and showed that similar sophisticated machinery is used in our cells.

Ohsumi's discoveries led to a new paradigm in our understanding of how the cell recycles its content. His discoveries opened the path to understanding the fundamental importance of autophagy in many physiological processes, such as in the adaptation to starvation or response to infection. Mutations in autophagy genes can cause disease, and the autophagic process is involved in several conditions including cancer and neurological disease.

Degradation – a central function in all living cells


In the mid 1950's scientists observed a new specialized cellular compartment, called an organelle, containing enzymes that digest proteins, carbohydrates and lipids. This specialized compartment is referred to as a "lysosome" and functions as a workstation for degradation of cellular constituents. The Belgian scientist Christian de Duve was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1974 for the discovery of the lysosome.

New observations during the 1960's showed that large amounts of cellular content, and even whole organelles, could sometimes be found inside lysosomes. The cell therefore appeared to have a strategy for delivering large cargo to the lysosome. Further biochemical and microscopic analysis revealed a new type of vesicle transporting cellular cargo to the lysosome for degradation (Figure 1).

Christian de Duve, the scientist behind the discovery of the lysosome, coined the term autophagy, "self-eating", to describe this process. The new vesicles were named autophagosomes.



Figure 1: Autophagosome. Our cells have different specialized compartments. Lysosomes constitute one such compartment and contain enzymes for digestion of cellular contents. A new type of vesicle called autophagosome was observed within the cell. As the autophagosome forms, it engulfs cellular contents, such as damaged proteins and organelles. Finally, it fuses with the lysosome, where the contents are degraded into smaller constituents. This process provides the cell with nutrients and building blocks for renewal.

During the 1970's and 1980's researchers focused on elucidating another system used to degrade proteins, namely the "proteasome". Within this research field Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko and Irwin Rose were awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation". The proteasome efficiently degrades proteins one-by-one, but this mechanism did not explain how the cell got rid of larger protein complexes and worn-out organelles. Could the process of autophagy be the answer and, if so, what were the mechanisms?

A groundbreaking experiment


Yoshinori Ohsumi had been active in various research areas, but upon starting his own lab in 1988, he focused his efforts on protein degradation in the vacuole, an organelle that corresponds to the lysosome in human cells.

Yeast cells are relatively easy to study and consequently they are often used as a model for human cells. They are particularly useful for the identification of genes that are important in complex cellular pathways. But Ohsumi faced a major challenge; yeast cells are small and their inner structures are not easily distinguished under the microscope and thus he was uncertain whether autophagy even existed in this organism.

Ohsumi reasoned that if he could disrupt the degradation process in the vacuole while the process of autophagy was active, then autophagosomes should accumulate within the vacuole and become visible under the microscope. He therefore cultured mutated yeast lacking vacuolar degradation enzymes and simultaneously stimulated autophagy by starving the cells.

The results were striking! Within hours, the vacuoles were filled with small vesicles that had not been degraded (Figure 2). The vesicles were autophagosomes and Ohsumi's experiment proved that authophagy exists in yeast cells. But even more importantly, he now had a method to identify and characterize key genes involved this process. This was a major break-through and Ohsumi published the results in 1992.
Figure 2: Yeast. In yeast (left panel) a large compartment called the vacuole corresponds to the lysosome in mammalian cells. Ohsumi generated yeast lacking vacuolar degradation enzymes. When these yeast cells were starved, autophagosomes rapidly accumulated in the vacuole (middle panel). His experiment demonstrated that autophagy exists in yeast. As a next step, Ohsumi studied thousands of yeast mutants (right panel) and identified 15 genes that are essential for autophagy.


Autophagy genes are discovered


Ohsumi now took advantage of his engineered yeast strains in which autophagosomes accumulated during starvation. This accumulation should not occur if genes important for autophagy were inactivated. Ohsumi exposed the yeast cells to a chemical that randomly introduced mutations in many genes, and then he induced autophagy.

His strategy worked! Within a year of his discovery of autophagy in yeast, Ohsumi had identified the first genes essential for autophagy. In his subsequent series of elegant studies, the proteins encoded by these genes were functionally characterized. The results showed that autophagy is controlled by a cascade of proteins and protein complexes, each regulating a distinct stage of autophagosome initiation and formation (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Stages of autophagosome formation. Ohsumi studied the function of the proteins encoded by key autophagy genes. He delineated how stress signals initiate autophagy and the mechanism by which proteins and protein complexes promote distinct stages of autophagosome formation.


Autophagy – an essential mechanism in our cells


After the identification of the machinery for autophagy in yeast, a key question remained. Was there a corresponding mechanism to control this process in other organisms? Soon it became clear that virtually identical mechanisms operate in our own cells. The research tools required to investigate the importance of autophagy in humans were now available.

Thanks to Ohsumi and others following in his footsteps, we now know that autophagy controls important physiological functions where cellular components need to be degraded and recycled.

Autophagy can rapidly provide fuel for energy and building blocks for renewal of cellular components, and is therefore essential for the cellular response to starvation and other types of stress.

After infection, autophagy can eliminate invading intracellular bacteria and viruses. Autophagy contributes to embryo development and cell differentiation. Cells also use autophagy to eliminate damaged proteins and organelles, a quality control mechanism that is critical for counteracting the negative consequences of aging.

Disrupted autophagy has been linked to Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes and other disorders that appear in the elderly. Mutations in autophagy genes can cause genetic disease. Disturbances in the autophagic machinery have also been linked to cancer. Intense research is now ongoing to develop drugs that can target autophagy in various diseases.

Autophagy has been known for over 50 years but its fundamental importance in physiology and medicine was only recognized after Yoshinori Ohsumi's paradigm-shifting research in the 1990's. For
Yoshinori Ohsumi was born 1945 in Fukuoka, Japan. He received a Ph.D. from University of Tokyo in 1974. After spending three years at Rockefeller University, New York, USA, he returned to the University of Tokyo where he established his research group in 1988. He is since 2009 a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

More background on the winner and the prize


Yoshinori Ohsumi was born in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1945.  He is affiliated with the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Tokyo, Japan. His monetary award will be nearly one million dollars.

The Nobel Assembly, consisting of 50 professors at Karolinska Institutet, awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Its Nobel Committee evaluates the nominations. Since 1901 the Nobel Prize has been awarded to scientists who have made the most important discoveries for the benefit of mankind.his discoveries, he is awarded this year's Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine.

Nobel Prize® is the registered trademark of the Nobel Foundation

What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P?


  • Consider using the Nobel Prizes as a discussion-starter in your class about 
    • How science influences society
    • How society influences science
    • How science progresses
    • Rewarding of science discoveries
    • What makes a discovery "important"

  • Relate this discovery to prior (or upcoming) discussions of 
    • Cell function
    • Organelle specialization
    • How cells handle protein
    • How autophagosomes work with lysosomes
    • Compare/contrast with phagocytosis
    • Compare/contrast with proteasome function and protein "quality control

  • Relate this discovery to the general idea of cellular mechanisms of disease
    • Consider taking this opportunity to emphasize "why we need to know all this" detail about cellular structure and function.

Want to know more?


Scientific Background Discoveries of Mechanisms for Autophagy

  • Larsson, N-G, Msucci, M. G. Nobelprize.org accessed 8 October 2016
  • A more advanced summary of the prizewinning discovery, including a handy glossary of terms.
  • my-ap.us/2dHaipm


 Honorary Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi wins Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2016

  • Tokyo Tech News. 3 October 2016
  • Summary of biography and scientific work of the prizewinner.
  • my-ap.us/2dHbyc6


Autophagy in yeast demonstrated with proteinase-deficient mutants and conditions for its induction.

  • Takeshige, K., Baba, M., Tsuboi, S., Noda, T. and Ohsumi, Y. (1992). Journal of Cell Biology 119, 301-311
  • One of the scientific reports of the discovery.
  • my-ap.us/2dHakO9


 Isolation and characterization of autophagy-defective mutants of Saccharomyces cervisiae. 

  • Tsukada, M. and Ohsumi, Y. (1993). FEBS Letters 333, 169-17
  • One of the scientific reports of the discovery.
  • my-ap.us/2dH9mkY


A protein conjugation system essential for autophagy. 

  • Mizushima, N., Noda, T., Yoshimori, T., Tanaka, Y., Ishii, T., George, M.D., Klionsky, D.J., Ohsumi, M. and Ohsumi, Y. (1998). Nature 395, 395-398
  • One of the scientific reports of the discovery.
  • my-ap.us/2dHbd92

A ubiquitin-like system mediates protein lipidation.

  • Ichimura, Y., Kirisako T., Takao, T., Satomi, Y., Shimonishi, Y., Ishihara, N., Mizushima, N., Tanida, I., Kominami, E., Ohsumi, M., Noda, T. and Ohsumi, Y. (2000).  Nature, 408, 488-492
  • One of the scientific reports of the discovery.
  • my-ap.us/2dH809y


 Honoring the 2016 Nobel laureates with free access to selections of their research

  • Elisa Nelissen Elsevier Connect. October 3, 2016
  • This blog post provides links to download the most cited papers the laureates published with Elsevier, a major publisher of scientific journals and references.
  • my-ap.us/2dH92T4

 Hot Topic in Biochemistry: Role of Autophagy in Human Health and Disease
  • Sharon Tooze. YouTube 20 December 2011
  • Brief video of webcast presentation at the Biochemical Society Hot Topic event.
  • youtu.be/0kiZdHhCtZQ


Some content, including illustrations,
is adapted from the press release
and other resources at Nobelprize.org


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Friday, June 26, 2015

There May Not Be a Single Language Comprehension Center in the Brain

A recent paper in the journal Brain, a journal of neurology, challenges the long-held notion that the sensory speech area of the left temporal lobe of the cerebrum—often called the Wernicke area—acts as the center of language comprehension.

Wernicke area
The report describes research that leads one to the conclusion that although the Wernicke area (pictured) apparently has a role in understanding individual words, the task of sentence comprehension is accomplished by a complex network of diverse areas of the cerebrum. These include, "temporoparietal components of Wernicke’s area, Broca’s area, and [the] dorsal premotor cortex."

What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P?


  • When discussing the sensory speech (Wernicke) area, one might bring up this discovery and how it may modify our description of its main function.

  • This discovery is a good example of how science works—how theories are formed and how they are modified as new information is discovered.  And how new research must be confirmed before it becomes widely established as fact.

  • When discussing cerebral localization of function, this story may be helpful in emphasizing that complex cerebral functions often involve integration of diverse cortical areas.

  • This story is a good example of our rapidly advancing knowledge of complex brain function.

  • You'll sound very "with it" when you can drop in casual asides about the latest brain research in your classroom discussions!

Want to know more?


New Human Brain Language Map | Researchers find that Wernicke’s area, thought to be the seat of language comprehension in the human brain for more than a century, is not.
  • Bob Grant. The Scientist  Published online June 26, 2015
  • Brief, plain-English article summarizing the recent findings.
  • my-ap.us/1QTTN5z 

The Wernicke conundrum and the anatomy of language comprehension in primary progressive aphasia 
  • M-Marsel Mesulam , et al. Brain. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/brain/awv154 First published online: 25 June 2015
  • The original research article.
  • my-ap.us/1QTWPXw

Scientists redraw traditional brain map of language comprehension
  • Northwestern University press release. Published online June 25, 2015
  • my-ap.us/1QTYpsl


Cortical Areas Involved in Speech Processing



Image credits: Database Center for Life Science (Wernicke area)
Leuthardt, et al. (cortical speech areas)

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Monday, June 15, 2015

Virtual Cardiology Lab


Looking for a supplemental hands-on activity with cardiology in your course?

Try the FREE online interactive Cardiology Virtual Lab from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

It covers these concepts:
  • Symptoms of a selection of heart diseases, to serve as examples of what kinds of things can go wrong with the heart. 
    • How are symptoms detected and why?
  • Tools and techniques used for diagnosis. 
    • What can the different techniques detect and how do they work?
  • Principles of pedigree analysis.


What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P?



  • Link to this virtual lab activity from your online syllabus, course web page, or LMS (or in an email  or tweet to students)
  • If you want to give course points for the lab, consider an online quiz or lab report submitted through your learning management system (LMS) or emailed to you.
  • Gives students a "real life" clinical lab application for the concepts they are learning in A&P.
  • Provides a cardiology lab option for online/hybrid courses or wet labs that don't have funding for cardiology experiments.
  • Helps integrate principles of genetics with cardiology, so it can be used in your genetics unit.


Want to know more?


Cardiology Virtual Lab

  • BioInteractive. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Accessed 16 Sep 2014.
  • This virtual lab will familiarize you with heritable diseases of the heart. Learn about the diagnostic tools used to examine and diagnose patients.
  • my-ap.us/1qKWiK7

BioInteractive Virtual Labs

  • BioInteractive. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Accessed 16 Sep 2014.
  • List of all the FREE virtual labs offered by HHMI's BioInteractive project.
  • my-ap.us/1wAX92q

Cardiovascular Topics

  • Kevin Patton. The A&P Professor. Various dates.
  • List of previous blog posts on cardiovascular topics
  • my-ap.us/1uEGngu

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Monday, February 2, 2015

Virtual Immunology Lab


Looking for a supplemental hands-on activity with the immune system in your course?

Try the FREE online interactive Immunology Virtual Lab from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

It covers these concepts:

  • The basis of humoral immunity 
  • The foundation for ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)
  • Potential errors in conducting an ELISA
  • Sensitivity and specificity of a diagnostic test


What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P?



  • Link to this virtual lab activity from your online syllabus, course web page, or LMS (or in an email  or tweet to students)
  • If you want to give course points for the lab, consider an online quiz or lab report submitted through your learning management system (LMS) or emailed to you.
  • Gives students a "real life" clinical lab application for the concepts they are learning in A&P.
  • Provides an immunology lab option for online/hybrid courses or wet labs that don't have funding for immunology experiments.


Want to know more?


Immunology Virtual Lab

  • BioInteractive. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Accessed 16 Sep 2014.
  • This virtual lab teaches the procedures of performing an ELISA test to determine whether a particular antibody is present in a patient's blood sample.
  • my-ap.us/YPWv3f
ELISA
  • MedlinePlus. National Library of Medicine. Accessed 16 Sep 2014
  • Brief overview of what ELISA is.  You can link your students to this as a brief intro to the virtual lab.
  • my-ap.us/1o1dVjg

BioInteractive Virtual Labs

  • BioInteractive. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Accessed 16 Sep 2014.
  • List of all the FREE virtual labs offered by HHMI's BioInteractive project.
  • my-ap.us/1wAX92q

Immunity Topics

  • Kevin Patton. The A&P Professor. Various dates.
  • List of previous blog posts on the topic of immunity.
  • my-ap.us/XdWVyO



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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Nobel Prize 2014: Super-resolved fluorescence microscopy


The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2014 to

Eric Betzig
Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA,

Stefan W. Hell
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, and German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany

and

William E. Moerner
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

“for the development of
super-resolved fluorescence microscopy”


Surpassing the limitations of the light microscope


For a long time optical microscopy was held back by a presumed limitation: that it would never obtain a better resolution than half the wavelength of light. Helped by fluorescent molecules the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 2014 ingeniously circumvented this limitation. Their ground-breaking work has brought optical microscopy into the nanodimension.

In what has become known as nanoscopy, scientists visualize the pathways of individual molecules inside living cells. They can see how molecules create synapses between nerve cells in the brain; they can track proteins involved in Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases as they aggregate; they follow individual proteins in fertilized eggs as these divide into embryos.

It was all but obvious that scientists should ever be able to study living cells in the tiniest molecular detail. In 1873, the microscopist Ernst Abbe stipulated a physical limit for the maximum resolution of traditional optical microscopy: it could never become better than 0.2 micrometres. Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner are awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014 for having bypassed this limit. Due to their achievements the optical microscope can now peer into the nanoworld.

Two separate principles are rewarded. 


One enables the method stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, developed by Stefan Hell in 2000. Two laser beams are utilized; one stimulates fluorescent molecules to glow, another cancels out all fluorescence except for that in a nanometre-sized volume. Scanning over the sample, nanometre for nanometre, yields an image with a resolution better than Abbe’s stipulated limit.

Eric Betzig and William Moerner, working separately, laid the foundation for the second method, single-molecule microscopy. The method relies upon the possibility to turn the fluorescence of individual molecules on and off. Scientists image the same area multiple times, letting just a few interspersed molecules glow each time. Superimposing these images yields a dense super-image resolved at the nanolevel. In 2006 Eric Betzig utilized this method for the first time.

Today, nanoscopy is used world-wide and new knowledge of greatest benefit to mankind is produced on a daily basis.


This video is a brief animation of how STED works and how it improves resolution of individual particles.



This video is a longer, more detailed presentation by one of the Nobel laureates (Hell).



What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P?

  • Discuss how this technology has enabled us to better visualize the chemicals and structures within our cells, enabling scientists to better understand the structure and function of cell, organelles, microbiome constituents, and other structures of the human body.

  • If you do a brief run-through of the theory of microscopy—perhaps in your A&P lab—you can add a mention of this technology.  

  • Your textbook or other learning resource may already have an example of this type of microscopy.

  • A discussion of this  Nobel Prize could evolve into a meaningful example of how science works, including how incremental improvements in classical tools for observation expand the number of questions that can be answered.

  • Use the links below (and images above) to use for a handout and/or teaching slides.


Want to know more?


Resources from Nobelprize.org

  • Popular Information 
  • Scientific Background
    • Handout: More detailed information includes references to original research articles
    • my-ap.us/ZdLJ69
  • Advanced Information
  • Images
  • Biographies
    • Eric Betzig, 
      • U.S. citizen. Born 1960 in Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Ph.D. 1988 from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. Group Leader at Janelia Farm Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA.
      • http://janelia.org/lab/betzig-lab
    • Stefan W. Hell, German citizen. 
      • Born 1962 in Arad, Romania. Ph.D. 1990 from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. Director at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, and Division head at the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
      • http://www3.mpibpc.mpg.de/groups/hell
    • William E. Moerner, U.S. citizen. 
      • Born 1953 in Pleasanton, CA, USA. Ph.D. 1982 from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. Harry S. Mosher Professor in Chemistry and Professor, by courtesy, of Applied Physics at Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
      • http://web.stanford.edu/group/moerner


Diagrram cretit: Ganbaatar
Micrograph credit: Tesselkaffee
Text adapted from press release from Nobel Media

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Monday, October 6, 2014

Nobel Prize 2014: The Brain's Positioning System



The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award

The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

with one half to

John O´Keefe

and the other half jointly to

May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser

for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning 
system in the brain.


How do we know where we are? How can we find the way from one place to another? And how can we store this information in such a way that we can immediately find the way the next time we trace the same path? This year´s Nobel Laureates have discovered a positioning system, an “inner GPS” in the brain that makes it possible to orient ourselves in space, demonstrating a cellular basis for higher cognitive function.

In 1971, John O´Keefe discovered the first component of this positioning system. He found that a type of nerve cell in an area of the brain called the hippocampus that was always activated when a rat was at a certain place in a room. Other nerve cells were activated when the rat was at other places. O´Keefe concluded that these “place cells” formed a map of the room.

More than three decades later, in 2005, May-Britt and Edvard Moser discovered another key component of the brain’s positioning system. They identified another type of nerve cell, which they called “grid cells”, that generate a coordinate system and allow for precise positioning and pathfinding.

Their subsequent research showed how place and grid cells make it possible to determine position and to navigate.

The discoveries of John O´Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser have solved a problem that has occupied philosophers and scientists for centuries – how does the brain create a map of the space surrounding us and how can we navigate our way through a complex environment?


How do we experience our environment?


The sense of place and the ability to navigate are fundamental to our existence. The sense of place gives a perception of position in the environment. During navigation, it is interlinked with a sense of distance that is based on motion and knowledge of previous positions.

Questions about place and navigation have engaged philosophers and scientists for a long time. More than 200 years ago, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant argued that some mental abilities exist as a priori knowledge, independent of experience. He considered the concept of space as an inbuilt principle of the mind, one through which the world is and must be perceived. With the advent of behavioural psychology in the mid-20th century, these questions could be addressed experimentally. When Edward Tolman examined rats moving through labyrinths, he found that they could learn how to navigate, and proposed that a “cognitive map” formed in the brain allowed them to find their way. But questions still lingered - how would such a map be represented in the brain?


John O´Keefe and the place in space


John O´Keefe was fascinated by the problem of how the brain controls behaviour and decided, in the late 1960s, to attack this question with neurophysiological methods. When recording signals from individual nerve cells in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, in rats moving freely in a room, O’Keefe discovered that certain nerve cells were activated when the animal assumed a particular place in the environment (Figure 1). He could demonstrate that these “place cells” were not merely registering visual input, but were building up an inner map of the environment. O’Keefe concluded that the hippocampus generates numerous maps, represented by the collective activity of place cells that are activated in different environments. Therefore, the memory of an environment can be stored as a specific combination of place cell activities in the hippocampus.



May-Britt and Edvard Moser find the coordinates


May-Britt and Edvard Moser were mapping the connections to the hippocampus in rats moving in a room when they discovered an astonishing pattern of activity in a nearby part of the brain called the entorhinal cortex. Here, certain cells were activated when the rat passed multiple locations arranged in a hexagonal grid (Figure 2). Each of these cells was activated in a unique spatial pattern and collectively these “grid cells” constitute a coordinate system that allows for spatial navigation. Together with other cells of the entorhinal cortex that recognize the direction of the head and the border of the room, they form circuits with the place cells in the hippocampus. This circuitry constitutes a comprehensive positioning system, an inner GPS, in the brain (Figure 3).



A place for maps in the human brain


Recent investigations with brain imaging techniques, as well as studies of patients undergoing neurosurgery, have provided evidence that place and grid cells exist also in humans. In patients with Alzheimer´s disease, the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex are frequently affected at an early stage, and these individuals often lose their way and cannot recognize the environment. Knowledge about the brain´s positioning system may, therefore, help us understand the mechanism underpinning the devastating spatial memory loss that affects people with this disease.

The discovery of the brain’s positioning system represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of how ensembles of specialized cells work together to execute higher cognitive functions. It has opened new avenues for understanding other cognitive processes, such as memory, thinking and planning.




What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P?

  • The role of the hippocampus and it's place cells could be briefly discussed as you explore the cognitive functions of the brain.

  • A discussion of this year's Nobel Prize could evolve into a meaningful example of how science works, including the use of discoveries in animals that can later be applied to learning more about human structure and function.

  • Information revealed by this discovery could be discussed when discussing human disorders, such as Alzheimer disease, that involve impairments of spatial orientation and/or place memory.


Want to know more?

Here's a video in which May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser explain their research, which you can use in your course discussion.



2014 Nobel Prize announcement

  • Official announcement, which includes photos of the laureates and links to related information.
  • my-ap.us/1oJH82y


 Scientific Background: The Brain’s Navigational Place and Grid Cell System

  • Nobelprize.org accessed 6 October 2014
  • Plain English hand-out that can be used with your students.  Illustrated with clear diagrams.
  • my-ap.us/1pGLVlm

Nobel Prize in Medicine Is Awarded for Discovery of Brain’s ‘Inner GPS’

  • L. Altman The New York Times. OCT. 6, 2014
  • Plain English article summarizing the discoveries.
  • my-ap.us/10ELy5h

The hippocampus as a spatial map. Preliminary evidence from unit activity in the freely‐moving rat.

  • O'Keefe, J., and Dostrovsky, J. (1971). Brain Research 34, 171-175.
  • Original research paper describing key discoveries for which this prize is given.
  • my-ap.us/1s4fi5Z


Place units in the hippocampus of the freely moving rat.

  • O´Keefe, J. (1976). Experimental Neurology 51, 78-109.
  • Original research paper describing key discoveries for which this prize is given.
  • my-ap.us/1s2NYGd


Spatial representation in the entorhinal cortex.

  • Fyhn, M., Molden, S., Witter, M.P., Moser, E.I., Moser, M.B. (2004)  Science 305, 1258-1264.
  • Original research paper describing key discoveries for which this prize is given.
  • my-ap.us/1BIvdI4


Microstructure of spatial map in the entorhinal cortex.

  • Hafting, T., Fyhn, M., Molden, S., Moser, M.B., and Moser, E.I. (2005). Nature 436, 801-806.
  • Original research paper describing key discoveries for which this prize is given.
  • my-ap.us/1nX0jLe


Article adapted from Nobel Media press release
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Friday, September 19, 2014

Sweeteners Alter Gut Microbiome to Promote Glucose Intolerance


I'll never forget when Ira Fritz, my doctoral committee chair, practically slapped a packet of artificial sweetener out of my hand as I was about to put it into my iced tea.  "That stuff will kill you!" he said as he extracted from me an oath to swear off the stuff.  I'm not sure I quite believed him, but to this day I still drink my iced tea unsweetened.

As usual, Ira was right.  Recently another brick has been added to the foundation of his concern about sugar substitutes. Researchers have found that sweeteners such as saccharine, sucralose, aspartame can alter the microbial ecosystem of our gut in a way that promotes the development of glucose intolerance.  Glucose intolerance is part of metabolic syndrome, one of the most significant epidemics of our (or any) era.

At least as interesting as this microbial mediation between our diet and our metabolic function is the fact that only those human subjects who were responders exhibited the changes observed.  This underscores our emerging view about the individualized nature of human nutrition and metabolism.

What can we use from this in teaching undergraduate A&P?



  • We have yet another example to share regarding why and how the human microbial system plays such a vital role in our body.

  • This may be an interesting story to bring up when discussing immunity in our A&P course, perhaps giving a preview of later topics on the gut microbiome and nutrition/metabolism.

  • Nutrition and metabolism are not the same for everyone.  So the basic principles learned in an A&P course are likely to be generally true for humans, but not necessarily entirely true for every individual.

  • Yet another example of the principle "you are what you eat."

  • And here's another case of continued scientific research refining the story of what we know about human structure and function.  Consider mentioning it when you are explaining scientific methodology and it's relevance to A&P at the start of your course.  An interesting discussion may ensue after asking, "does this mean we should stop using sugar substitutes?"



Want to know more?



Artificial Sweeteners Linked to Glucose Intolerance

  • Beth Skwarecki. Medscape Medical News. September 17, 2014
  • Article summarizing the recent research.
  • my-ap.us/1pkI645


Sugar Substitutes, Gut Bacteria, and Glucose Intolerance

  • Anna Azvolinsky. TheScientist. September 17, 2014
  • Another plain-English article covering how the consumption of artificial sweeteners results in glucose intolerance is mediated by changes in the gut microbiota in both mice and humans.
  • my-ap.us/1qOBVvw


Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota


  • Jotham Suez, et al. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature13793 September 17, 2014
  • Research article outlining the discovery of the sweetener-gut-glucose intolerance  link. Includes numerous illustrations.
  • my-ap.us/1uLs0Hc


 Metabolic Syndrome 

  • S Wang, et al. Medscape. Updated 23 April 2014
  • Detailed Medscap entry summarizing various aspects of metabolic syndrome.
  • my-ap.us/1uLrNUE


Diet Sodas, as Well as Regular Ones, Raise Diabetes Risk

  • Miriam E. Tucker. Medscape Medical News. February 14, 2013
  • Article summarizing research showing that women who drink large amounts of diet soda are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus.
  • my-ap.us/1uLrY20


Consumption of artificially and sugar-sweetened beverages and incident type 2 diabetes in the Etude Epidémiologique auprès des femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l'Education Nationale–European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort

  • Guy Fagherazzi, et al. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. January 30, 2013. 
  • Original research article about the diet soda-diabetes link.
  • my-ap.us/1BQOTLP


Photo: S. Snodgrass
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Wednesday, November 6, 2013

New knee ligament confirmed

It's been there all along.  In most of us, at least.  Back in 1879, French surgeon Paul Ferdinand Segond first described it as it related to a particular type of avulsion fracture of the knee—the Segond fracture. But it was never really confirmed as separate from the joint capsule and named as a normal ligament of the human knee.  Until now.

Dubbed the anterolateral ligament (ALL), it originates at the prominence of the lateral femoral epicondyle (just anterior to the lateral collateral ligament) and running obliquely to the anterolateral part of the tibia (attached at the lateral meniscus).

Segond
So maybe we should pencil the ALL into our anatomic atlases, eh?  And wait for some research to confirm its biomechanical function—probably related to controlling internal rotation of the tibia.

This might also provide a good opportunity to talk about the dynamic nature of anatomical science—and the fact that human anatomy is not "finished."
Want to know more?

Anatomy of the anterolateral ligament of the knee
  • Steven Claes et al. Journal of Anatomy. Volume 223, Issue 4, pages 321–328, October 2013 (First published online: 1 AUG 2013) DOI: 10.1111/joa.12087
  • This the original journal article (free abstract).
  • my-ap.us/1aFUVV3

The Anterolateral Ligament of the Knee: Anatomy, Radiology, Biomechanics and Clinical Implications
  • Steven Claes, et al. American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting, SE73, 20 March 2013
  • This is an abstract (with image) of a preliminary presentation giving prior to journal publication.
  • my-ap.us/1b7bU0Q

 Photo of the ALL
  • Steven Claes, et al. American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) Annual Meeting, SE73, 20 March 2013
  • my-ap.us/1cF4sgC

 Diagram of ALL



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Monday, August 5, 2013

Spelling IS important

In A&P, correct spelling could be a life-or-death issue.  Really.

The topic of correct spelling—and the consequences of incorrectly spelled terms—was brought to mind recently with the news story about a student on the TV game show Jeopardy! whose answer was disqualified because it was misspelled. A lot of folks were angry, as though the boy was cheated, but the producers calmly pointed out that it’s not an acceptable answer if it’s not spelled correctly.  Like Scrabble or Words with Friends, Jeopardy! is a game with rules, after all.

But the A&P course is not “just a game.”  It is the foundation for many health professions.  Professions where misspellings can be the basis for life-threatening medical errors. 

A few years ago, I called our attention to Doing our part to reduce medical errors by enforcing accuracy in our courses—including correct spelling of scientific and medical terms.

Here’s what I tell my own students:
“That's part of learning how to communicate accurately and professionally. For those of you going into patient care or managing patient records, accuracy can affect a person's life . . . so it's best to learn that lesson here and now—where no one's life is in danger.”
There really IS a difference between perineum and peritoneum.  Just two letters, and the whole meaning of a sentence or paragraph—or medical record—is changed. It may still make sense, even in context, but is now wrong.

Some of my students counter that current software platforms used in hospitals and clinics have safety features that autocorrect or call attention to potential errors.  That’s true—to some extent.  But just like the autocorrect features found in word processing software, they cannot be relied upon entirely. We really must know which term is which by its correct spelling.

Now’s a good time to think about how we are preparing our students for their profession.  I want my healthcare providers to get it right.  So let’s make that happen!


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Monday, November 19, 2012

Brain injury in high-def with fiber tracking

U. PITTSBURGH (US) — New imaging technology will allow doctors to clearly see for the first time neural connections broken by traumatic brain injury.

Called High Definition Fiber Tracking [1], the technology shows injuries much like X-rays show a fractured bone, according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh [2] in a report published online in the Journal of Neurosurgery [3].

In the report [4], the researchers describe the case of a 32-year-old man who wasn’t wearing a helmet when his all-terrain vehicle crashed. Initially, his CT scans showed bleeding and swelling on the right side of the brain, which controls left-sided body movement.





High definition fiber tracking reveals loss of fibers, or connections, on the injured right side (yellow) and the intact, undamaged left side (green). The patient was injured in an ATV accident and lost function in his left leg, arm, and hand. (Credit: Walt Schneider Laboratory)


High definition fiber-tracking map of a million brain fibers. (Credit: Walt Schneider Laboratory)
Straight from the Source


A week later, while the man was still in a coma, a conventional MRI scan showed brain bruising and swelling in the same area. When he awoke three weeks later, the man couldn’t move his left leg, arm and hand.

“There are about 1.7 million cases of TBI in the country each year, and all too often conventional scans show no injury or show improvement over time even though the patient continues to struggle,” says co-senior author and neurosurgeon David O. Okonkwo, associate professor in the neurological surgery department.

“Until now, we have had no objective way of identifying how the injury damaged the patient’s brain tissue, predicting how the patient would fare, or planning rehabilitation to maximize the recovery.”

HDFT might be able to provide those answers, says co-senior author Walter Schneider, professor of psychology, who led the team that developed the technology.

Data from sophisticated MRI scanners is processed through computer algorithms to reveal the wiring of the brain in vivid detail and to pinpoint breaks in the cables, called fiber tracts. Each tract contains millions of neuronal connections.

“In our experiments, HDFT has been able to identify disruptions in neural pathways with a clarity that no other method can see,” Schneider says. “With it, we can virtually dissect 40 major fiber tracts in the brain to find damaged areas and quantify the proportion of fibers lost relative to the uninjured side of the brain or to the brains of healthy individuals. Now, we can clearly see breaks and identify which parts of the brain have lost connections.”

HDFT scans of the study patient’s brain were performed four and 10 months after he was injured; he also had another scan performed with current state-of the-art diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), an imaging modality that collects data points from 51 directions, while HDFT is based on data from 257 directions. For the latter, the injury site was compared to the healthy side of his brain, as well as to HDFT brain scans from six healthy individuals.

Only the HDFT scan identified a lesion in a motor fiber pathway of the brain that correlated with the patient’s symptoms of left-sided weakness, including mostly intact fibers in the region controlling his left leg and extensive breaks in the region controlling his left hand. The patient eventually recovered movement in his left leg and arm by six months after the accident, but still could not use his wrist and fingers effectively 10 months later.

Memory loss, language problems, personality changes and other brain changes occur with TBI, which the researchers are exploring with HDFT in other research protocols.

University of Pittsburgh neurosurgeons also have used the technology to supplement conventional imaging, noted Robert Friedlander, professor and chair in the neurological surgery department, who was not involved with the study.

“I have used HDFT scans to map my approach to removing certain tumors and vascular abnormalities that lie in areas of the brain that cannot be reached without going through normal tissue,” he says.

“It shows me where significant functional pathways are relative to the lesion, so that I can make better decisions about which fiber tracts must be avoided and what might be an acceptable sacrifice to maintain the patient’s best quality of life after surgery.”

Okonkwo notes that the patient and his family were relieved to learn that there was evidence of brain damage to explain his ongoing difficulties. The team continues to evaluate and validate HDFT’s utility as a brain imaging tool, so it is not yet routinely available.

“We have been wowed by the detailed, meaningful images we can get with this technology,” Okonkwo says. “HDFT has the potential to be a game-changer in the way we handle TBI and other brain disorders.”

The study was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

More news from the University of Pittsburgh: www.news.pitt.edu/ [5]

Article reprinted by CC license from Futurity.org: http://www.futurity.org
Posted By Anita Srikameswaran-Pittsburgh On March 2, 2012 @ 12:58 pm

URL to original article: http://www.futurity.org/top-stories/brain-injury-in-high-def-with-fiber-tracking/

URLs in this post:
[1] High Definition Fiber Tracking: http://schneiderlab.lrdc.pitt.edu/projects/tbi
[2] University of Pittsburgh: http://www.upmc.com/MediaRelations/NewsReleases/2012/Pages/High-Definition-Fiber-Tracking-Traumatic-Brain-Injury.aspx
[3] Journal of Neurosurgery: http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/2012.1.JNS111282?prevSearch=%255BFulltext%253A%2BOkonkwo%255D&searchHistoryKey=
[4] Read the original study: http://thejns.org/doi/abs/10.3171/2012.1.JNS111282?prevSearch=%255BFulltext%253A%2BOkonkwo%255D&searchHistoryKey=
[5] www.news.pitt.edu/: http://www.news.pitt.edu/

---------------------------------------------------------
Want to know more?




Related textbook content
  • The Human Body in Health and Disease 5th ed. p. 246-254 my-ap.us/fNN00N 



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Saturday, July 21, 2012

Andrew Huxley

A few weeks ago, science lost one of its greats . . . Andrew Fielding Huxley. 

As explained in my textbooks, "The British physiologist Andrew F. Huxley (born 1917) is  largely responsible for explaining how muscle fibers contract. After making pioneering discoveries in how nerves conduct impulses, a feat for which he shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology, Huxley turned his attention to muscle fibers. It was he who in the 1950s proposed the sliding filament model, along with its mechanical explanation of muscle contraction."

Sometimes, our students don't fully appreciate that much of what we know about basic functions of the body have been discovered only within the last few decades.  They may not realize that people alive during their lifetimes were the ones who discovered central concepts of human structure and function, such as how nerves conduct action potentials and how muscle fibers contract.

The reason I include stories of Huxley and others in both my A&P textbooks and in my classroom discussions is that I think the story of science is important in gaining deep understanding of the concepts learned in A&P.  Learning "just the facts" devoid of their context and without any understanding of how we learned what we know does not give our students what they need to navigate the ongoing evolution of our scientific understanding of human A&P.

I also like to include stories of the people who helped shape our current understanding of the body's structure and function because it reveals the diversity of backgrounds, approaches, ethnic/national origins, gender, and age of the folks who have made striking discoveries and provided critical insights. I think that helps students understand that they, too, can play a role in the progress of science.

If you want to brush up on Huxley's role in the progress of science--so that you can perhaps drop it during your classroom discussions of nerve impulses and muscle contraction--check out the resources I have provided.

Want to know more?
Sir Andrew Huxley obituary: He shared the Nobel prize for unravelling the mechanism of the nerve impulse
Anthony Tucker   
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 31 May 2012 13.05 EDT
[Nice article summarizing the life and contributions of A. Huxley]
my-ap.us/O6jMUL   

Andrew Huxley, Nobel-Winning Physiologist, Dies at 94
By DENISE GELLENE
New York Times (online) June 4, 2012
[Another comprehensive obituary of Huxley]
my-ap.us/O7flW7
Click here for a photo you can use in your course.
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