slow but steady wins the race right!?

Hey all,

Well I remember being pretty freaked out and frustrated the last time I wrote to you but I have decided that nothing can being solved with such an attitude so I have moved on to being blissful denial of my dissertation.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not not doing any work, in fact all I do is think about it but I am just sick of worrying about how it feels like most of the time I don’t know what I am doing and just when I think I have figured out what I am supposed to be doing my supervisor decides to add another little twist to the project and he has being known on I would say three to four occasions now actually change the direction of the project…he calls it “evolution of the project” whereas I call it “confusing me to the point where I have reached blissful denial”….apparently this is the reaction of a control freak such as myself…. push me far enough into an environment of feeling out of control and I will eventually decide to surrender all power…..that could be a useful tip for any suffering spouses or partners out there!

Weirdly though since I have reached this new level of calmness I seem to be getting to grips with the project a bit more and I can actually see the light now….*actually tapping my head in a bid not to kinx myself!*  I can proudly say that I have being able to upload brain MRI scans and view them on the University laptop….this description does not do the work involved justice but I do not want to bore you with the details.  For my anatomically and scientifically wired brain learning computer software commands and terminal inputs was and still is a total headache but unfortunately a fundamental part of this project.  Anyway this means that I will be able to measure the volume, surface area and cortical thickness of the brains insula which is an area of the brain tucked deep inside.  It is usually bigger on one side than the other depending on the individuals language dominant side.  It has been found that individuals with Schizophrenia are more likely to not have a bigger insula on one side compared to the other.  Just last Thursday we also scanned a fresh/frozen and embalmed head specimen with MRI and CT to compare how the two types of specimens appeared.  I hope to again look at the insula of these specimens on the scans, measure them and compare them to what we find to be a normal measurement based on the 152 previously measured scans.

So that’s the sense I have made of my project thus far but it will be evolving and I will be understanding more and more about it as the weeks go by so stay tuned for more interesting facts on the brain 🙂

In other news…..we raised over £300 for cancer research at the Race for Life 5km run and it was a lot of fun.  I have been interviewed for and rejected by one PhD project but am applying for more!!!

Feeling good and realising that worry does not help anything…..this bewildered anatomists bids you a due for now! 😉

 

the dissertation quest begins!

Howdy all,

Well who would have guessed the academic year would have passed so quickly…..all my dissection has been done and I am now some what of an expert in anatomy…pretty awesome when I say/write it out loud!! Usually I would be too underconfident to admit to such an acelade but I really do feel very expert-like in the field and would be comfortable to lead a class on an anatomical subject.  This just shows how great my experience has been at the anatomy department in Edinburgh Uni.

But hold up, I can’t sign off just yet because the course work might be done but the mammoth task of the dissertation has just begun.  I’m curretnly at that initial stage where I need to decide what slant I want to take on my study and how I will carry out the methods and tests.  My project involves analysing brain MRI scan, locating  a specific are called the insula which is reportedly bigger on the left side.  I am going to measure its volume, thickness and surface area using specific software.  I am also going to expose the insulae on a dissected brain and make these same measurements in a physical sense.  I will compare the virtual and physical results.  I am going to then use more software to build a model of the brain for educational purposes which shows the insula and the extent of it on both sides.  Another add on part of the project is to compare the viscoelastic properties of a fixed cadaveric brain and a fresh/frozen brain which I expect to be much different following a practise dissection of a fresh/frozen cadaveric brain where the brain literally spilled out of the cranium like unset jelly!!  There is mixed views on whether this is the actual consistancy of the brain within the living cranium…..my teacher thinks it is but speaking recently to a radiologist he believed that this is not usually the case and thought it was probably due to the defrosting process.  Me thinks some research needs to done here!!! 🙂

Anyway right now I feel helpless and very stupid becuase I have to learn alot about computers, software and image analysis and this is all very new to my anatomically premed brain….but hey I shall not give up…..Rome wasn’t built in a day and many fine discoveries were made in Rome right!!?

In other news, I am actively seeking a PhD in various univerisities so that I can continue on my academic career progression.  Also, next weekend myself and 4 other anatomists in my class are running a 5km race for cancer research!! Cue cheeky sponsorship begging……please sponsor us 🙂

https://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/running-anatomists

Thank you all! Until next time….ciao!!

Highlights of the month: removing the brain and, oh yes, removing the brain!!

Yep its pretty much been a whole lotta brain manipulation, physically that is, for me for the past while.  After finishing our dissecting if the neck the next step was to remove the scalp, then saw the cranium off so that  we could remove the brain.  We also had to open the back of the spine to cut the spinal cord (which is continuous with the brain) so that the brain could be lifted out.  What an experience!

I’ve had the opportunity of seeing a few brain removals at this stage because my disseration involves scanning and dissecting the brain (which I’ll blog about at a ater stage) so we practised removing an embalmed/fixed brain and a fresh/frozen brain to see which form would be better to experiment with.  Even though the texture of a fresh/frozen specimen is much more lifelike the brain is actually like a liquidly jelly that hasn’t fully set.  The only way we could remove that brain was to tilt the lower part of the head over and allow the brain the spill out onto the table.  The brain simply collapsed, not retaining any of its form therefore I could not use it for sectioning/dissecting.  My teacher told me that this was exactly as he suspected as all fresh/frozen brain he has delt with before have been in this form and it is the form he believes the brain to have in the living body.  He explained how during brain surgery the brain is sucked out to reach the target zone which would be impossible if the brain were solid.  The fixed brain is solid and perfect for viewing and handling.  We observed all of the cranial nerves coming off the brainstem and exiting the cranium at different foramina/holes in the skull.  This was such a great learning experience for visualising these small nerves which innervate the head.

Once the brain was removed our next aim was to remove the cranium for the spinal column.  The occipital bone of the cranium sits on the atlas (first cervical vertebra) and is kept in place by string ligaments and muscles which we observed and then cut.  Of particular interest to me was viewing the transverse ligament of the atlas which is a really strong ligament that keeps the axis (second cervical vertebra)  in correct position under the atlas.  If this ligament breaks/tears the axis falls out of position into the vertebral canal where the spinal cord runs and compresses the spinal cord.  Such an injury occurs during hanging and because it such a high spinal nerve injury innervation from the neck down, including breathing is ceased and death occurs.  Sorry for the morbidity or the insensitivity but hopefully you can appreciate the importance of this ligament and my excitment when I got to view it.  It really was amazing.

Every now and then I stop and have a moment where I think, God, I’m learning so much on this masters.

Thank you Dave (our cadaver), once again for your donation! Yes we named him, often talk to him and I regularly thank him.  Thank you Dave!

Until next time,

Catherine

Its Easter already and the Head and Neck is being dissected!

Apologies for my recent lack of blogging but the last few weeks have been the busiest of the year.  We finished dissecting the pelvis, began proposals for our summer dissertation, completed the neuroanatomy module and started dissecting the head and neck. I feel I learned so much from neuroanatomy including understanding why upper motor disease differs from lower motor neuron disease and presents with specific distinguishing symptoms including spasticity and hyper-reflexia but little muscle wasting.  As well as the brain sending our limbs excitatory signals to move did you know it also sends inhibitory signals to our limbs to limit unwanted movements.  When the latter isn’t working properly it leads to unwanted involuntary movements known as Huntingtons Disease.

Dissecting the neck and head is by far the most challenging area to dissect so far as there are so many small structures condensed in a small region.  The neck contains all structures that pass between the head and limbs or thorax and lets face it thats pretty much everything.  Some pretty cool moments were when we discovered the thryroid cartilage with the laryngeal prominence also known as the adams apple, the hyoid bone which is the only bone in the body without an attachment to another bone and is located at the crease of your neck, viewing the thryroid gland was also an incredible moment for me because some of my family members suffer with hypothyroidism.  I always am fascinated to see these structures in reality as it brings their importance to life.  The gland is just a lump of spongy tissue so its amazing to think how crucial it is to a healthy metabolism.  The nerves and blood vessels that course through the face is just an miryade of strands but nonetheless all these structures ultimately join up to leave the brain a single nerve structures.  Its amazing how these nerves find their way through specific holes in the skull to exit the brain.  We could see the main arteries leading up to the brain through the neck and even though they are well protected it was kind of mindblowing to think that with one sharp cut these could be severed with fatal consequences.

My disseration project topic has been decided and it will involves scanning and dissecting the brain to investigate the assymetries of the grey matter.  That means that the brain is not completely the same shape on both sides.  The frontal lobe extends further forward on the right and the occipital lobe at the back extends further back on the left.  There is a longer crease on the side of the brain also on the left which corresponds to Brocca’s speech production area only being present on the left side of the brain.  Everyday’s a learning day eh!!!

Irish dancing has taken a complete back seat apart from a performance for St. Patrick’s Day in aid of Motor Neuron Disease which was fun!

Well I’ll be back with more updates sooner next time I promise! Until then, Happy Easter 🙂

CHOCOLAAAAAAAAATE 🙂

Removing the gut!

I thought this time I’d enlighten you with some more interesting/gorey dissection details 🙂 you can be the judge!!

After examining the liver in quiet a bit of detail including the gallbladder and the numerous vessels (bile duct, hepatic arteries and portal vein) that pass between it and the gut (duodenum) it was time to dislodge the liver.  Its surprising how much room the liver takes up in the abdomen…its definately the most significant structure in the upper section therefore dislodging it was quiet a task…we had to loosen it from the diaphragm and posterior abdominal wall and cut it from the inferior vena cava which actually passes through it right before entering the heart! Yes the liver is tucked up really closer to the heart under the diaphragm!  My classmates cadaver had a cancerous liver which looked completely different to our cadavers liver in terms of colour, texture and size.  It was sort of lumpy and much whiter and had enlarged hugely which we suppose was largely because of the growing cancer.  It was fascinating but scary to see!

Moving along and onto a happier things 🙂  We examined the intestines…again truly fascinating how they appear just as you read in your school biology books but seeing it in real life makes it real.  A very definate small and large intestine exist with a seriously impressive blood supply to absorb all those lovely nutrients.  In fact the blood vessels that enter the intestines come directly off of the abdominal aorta which lies right behind them and these are the only real attachments they have to the posterior abdomen…ok well they are adhered to it by membranes but these are easily cleared away.  It was interesting to see how once the intestines were loosened from the walls they were only anchored by blood vessels attachments….so yes we cut them and removed the ENTIRE GUT! We had to cut the esophagus and rectum tubes too to release the gut but still we were holding the contents of an abdomen in our hands (it took 2 people) so we could lay it out on a seperate table for examination.  Admitting a complete nerd moment here but that was a sever adrenaline rush..never before have I felt so much like a surgeon! FYI once you remove the gut all that left looking back at you are the enormous inferior vena cava, aorta and kidneys!

Anyway that was the excitement of last week for me.

I survived the embryology exam and now my focus is trying to decide what to do for my disseration over the summer!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkk!

 

Embryology Exam Calling

300 million sperm are produced daily by each male after puberty!!!!

And out of 400,000 potential oocytes lying in the females ovaries less than 500 will ever make it out……or ovulate to put it in correct language!!!

Embryology is bloody fascinating although so so complicated and not fun to memorise because its so complicated but there you go the joys of uni life!

This semester as well as starting our dissections of the abdomen and pelvis we have also started neuroanatomy…the study if the anatomy of the brain!

Dissecting the abdomen is going to involve the inguinal area which again, sorry to those of squeamish nature but….cutting the scrotum and spermatic cord which leads into the scrotum.  We haven’t performed it yet but girls and guys alike have had a knee jerk cringe sort of reaction thinking about it but at the same time we are excited to see inside.  Females obviously don’t have a scrotum to cut through but do have a round ligament of the uterus that passes through the same inguinal canal.  The canal joins the internal abdomen with the external body so is a potential weak area is the gap gets weakend and enlarged…pretty interesting as it can lead to hernias of abdominal contents into the inguinal area/groin area…think again weight lifters out there! I’ll keep you posted as we make out way through the dissections of abdominal organs!

So far in neuroanatomy I’ve learned that the cerebellum which is the hind part of the brain is for co-ordination and interestinly if someone has an insult to this area they find it hard to clap or walk correctly for example.  They don;t have a problem moving each arm across the body (because this is controlled by the motor area in the frontal lobe of the cerebrium) but they cannot get both hand to meet in the centre and clap just as the latter person can move then legs but cannot co-ordinate the normal pattern of gait movements!

I think I’m gonna like neuroanatomy bit can sense a love/hate relationship coming on…its bound to be complicated!!!

For more fascinating facts tune in next time!!! Have a good month people x

Merry Christmas!!!

It been a hard semester so I’m full of Christmas cheer now that the holidays are here! We’ve had fortnightly VIVAs, monthly essays and a short but brain draining Spot Exam to finisj off the semster!  A Spot Exam doesn’t mean that you don’t know where its going to be held as one person asked me!!….its a lab exam with 20 stations all with an anatomical specimen and we were asked three questions on each station….each question is allocated 30seconds for writing answers and then everyone rotates to the next station….oh yes thirty minutes of adrenaline pumping and brin boggling stuff!! As soon as the clock started my hand started frantically shaking…..I was obviously pretty nervous! In a wierd way I think I prefer this kind of assessment to a 2/3 hour long answer exam.

Other than exams we’ve been getting into Christmas mode in the anatomy department with a Christmas Carol evening with special performances from us the masters class!! Good thing we don’t mind acting silly 🙂 See the picture! Stuart was the maestro and he also does a bit of anatomy teaching from time to time!!

Outside of Uni I travelled to Ireland to compete in the Irish Dancing Open Championships and I will admit that there were alot of dance mania obsessed people there but it was enjoyable….personally I didn’t need a podium to receive medals and the tears I thought were a bit over the top for us adult dancers :/ but hey thats just my opinion!! check out the photos again!

Well everyone have a fantastic Christmas…I know I’m looking forward to going home to Cork and chilling out with my family and catching up with lots of pals!!  I’ll definately be frequenting a few pubs in my 2 weeks stint aswell.  I’ve planned my first ever mountain bike adventure while at home so hopefully I arrive back in one piece and maybe with a new addiction….and we’ll also do the traditional St. Stephen’s/Boxing Day climb up the Galtee mountains….gotta love the great outdoors!!

Best festive and merry everybody!

Until the new year, farewell 🙂 HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Opening the chest wall!

Four weeks left of our first semester and I can smell the mulled wine already but before all that there has been some serious dissecting going on people! We finished dissecting the lower limb a couple of weeks ago.  I had a few wow moments along the way…..firstly, when observing how the femoral vessels to popliteal vessels when they pass through the adductor hiatus, then when observing the peroneal nerves both superficial and deep and following the superficial on so precisely into the first webspace and seeing the deep one travel through the shin muscles and it was also very cool to see the anterior tibial artery giving rise to dorsalis pedis pulse and in general observing the exact organisation of the tendons inserting into the ankle and foot.  The difficulty I have with the identification of bones came back with a vengance when it came to the fibula!!!but luckily Gordon had a great way of identifying the peroneal fossa on the posterior aspect of the distal end and recognising that there is a relatively horizontal compared to vertical articulation of the opposite ends of the bone.  I aspire to one day knowing as much about every inch of the body like he does!! Don’t worry I don’t have an alter dedicated to the man…..yet!  🙂

We began dissection of the thorax (chest) 2 weeks ago which was always going to be a whole other world in terms of anatomy compared to limbs….I mean there are vital organs in the thorax and we’re just gonna dive right in there…apparently yes!  Squeemish people stop reading now….first thing was first..removal of the chest wall…in case your imaginations  haven’t allowed you to imagine it I’m trying to gently hint at the fact that we had to cut through the bones on the front of the chest to get into the heart and lungs.  It was my first time actually cutting through bone using bare instruments and it was a little uncomfortable at first but as the view of the internal structure became more apparent I began to get excited about what I was about to see.  Gordon advised that while removing the chest it is a tidier technique to remove the abdominal wall during the same procedure.  It was a massive learning experience when it came to observing the layers of membrane that surrounds all the structure and the cavities that they create.  It was fascinating to see the diaphragm and how to completely separates the thoracic and abdominal cavities.  Once removed the view of the internal structure we had before us was truly breath-taking and the same structure without fail was seem across all the cadavers….the regularity at how the body forms I will always find incredible.  Sadly on one of the cadavers we viewed a massively enlarged and cancered liver which was taking up much more space in the abdominal cavity than one would expect.  We observed how the greater omentum which has the nickname of policeman of the abdomen had migrated towards the side of the cancered liver in an attempt to combat it.  For the past 2 weeks we continued to dissect the lungs and heart and removed them both examining their internal structure and the structures that surround  them.  The spongy feeling of the lungs was extraordinary..they really are like air sponges that bounce back after been squeezed a little due to their elastic ability.  I could write so much about the heart but I won’t bore you…its just exactly how you read it to be in books in terms of what to see inside it….papillary muscles, chordae tendineae, tricuspid and bicuspid valves….it just fascinate me how each one (normally) forms exactly the same way down to the tiniest feature.  The size of the aorta left quite a impact with me and viewing the vital coronary vessels to keep the heart beating was an education!

Our principles classes surrounding the anatomy we are studying have been equally interesting….I learned a new venous system that I have never hear of before in the Azygos system.  The along with the internal thoracic vessels supply and drain the chest wall of a blood supply and anastomose with the major vessels (aorta and inferior/superior vena cava) providing a possible detouring of blood to get to the heart should a blockage take place in these major vessels.  The position of the left recurrent laryngeal nerve around the arch of the aorta tucked against the left lung was another interesting point in how lung cancer and hoarseness can be related!

Oh I tell ye people…everyday’s a learning day and daaaamn am I doing some learning these days!!

With an abused brain full to capacity with new information I’ll bid you adue for another while! 😉

busy and tired

We’re just about half way through the first semester now and I’m feeling the effects in the form of tiredness! We have moved onto the lower limb in our dissection which continues to fascinate me but our embryology subject has been taking up my time recently as we have an essay due to discuss its importance. I never studied embryology before this course so it all new but its so interesting to learn about how each human grows from a bunch of cells which continue to differenciate and specialise themselves into all the working parts of our bodies. Studying it has made me appreciate having a fully functioning human body because there are sooooooo many times when things can go wrong. To think that each embryo develops exactly the same way to end up  with the same human structure is incredible. We’ve been looking at how the heart develops and how the different chambers of the heart grow from membrane growing out in a certain direction to meet in the middle. If the membranes don’t meet a heart defect (hole) occurs. I think its amazing how these membranes actually know when to start growing and what distance they should grow until…..blows my mind! We had another essay to submit at the end of October on health and safety, a topic that I think all the class appreciate is important when working with cadavers but one that nobody enjoyed writing about plus it was my first time writing an essay in years so it was definately challenging but hopefully it suffices…we’ll see what the result is like!

Meanwhile, we had our Irish dancing fundraiser night and raised £500 towards our trip to Ashbourne, Ireland on 17th November to compete in the Irish Open. I hadn’t danced in front of people in about 15 years so our mini display at the race night was helpful and even fun!! I have about 10 dances to perform in Ireland and hopefully it will go ok but I seriously need to get a practise timetable organised amongst my study hours to polish up my dances! We also had a Halloween party in our flat which was really great fun. Everyone dressed up and I have to say our decorations and scary food were amazing. Edinburgh is a great city to be in for Halloween due to the dark history and the little under streets and underground tunnels it possesses. Everyone really dresses up and makes a great effort for the occasion!

So its back to embryology writing for me…..Bientot! 🙂

Life outside uni….

I restarted Irish Dancing since coming to Edinburgh and when I say restarted I mean danced from the age of 6 to 11 and always wanted to start again as an adult but classes are really scarce so I was so happy when I found my new class. I’ve been going for 6 months roughly and although I don’t quiet look like Jean Butler (Micheal Flatley’s female partner in Riverdance) my teacher reckons I good enough to join the rest of the gang in a competition taking place in Ireland on 17th November….yep like 4 weeks away….eeeeeeek!

We’ve practising like mad women (only 1 guy in our class so it really does look like a bunch of crazed lunatic women in a big hall sometimes) trying to get our moves right. “KICK YOUR BUM CATHERINE” is often shouted at me during my skips in the reel because I obviously an not getting sufficient heel to bum contact! “CROSS YOUR FEET” and “YOUR ON THE WRONG LEG”  are other forms of constructive critisism that I’ve become immune to at this stage. I have improved so much since starting but I have got to start practising properly for the next 4 weeks which is gonna be challenging with the mounting uni work. I’ve got about 10 dances to perform on the day soem of them solo and some are group dances and it being my first feis (competition) in years I am nervous and I’m not sure how its gonna effect me on the day.  We’re having a race night on 2nd Nov. to raise some money for the entrance to the competition and we have to do a little display on the night aswell so that’ll be a good warm up!

So it’ll be kicking, jumping and skipping from dusk ’til dawn until mid November for me and hopefully I’ll get a lower limb disected in there somewhere too.

I’ll let you all know how it goes and hopefully will get some photos!

Your all singing (maybe not) all dancing anatomist,

Catherine 😉