Final Little Stretch Before The Semester Is Over 🌿

Since I get asked a lot about where to learn more about the human brain and behaviour, I’ve made a masterpost of books, websites, videos and online courses to introduce yourself to that piece of matter that sits between your ears.

Books

The Brain Book  by Rita Carter

The Pyschology Book (a good starter book)  by DK

Thinking, Fast and Slow  by Daniel Kahneman

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking  by Susan Cain

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat  by Oliver Sacks

The Brain: The Story of You  by David Eagleman

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science  by Norman Doidge

This Is Your Brain on Music  by Daniel Levitin

The Autistic Brain by Richard Panek and Temple Grandin (highly reccomended)

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind  by Yuval Noah Harari (not really brain-related, but it is single handedly the best book I have ever read)

Websites

@tobeagenius (shameless self-promotion)

How Stuff Works

Psych2Go

BrainFacts

Neuroscience for Kids (aimed at kids, but it has some good info)

New Scientist

National Geographic

Live Science

Videos & Youtube Channels

Mind Matters series by TedEd

Crash Course Psychology

SciShow Brain

Psych2Go TV

asapSCIENCE

Brain Craft

Its Okay To Be Smart

Online Courses

The Addicted Brain

Visual Perception and The Brain

Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life

Pyschology Of Popularity

Harvard Fundamentals Of Neuroscience

In the process of making a cheat sheet for tomorrow’s organic chem test!

A Note on “Weeder Courses”

Is your first year gen-ed (general education) course really hard for absolutely no reason? Or perhaps it’s an early course in your major that’s required for the rest of the degree. Maybe the homework is really hard to get through or the exams are just brutal. You might be in a “weeder course.”

Generally weeder courses are introductory level; the STEM field gen-eds are notorious for this. The thought process from an administrative level is to make these courses very difficult and challenging to vet out students who can’t hack it. They do it with the intro level courses to serve as a warning for students who might want to major in something, but aren’t ready for how rigorous the degree actually is. 

Now I have my own thoughts on that mindset but what I want to stress that these courses are designed to be difficult. You’re not making it up in your mind; they are designed to feel like hell. 

Personal anecdote: I got my undergrad degree in literal rocket science from a “name” university. In my first year I failed physics I, the very course that is the basis for the rest of your physics education. I nearly failed it again the second time I took it, passing by the skin of my teeth. Despite the material being more difficult, I found my calculus 4 course easier than my calculus 1 course.

And that was because, as I found out from an upperclassman years later, those intro courses were designed as weeder courses. They taught the material yes, but their primary function was to act as a buffer to students who the administration see as lacking the discipline to follow through on a major in that field.

My advice? If it is a field or major you love, do not let your performance in these classes stop you.

I cannot stress this enough: if you love the field and the major and the subject, don’t let terribly designed classes stop you. I worked as a peer advisor my senior year and I had these brilliant first and second year students come up to me and tell me that they were struggling in an intro level course, wondering if they should drop out of a major they genuinely loved because they felt like they weren’t smart enough. Every single one of them was smart enough. 

You are smart enough. You can and will get through it. 

Some advice of a more practical nature under the cut:

Keep reading

Medical School Resources! (and other human biology,physiology,biochemistry-related resources)

Hi Everyone! 

Update: I am now officially done with my second year! I know i’ve been MIA on here for a while now - but that’s only because I was drowning in textbooks and assignments! I will be writing a whole other post on what my second year in medical school was like - so watch out for that :)

I, for one, can not just rely on one method of learning. Meaning, I’ll jump from videos, to textbooks, to flashcards. In this post I’m going to list some of my holy grail youtube channels that have helped saved me. 

1) Handwritten Tutorials

https://www.youtube.com/user/harpinmartin

Every video in this channel is short, but not so much that you feel like you’re missing out on information. Definitely one to save as a favourite!

2) Armando Hasudungan

https://www.youtube.com/user/armandohasudungan

The best thing about this channel is the fact that there are over 300 videos, covering a wide range of core topics in endocrinology, neurology, physiology and pharmacology. Another pro is the presentation of topics (otherwise considered snooze-worthy) in an artistic manner!

3) Speed Pharmacology

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-i2EBYXH6-GAglvuDIaufQ

Raise your hand if you’ve ever fallen asleep trying to read about the mechanism of action of opioids, their side effects and contraindications. I know I have. Fret not, for this youtube channel will introduce you to a world where pharmacology is actually interesting.

4) Wendy Riggs 

https://www.youtube.com/user/wendogg1

Wendy Riggs is a very down-to-earth professor in Northern California, and she covers a wide range of  topics in Anatomy, Physiology and General Biology. 

5) Anatomy Zone

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAnatomyZone

A better way to learn anatomy is to supplement your textbook information with videos from this channel. The explanations and visuals provided are absolute gold.

I hope you all find these channels as helpful as I did!

01.14.16 4/100 days of productivity

Making study notes for my Abnormal Psychology midterm on Monday~ My hand is cramping 😭

Some melodies have soul in them, don't they? What you listen to in instrumental music or classics that has the same feeling? I absolutely loved Petricor that you recommended.

Oh, I do.

Beethoven, Für EliseTwo Steps from Hell, Big SkyDebussy, Clair de LuneChopin, Nocturne op 9 n°2Bedrich Smetana, VltavaLudovico Einaudi, ErosLudovico Einaudi, DivenireLudovico Einaudi, PrimaveraLudovico Einaudi, NefeliPhilip Glass, DuetErik Satie, GnossiennesDario Marianelli, Dance With MeDario Marianelli, AtonementDario Marianelli, Cee, You and TeaClint Mansell, Lose YourselfTom Tykwer, The EscapeTom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas FinaleYann Tiersen, Summer 78Hans Zimmer, Cornfield ChaseJohn Wasson, CaravanTchaikovsky, Dance of the SwansTchaikovsky, Waltz of the FlowersProkofiev, Dance of the KnightsCraig Armstrong, OpeningAdolphe Adam, Dance of the WillisPhilip Glass, Morning PassagesZoe Conway, Half Day RoadJoe Hisaishi, Dragon BoyMartin Phipps, Saint PetersburgEmile Pandolfi, Once Upon a December

etc.

Pro-tips for rookie academic writers after grading about a quarter of the midterm papers for my undergrad Shakespeare class:

If your entire argument can be made in one sentence, it’s too simple. 

If your argument cannot be summarized in one sentence, it’s too broad.

If your argument can’t be argued with, it’s not an argument.

Teachers don’t want you to fawn on the material; they want you to engage with it. Just fangirling over Shakespeare isn’t going to get you an A.

Avoid big sweeping generalizations in your opening sentences (and everywhere else). “Since the dawn of time” or “Of all the playwrights who have ever lived,” etc. etc. are superlatives you can’t possibly prove.

If you’re going to say that an author/text does something, you’d better be ready to demonstrate how. 

Your opinion is not analysis. Learn the difference. 

“Interesting” and “intriguing” are useless words that tell a reader nothing about the text. Be more specific.

Don’t assume you know a character’s motives without evidence from the text. Don’t assume you know an author’s motives, full stop.

If you’re a man making an argument about female perspectives in a text, have a woman read it before you turn it in. Just trust me on this one. 

[ 02.05.16 • 4/100 DAYS OF PRODUCTIVITY ] 4 days till my exams yikes D: my first exam isn’t even geography but the subject is so content heavy so I’m studying first even though I have 8 days to the exam ahhhh didn’t really bother putting a super nice set-up for the picture because meh good luck to those having their mid-years or their finals!!