Making Sense

In my second day of listening to medical experts and researchers, I came across the most impressive line.  Mind you, we have been discussing brain chemistry and circuitry for two days.   We even went as far as listening to a study of the effects of skyping for your doctor visits instead of spending time in the waiting room reading National Geographic (or in my case, Parents Magazine, Highlights and Boys’ Life—my doc is also a pediatric neurologist).

We dedicated hours to hearing about genome research, translational research, intra-cellular therapies, premotor symptoms and alpha-synuclein.  I spent these days hearing from every kind of doctor you can imagine.  Twenty-four Ph.D.’s, seven M.D.’s, three J.D.’s, an M.D, MT-BC, and some degrees I didn’t expect—an M.P.P and a M.Div. 

How much can you cram into your head in the span of two days?   Does it wear down your receptors?  Can you lose your ability to organize and store all that information?  Does the fact that you cannot spell most or the terms being tossed from speaker to speaker make it impossible for you to absorb them?  When they are passing around the microphone allowing audience members to ask semi-intelligent questions, is it right to ask a speaker to spell all but three of the terms they used? 

Then, one researcher came forward and said it was not about staying put; it was about rewiring yourself with your own effort.  It can be done, with maximal effort.  She pointed out what was happening in rats, and told us we could do the same.  It gave me pause (not paws, mind you).   It’s no longer about staving off the inevitable, it’s about brain plasticity and rewiring the circuits you have lost.  I can’t resist calling it “heady stuff.”

 It became clear all at once this afternoon.  The final Ph.D. in our lineup finally told us something I could wrap my arms around.  Summarizing his thinking about brain experiments, he told us “Rats are not human.”  I knew at once it all made sense.  All this brain science and study boils down to that.   We prove what we are and what we are made of, by putting it to the test.  The rats can't do it for us.  

When I got back to my room and looked out from the balcony in the rain, I saw two ducks swimming in the pool behind the signs saying “Pool Closed.”