Why so caught up on the brain?

When I was a little girl, 8 to be precise, I developed a seizure disorder. This was in the 80’s, and you can imagine what was understood about the brain at the time. But let me tell you what I did so that you understand a fact about me: I went to the elementary school library and I checked out whatever books I could find about the brain. I learned that researching something made it less scary, and this became a life-long strategy.

When good people were trying to figure out what was wrong with me, I began going to see a Pediatric Neurologist, and he and I would become friends. For a time, I decided I wanted to be a pediatric Neurologist, though you all can see that didn’t happen. But it did kick off my life-long fascination with brain and biology. Often when I went to the Dr., they would perform an EEG. To my 8 yo self, I was intrigued how the technician could actually tell if I was really asleep or just pretending to be! The contraption had rainbow colored strips that connected to nodes they put all over my head, and they showed me how what was going on in my head made little waves move on the computer screen. I also often had my blood drawn, and Shelly the nurse let me follow her into the lab and I would watch the centrifuge spin and separate into white and red blood cells. Really fascinating stuff!

When I became a therapist, my interest in the brain experienced a purposeful resurgence! The 8 year old lesson still applied— When people understand what is going on in their brain—that what is happening in them actually makes sense—they often feel validated and calmed. Maybe I missed my calling as i still think that pediatric brain development is kind of amazing. But it still brings me a lot joy to learn about, and apply for myself and others, the ever-unfolding field of learning that is neuroscience.