It was my first week as an MRes student last week. Quite a wakeup call! I’m used to very complex maths, that basically needs solving for homework but no reading up on! Culture shock having to actually do some out of lecture research. My modules have been Sensory systems, which touched on the brain and its areas and associated ‘tasks’. and the neurons themselves, with myelinated sheaths. Most of this was hard A-level Biology material that I just about remember (My mathsy brain seems to like memorising things) from four years ago. I also started my neurological disorder work, which was a lot more complex. I’m not sure whether it was maybe just the start but I spent a lot of time re-reading, rewriting and researching the words. Found out a lot about Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s however (Alzheimer’s seems particularly interesting, with amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles affecting the brain. However it looks (from the research I read up on) that the fibres are in fact a response for pressure from elsewhere. The other module is the biological study of behaviour. Evolution of animals, with Lisa was very interesting and a small class so more of a discussion! The statistics module started, and not to blow my own trumpet but it was just a tad below the standard I’m used to! I’m going to stick at it because it IS a compulsory module. Just means it’s (touch wood!) marks in the bag! I also attended a few PDP sessions about research ethics, managing your e-portfolio and public speaking, the last of which was more of a two hour drama workshop, very fun! On the friday morning I dissected a brain (well looked at a pre-dissected brain) which was both satisfying gut-churning and very interesting! On a personal note I played rugby on the saturday (first team!) but we got beat 🙁 and I went to see Nickelback, who were beyond awesome! Looking forward to next week!