I'm uploading pictures now, but it takes forever. So I figured, while I wait, I'd add my final informative post....
So last Monday, I took the final exam. I felt it went SIGNIFICANTLY better than the midterm. It was actually relatively easy, biggest reason being that the final essay was on SCHIZOPHRENIA....talk about fortunate. I pulled all sorts of fancy terminology out of thin air...so it should have been impressive.
I went into work Tuesday and Wednesday for a couple extra days (I loved it THAT much.). In fact, I even added a little bit more to my presentation. We found new Data!!!! Positive correlations in the hippocampus with working memory on the Wisconsin card sort in normal controls. In many ways, thats not surprising, as the hippocampus is associated with any and all types of memory throughout the brain. In fact, the one man who had his surgically removed to prevent seizures (known by his initials H.M.) lost his ability to form any new memories in his long-term store. He forgot things within a half-hour, and could only use his Short-term memory (that's called complete anterograde amnesia)-again, something I picked up in Wenzel's intro to psych program. But more impressive than that data, we found correlations with the WAIS III subcategories and gray matter volumes of the working memory regions. The WAIS in a nut shell is one of the most commonly distributed IQ tests in the world. It has several subcategories, and many of them measure working memory and information processing. Correlations with the regions that are involved in working memory and a test that measures working memory is promising, and its a good note to leave on after tons of disappointing data.
In fact, as a side note to any and all future interns to ANY research lab from Brooks, Data is very rarely your friend. There are no "happy" answers. Data is a cold, heartless, mean, evil, conniving monster that wants to destroy your research as quickly as possible....ask anyone. Problem is, you need it, all the time. And Sometimes data was the complete opposite-it was actually pretty nice to me at times (cortical regions and cerebral cortex volumes). But go in expecting the unexpected when your dealing with a very small group of individuals (40 cases, in my case.).
With Harvard coming to a close, the whole Stoughton North (my dorm) family came together to say goodbye (Yes, that's right, we made a family-I'm the grandpa, as well as Wes Bernier's father according to the other people.) It was awesome, and I'm going to miss everybody there.
In fact, I'm going to miss everything about this internship. The RA's were the greatest people I've ever worked with, and some are the greatest I've ever met. (I bought them berry line gift certificates as a goodbye gift.) All of them kept me laughing to the point of tears throughout the internship, and Zora, my investigator couldn't have been a better boss. Harvard was fantastic, and I'll miss it sooooooo much. I loved my dorm, My room mate, my new friends, my class, my teacher and everything about it. Most of all, this internship taught me what its like to be a true scientist, a researcher working for one of the most prestigious hospitals in the country, and even the world. Students my age never get opportunities like this, and I hope anyone who does this internship, should it be offered again, truly appreciates this.
It was a fantastic, life-changing experience, and I couldn't be happier to have done it.
I've thanked (or am going to thank) every one of these people personally, but I figured it could be stated in writing as well:
Thanks Mr. Cameron, Dr. K, and Mr. Palm for giving me a second chance at this. I did my best to show everything a diligent Brooks student could do, and I hope you realize that. This was one of the greatest opportunities I could have ever had, and in no way was this squandered. You all, as well as Brooks were the chief motivating factor behind my drive to impress. I hope you see that, and I hope you realize you picked a good student for this internship.
Jorge, Doug, Diandra, Laurel, Andrew, Paula, Israel, Priyanka, Tali, thanks for everything. You were all the greatest co-workers I ever could have had the privilege of working with. You're all fantastic people and I hope I have the opportunity to work with all of you again.
Zora and Dr. Shenton, It was an honor to work on your project and in your lab. Thank you for taking the time to help teach me the basics, as well as listening to my questions and ultimately to my presentation. I hope you continue to look towards Brooks as a resource for teaching future scientists.
The Stoughton Family, as well as Charlotte and Wes: thanks for dealing with all of my crazy. You were an awesome group of people to live with, and I hope we keep in touch.
This was the greatest summer I've had in my entire academic career and I encourage any and all students at Brooks to look towards SFS when they hit their junior summer.
And of course, pictures are on the way.
~Sam
Figured I'd end with this...
And of course, Water Balloon Fights.........
STOUGHTON FAM!!!!!!!! I'm gonna miss these guys so much!
BANANAGRAMS!!!!! This is sort of an inside joke, but I HAD to include it...
The Lab Part III, you can see what each work area looks like!!!
The Lab Part II, My work station! Images are kind of hazy because I used My iPhone
The Lab, Part 1. Dunkin Donuts brought by me!!!
Wes and his dad, out in the harbor
The harbor! You can kind of see Logan Airport.
Me on Wes's boat out in the harbor = AWESOME!!!!!
Me and the other summer students in our Harvard Med shirts that the lab gave us