Fwd: A field trip full of AHA moments (≧∀≦)

     We went to the King Fahad Specialist Hospital to learn more about the brain and its senses that we are doing in science. We learned first about the structures and functions, the treatment and cure of diseases relating to the brain, and also we actually saw some of the mechanics for therapy. 

     My main AHA point in this whole field trip was when Dr. Lina ElSabbagh presented methods of recovering or curing the patients whose parts were paralyzed. I never had in mind that a neuron of one part could take over by connecting- or "remapping" to function for a lost neuron of a different part (neuroplasticity). What I also found interesting was the various methods of treating the disabled weak part of the patient, such as the mirror therapy and motor imagery. It seemed almost like self-hypnosis, except building confidence as if they could move it. I felt surprised that it actually had effect. Anyhow with more and more of these AHA moments, I had ended up full of notes. I took 3 pages written on my notebook, full with both diagrams and bullets. I feel I had a wonderful time learning what I never knew about the brain. 

                     ~Ryoka Matsumoto

KFSHD: My Aha-Moment

On Monday, the 5^th of January (2015), the whole of the DEMS class of 2019 took a field trip to the King Fahd Specialist Hospital Dammam. The purpose of this field trip was to properly understand the structure of the brain (to understand what each part does) and to learn more about human psychotherapy. During this fascinating trip, our science teacher, Mrs. Nazli Ahmed, asked us to take notes about the topics that the presenters discussed. One of the things that we needed to include in our notes was an Aha-moment. An Aha-moment is a moment during the trip that really stood out to ourselves (kind of like a "Oh-my-God-I-can't –believed-that-actually-happened" moment).

My Aha-Moment during this field trip to the King Fahd Specialist Hospital Dammam was the remapping or neuroplasticity of a paralyzed arm. When someone has a paralyzed hand, the neurons in the human body think that the paralyzed hand cannot be functional. If that hand (specifically the fingers) was to be moved, then the neurons would receive the message that the hand can still be functional. When this happens, the extra neurons that are in our body flow back to the paralyzed arms to be used as neurons for the arm. I found this information very cool and fascinating. This clearly shows that there is hope for people with paralyzed body parts. In the specialist hospital, there was a machine that made the fingers on the hand move by attaching the person's finger to the metal bits, this was used to tell the body that the hand can still be functional.

- Mohammad Arhaam Mukati

My KFSH AHA Moment

KFSH Aha Moment

I went on a field trip with the whole eighth grade to King Fahad Specialist Hospital. We went there to learn about the brain and it's senses. We also learned about what physiotherapists do to rehabilitate people that are disabled. This field trip was organized by Nadine De Clercq and Mrs Ahmed. During this event Dr Hani and Lina ElSabbagh presented to the whole group about the brain.

My main aha moment in the whole field trip was when Dr Hani explained about neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is when a neuron in the brain is damaged and another neuron comes to help it. Neurons are basically wires that send messages from our brain to different parts of our bodies. When one of those neurons is damaged it cuts off the massages getting to a certain part of your body. However, physiotherapists exercise the part of the body where the messages were cut off from. If they exercise this part enough, eventually other neurons take over the function of the damaged neuron. After a long time of constant exercise this certain part of the body works independently. I found that this was the most interesting part of the presentation.

Nina Carlos-De Clercq

My awesome AHA moment

            On the field trip to Fahad Specialists Hospital my aha moment was when Dr. Hani Al-Khaldi a pediatric neurologist explained to us about the process of neuroplasticity which is the manner in which when a specific body part is damaged and has dead or damaged neurons, nearby neurons will come to the aid of the damaged body part and help the injured neurons in controlling that area and it's functions. This was my aha moment because it was something I had no idea about until the field trip, and when I did learn about it really opened up my mind in showing how advanced our brain is and how it can react to nearly every situation that it encounters. This moment also really tied up many topics and explained a lot about how medical personal can treat patients and rehiblatet them. Also thanks to my aha moment when I came back from school the day of the fieldtrip I asked my mom for any people she knew or knows who had or has a neurological problem or a problem related to the brain like a stroke, and she replied telling me about my dads aunt who one day got a stoke that paralyzed her whole body and how the doctors treated her and what methods did they use, one of the methods my mom told me the doctors used was they moved her hand to get movement so nearby neurons could come to aid the damaged body part and perform neuroplasticity. This was really surprising to me since I never knew that someone in my family had problem related to the brain. Over all this moment was my aha moment cause it explained a lot of things about the brain to me as well as getting me more interested in the topic.

 

- Ibrahim Ahmed

My AHA moment

My AHA moment at the field trip to King Fahad Specialist Hospital was when they explained about neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is also known as remapping, it occurs when someone has a paralyzed hand or foot all the neurons think that the hand is not functional. so they don't help it. But during physiotherapy(usually abbreviated to PT) they make you practice moving that hand or those fingers whatever part of you is paralyzed. When this happens the neurons think your hand is functional and move into your hand and help it move. There are many machines at the hospital to help in PT and also a very large gym. for rehabilitation. In KFSH we had a lot of moment like my AHA moment but this was very amazing to know about.

AHA Moment. Neuroplasticity

During the presentation I had a great aha moment, one that shocked my mind. During the presentation I learned that minor paralysis could be cured! This also showed me that physical therapists have extremely important jobs.

Everyone knows that neurons regulate the parts of our bodies. Overtime neurons die, by diseases or injuries. When the neurons in your brain start dying, you become brain dead. But neurons can die in every part of the body. For example, your hand is paralyzed.  Your hand is one of the most important parts of your body, which you use thousands of time during your day for different things, and now that it is paralyzed you can't do those things anymore. This is where physical therapists come in. By just exercising your hand, such as moving your fingers, the paralysis can go away! Over time, neurons that regulate other parts of the body will see that your hand can still work, so some of them will transport there, thus regaining the use of your hand.  This process is called neuroplasticity.

 

I was amazed to learn this as I thought paralysis was permanent. This showed me how cool and important physical therapists are. 

By

Ahmad Khan

KFSHD: My Aha-Moment

On Monday, the 5^th of January (2015), the whole of the DEMS class of 2019 took a field trip to the King Fahd Specialist Hospital Dammam. The purpose of this field trip was to properly understand the structure of the brain (to understand what each part does) and to learn more about human psychotherapy. During this fascinating trip, our science teacher, Mrs. Nazli Ahmed, asked us to take notes about the topics that the presenters discussed. One of the things that we needed to include in our notes was an Aha-moment. An Aha-moment is a moment during the trip that really stood out to ourselves (kind of like a "Oh-my-God-I-can't –believed-that-actually-happened" moment).

My Aha-Moment during this field trip to the King Fahd Specialist Hospital Dammam was the remapping or neuroplasticity of a paralyzed arm. When someone has a paralyzed hand, the neurons in the human body think that the paralyzed hand cannot be functional. If that hand (specifically the fingers) was to be moved, then the neurons would receive the message that the hand can still be functional. When this happens, the extra neurons that are in our body flow back to the paralyzed arms to be used as neurons for the arm. I found this information very cool and fascinating. This clearly shows that there is hope for people with paralyzed body parts. In the specialist hospital, there was a machine that made the fingers on the hand move by attaching the person's finger to the metal bits, this was used to tell the body that the hand can still be functional.

-          Mohammad Arhaam Mukati

Science Blogger

The eighth grade classes had a field trip to King Fahd Specialists Hospital, it was very exciting and very enjoyable because of all the activities and games played in the hospital. During the field trip I had an AHA moment. My AHA moment was when I realized that a synapse is a structure in which electrical currents go through it and allow our brains to store memory of what we hear and do.

I have learned many things such as what a synapse is and what we need for our brain to function and send messages to the different parts of the body. I have learned that an interisting part or structure in the nervous system is the axon in which controls thenbrain and the spinal cord which is a part of the entire nervous system

-Waleed Younas 8Y

My Stupendous AHA Moment!!

During our visit to KFSH (King Fahad Specialist Hospital) we were lucky to have have Dr. Hani give us a presentation about the brain itself and how it functions. The amount of information that I have been bombarded with is honestly unbelievable, but at the same time very interesting. While the parts and functions of the brain, as well as the influences doctors can have on the brain was being explained to us, our brain itself was doing everything that was being explained to us. Now, I won't lie to you I did have a lot of aha moments and that's a good thing meaning I was paying attention and comprehending the information that was being given out by those amazing professional doctors. My AHA! moment was when I found out about Neuroplasticity. That is the key to functional recovery, in other words the remapping of the brain. The reason I found this interesting is because I never knew the brain could be remapped.

Lina Abdelgabar

My AHA Moment! :D

     Firstly I would like to thank all the teachers who made this trip possible and the hospital staff members including Dr. Hani, Dr. Lina, and Mrs. DeClerk and her team. The whole trip in King Fahad Specialist Hospital was overall amazing with all the new concepts we learned from the presentations of Dr. Hani, Dr. Lina, and Mrs. DeClerk and her team. There were many moments when we were in the hospital which I was just awe-strucked. Those thoughts on how lucky I am to have full ability to control my body and not struggle with body disabilities like the kids in the Physical Therapy room. 

     There are way too many AHA moments for me to describe, but probably one of the most vivid memories was when Dr. Hani explained how Occupational Therapy (basic daily life activities) and Physical Therapy (basic human abilities) can help the nervous system remap itself. Remapping of the neurons is like the brain sending help; when a patient who is recovering after a stroke and lost the ability to move their hand, OT and PT can send messages to the brain that neurons are needed to be sent there. They explained how OP and PT can be so effective to a person who lost the abilities to move the hand and even their legs. One thing I observed was that most patients are very young because they have developed different types disability since birth; looking through medical histories of families they were able to catch some at early stages. Moving on, we were showed to a robot, which they said was one of the most advanced technologies in the medical field right now. It was able to train kids who struggled on moving their hand or feet by using repetitive exercises. Repetitive exercises have been able to help the brain and the neurons remap themselves. These activities are rehabilitation with the help of robotic assistance. Overall the trip was fun and life changing because it made us all question on how lucky and thankful we are to be able to run around and play, while many struggle just to do the most simplest things. 

-- Valerie Uy 

     

      

My AHA moment

When Mrs. Lina ElSabbagh was talking about her presentation she talked about how some kids put their bad hand behind the mirror and their good hand in front of it. And it amazed me by how the brain works and how you can trick it into thinking that you're writing with your bad hand. it also made me realize how fortunate I am; I personally feel more conscious about my brain and how much i have to care for it. Our brain is a really sensitive and an important part of our body. The fact that every neuron matters and losing some neurons might affect your body drastically is scary.

-Lamees Alawami

My Uh-Mazing AHA Moment

The visit to King Fahad Specialist Hospital (KFSH) was my first field trip to a hospital, a one of a kind experience. The one 'AHA' moment that stands out for me was the one where Dr. Hani explained us, the audience on how neuroplasticity, a new term for many of us, occurs in our nervous system when a neuron dies or gets damaged. The body being unable to produce, sends signals to the neurons to come and take place so as to heal the damage. The nerve near the damaged nerve comes and takes place for the previous one. I was unaware of the fact that the brain could remap and that was a pretty cool thing. This information got a bit more explained when Dr. Lina ElSabbagh explained how neuroplasticity can occur by using therapy.

Another mini 'AHA' moment was when Dr. Hani told us that women are prone to be more emotional, or handle emotions differently, due to their hippocampus, which is probably thicker.

(shout outs to Mrs. Ahmed, Mrs. DeClarq, Dr. Hani Al-Khaldi, Dr. Lina ElSabbagh and the PT&OT staff for helping us have a memorable, educated and productive lesson over the brain) 

-Nalini Singh      

My Amazing AHA moment

        On the field trip to the King Fahad Specialist Hospital I had a lot of AHA moments that really connected what we learned in class and what we learned there. But the one that really stuck to me, when Dr. Hani had explained to us about the neurons. That really clicked something inside my head, that they are roads that are used to pass messages. That the axon is the part of the neuron that moves the message form the receiver to sender. He also explained why people have problems with their brains then they have a problems receiving information from body parts. That happens because the neurons that control that function have died and don't send that signal anymore. Neuroplasticity is a way that doctors at the hospital help patients to regain function in that body part. Its a way were the doctors move the patients none functional part so that other neurons come and take the place of the old dead ones. They just got this new machine that they attach the fingers to the machine by using magnets that are placed by a band-aid on the tip. The machine measures how much the person can move the part then sees how much they can push it, then helps finish till the limit. They also have ways of putting games into this, you extend to move left and shrink to move right. It is a nice way of interrupting new technology into this field.

         I would also like to thank Mrs. Ahmed and Mrs. De Clarq, Mr. Hani, Dr. Lina and the rest of the P&OT team for setting up the whole field trip. Also for getting us all organized, for giving us lots to do and teaching us new things. Another thanks to Dr. Hani for taking time off his busy schedule to show us the presentation.

～Taha Sarfraz

My Mind-Blowing AHA Moment

There were many AHA moments that I had experienced during this field trip, however one was really interesting as it had to do with my brain as well as my head and what happened to it in the past.In 2003, I had been in a car accident and had a serious case of bleeding in the brain; known as subdural hematoma. I was unable to walk and talk in the proper way, differentiate between colours and could not remember how to accomplish basic motor skills. During the presentations and disscussions, Dr. Hani and Dr. Sabagh had talked about if a serious brain injury had to occur,then the neurons or helping hands to carry out specific functions would fade away or die out, that results in the brain and remapping-neuroplasticity. This had happened to me as my top left side of my head and brain had been severely injured and damaged. Other neurons had helped to remap my brain so that I could get back on my feet and return to a normal person again. 

-Sayurii 

My Super-Duper AHA Moment :))

On our field tip to King Fahad Specialist Hospital, there were many "AHA" moments I had experienced where suddenly all the human biology I have studied over the years had connected and started to make sense. For example, when Dr. Hani Al-Kaldi explained to us the structure of a neuron and how neurotransmission occurs, I recalled the information that I had stored a long time ago when I learned about the nervous system, and it had all pieced itself together, since I forgot about how signals are transmitted. Also, adding to the information I already knew, Dr. Hani went more into depth about how the bundles of axons are white matter and the cell bodies are gray matter, and their functions and structures. Another AHA moment I had was when we were explained to that neuroplasticity occurs in the nervous system when a neuron(s) dies or is damaged, and since the body is not able to physically produce more neurons, the body signals to the neurons to redirect themselves in order to help the areas with lost neurons. An example of how neuroplasticity occurs is through therapy, which is what Dr. Lina explained to us, and during physical therapy sessions, therapists move the affected area over a series of visits trying to get the brain to remap the neurons for the damaged area to move again. An example of how therapy helps is with Dr. DeClerk's young patient, whose left arm was unable to move until she had tried physical therapy which helped her arm start moving but sadly after a period of time it lost its movement again. The presentation given by Dr. Hani and Dr. Lina had cleared up the general concept of the structure of the human brain, how neurotransmission occurs, and what neuroplasticity is, and special thanks to the doctors, including Dr. DeClerk, and her team for helping us understand and visualize the brain and the treatments used for its diseases.

-Sarah Amer

My KFSH Field Trip AHA Moment

I feel that I have learned a lot from this field trip, and have gained so much knowledge about the brain, and things I had never even thought about before. (Thanks to Nina, Mrs. Ahmed, Mrs. De Clerq, Dr. Hani, Dr Lina El Sabbagh, and the rest of the team for giving us this opportunity) 

Everyone has their own definition of an AHA Moment, but mine is that it is a moment when you learn or realize something that gives you clarity and understanding, or something you found really interesting, that made sense to you.  

I had two AHA moments that really stood out for me. The first one was when Dr. Hani explained neuroplasticity and how it's like the main way of recovering from brain damage. I would have never thought that our own neurons could take the place of others when they die off - and all it takes is some movement and repetition in the areas that are affected. My second AHA moment was when Dr. Hani told us about why females are more emotional and emotionally intelligent than males. It's something that I had known of but wasn't quite sure why.

I tried to look it up online and I found that the reason for this is because females have larger limbic systems than males, which is why they are more emotional and comprehensive thinkers than most males are. I am not sure if this is accurate information but it does make sense.

I can't remember exactly how Dr. Hani explained it, so I would appreciate if someone could add on :)

-Sana Mehmood  

AHA moment at KFSH

At KFSH field trip, I had a lot of AHA moments when every time, for one second, I felt like a genius after discovering a new major concept by suddenly making all the connections. And yet, I have to point out that one of them was so fascinating that it made me want to explore the roots of knowledge regarding our brain communication and body function. It was triggered by a sample movement made by the presenter Dr. Hani. He pulled up his hands so we could see them, and simply enclosed his fingers around his other hand's index finger and started moving it constantly. He then looked at us and made a pose, wanting us to visually analyze what he just did so we could understand what he was trying to tell us. Suddenly, everything made sense. This weird name neuroplasticity that he had just previously announced a few seconds ago also made sense and was now guaranteed a place in my long-term memory (which he also amazingly explained). Let me explain: neuroplasticity is when an inactive and damaged neuron in our body gets helped and replaced by already-existing ones. It is really important and pivotal for our body since our body can't reproduce new neurons and a neuron is like a message transmitter that transmits electrical commends from our brain to different parts of our body and when one of them is damaged it cuts of the hall message therefore paralyzing this certain part of our body where the neuron was damaged. That is why, physiotherapists tend to replace this neuron's function with the nearby neurons who take over it by exercising the affected part, making it functional again. This consists of constantly and frequently moving the damaged part, triggering, little by little the other nearby neurons to help out by redirecting them from other parts of the body to the affected area. And after long frequent exercises, the damaged neuron gets fully taken over by other neurons and the affected part works independently like it once did. This hall explanation was as I already said, triggered by a sample visual movement which truly made this AHA moment special and astonishing.

To conclude I would like to thank Miss. Ahmad, Miss De Clarq and her team for organizing and planning this amazing informative field trip for us where we learned a lot of new things about the brain and our body as well about what physiotherapists do to rehabilitate people that are disabled. I would also like to thank Dr. Hani and Dr. Lina for those well-grounded and instructive presentations that enlightened us with such fascinating knowledge.

Joseph Moussa

My AHA moment

My AHA moment during the KFSH field trip was when I learned how the brain communicates with the rest of the body through neurons. Neurons send electrical signals through molecular tunnels which reach all different parts of the body. When impulses reach the end of an axon, they activate neurotransmitters, which send messages to the body part to interact. Another thing I learned was neuroplasticity, which an ability of the brain to reorganize its neurons by rerouting them. For example, if some had endured a severe injury to the foot, some of the neurons there may have been wiped out. Since the body is not able to reproduce neurons, it will redirect neurons from other parts of the body to the effected area; making it functional again.

I really learned a lot from this trip and I would like to thank Mrs. Ahmed, Dr. Hani, Mrs. De Clerq and her team for making this trip possible.

-Dylan Dev

My Amazing,Awesome AHA Moment

My AHA moments ware when Dr. lina talked about mapping and how neurons can take over other neurons places if they are not functioning ,and It also became more "AHA" when Adib asked Dr.Lina if the organ th\t the neurons go from can still function or not? The answer was Yes ,they still function because when neurones help and not take place of the non functioning neurons. My other AHA moment was when Dr.Hani talked about Nurue Plasticity and how when you move the index finger or any other part of the body, the brain sends nurones to take over the place and work instead of it being immovable because it doesn't have any neurones in this area.

Abdellrahman Ghazaly :-)

THANK YOU Mrs. AHMED  AND Mrs. DE CLARQ

FOR THIS AMAZING ,WELL PLANNED FIELD TRIP

My Awesome AHA Moment

On the KFSH field trip, what was your AHA moment?

My AHA moment on the KFSH field trip was after I had asked my first
question to Dr. Hani; I asked him:
If a person was to lose the ability of their limb, an arm
for example, and that part of the brain was useless, is it possible to
take the brain of another being and replace it with the useless part
so that the person could move their arm again?
Dr. Hani explained that in certain aspects, it is possible
but really when you lose feeling in a certain area, it is a bit
difficult for the person to revive that limb. But if exercised enough,
it could be possible.
This was my AHA moment because I remembered in class how we
had been talking about how if you exercise enough or work out a
useless limb enough, it is possible that that limb could be put to
use. When Doctor Hani re-explained that I had my AHA moment.

Maryam Babar

An AHA moment in Mrs. Ahmed's life ...

I had several AHA moments. One was when I understood the importance of cerebrum. Dr. Hani, the pediatric neurologist, explained how all the right and wrong decisions we make come from the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is part of the cerebrum and all the executive functions take place here. 

    - Mrs. Ahmed

On your KFSH field trip, what was your AHA moment?