Biology 202 Web Paper 3

The reasons behind human actions and behaviors are directly related to the idea of motivation. There are many different levels of motivation that range from needs, to desires. For example, hunger motivates people to search for food and consume it while a new car may motivate teenagers to get a part-time job. However, this does not directly answer the question of why we become motivated.

In March of 2008, PBS showed the first of a series of a four hour documentary titled Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? The project is funded by the Ford Foundation, CPB-National Minority Consortia, the MacArthur Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The series tries to figure out how inequities, socioeconomic, race and environment in which we live affect us all and influence the outcomes of our health. The team also provides a website as a companion to the documentary. Besides the video clips, transcripts of the interviews, discussion guides and teaching materials for educators, there exists a question-answer section handled by experts (1).

The Incident:

On a Friday afternoon, not too long ago, I experienced a new level of perception. This occurred during an episode of nausea and acute pain that the doctor wrote off as “a bad reaction to an antibiotic”. It was the neurological symptoms I experienced during that time which generated a valuable experience:

        Music plays a huge role in our lives.  Whether you are at a concert or listening to music on your ipod at

the gym, whether you are listening to classical music or rock music your brain is constantly processing

melodies, harmonies, and lyrics.  But what makes music so enjoyable?  Why do we seek out new music, and

listen to old favorites over and over again?  What dictates our music choices—why do some people love

country music while others enjoy rap?  At first music may seem unimportant, but in reality it is a

fundamental part of any culture.  Recently researchers have begun to try to decipher the mystery that is

Phobias: More than just a Fear

This semester, our class attemptedto tackle the perception of pain. Where exactly does it come from? Moreimportantly, what is pain?

Isabelle Winer

Contrary to the Teachings of History Teachers:

The Advantage of Forgetting

As the science of neurobiology progresses and our knowledge of the nervous system and its functions becomes more complete, it grows increasingly less justifiable to segregate a patient’s mind and body as two separate entities. Continually medical journals are publishing are a growing number of articles documenting a correlation between patients’ psychiatric, emotional wellness and the health of their physical persons. With such amassing evidence, it seems necessary for there to be a change in the way medicine is practiced. As science comes to more fully grasp the role that a person’s psyche plays in the healing process, medical professionals must adjust the way they practice medicine, as patients