Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Her brain

Now this was pretty awesome.
On Monday we dissected out the brain and identified various cranial arteries, nerves, and non-brain structures. The skull had already been sawed for us, exposing the brain. We essentially have to snip some nerves, cut the brain-stem, and roll the brain out. When do people ever get to the roll the brain out?
We all took turns holding the brain -- absolutely crazy. So much of what makes humans human - unique in our complex thoughts, advanced creations, and metaphysical pondering - is in that brain! In my hands! With just a lesion there or a cut there, you can completely change the personality and identity of an individual!


And we found the masticles.

Let me share the story of the masticles (which isn't an anatomical part).
While we were dissecting the face, we kept getting confused with the masseter muscle and the zygomaticus. One guy at my team slipped up and said "masticles." We laughed because of the sound of it... and we all wondered if there is a body part called masticles. Must be. Sounds like such an anatomical name.

And so, when we rolled out the brain, the guy yelled: "hey i found the masticles!" *roar of laughter*
He was absolutely right. The cerebellum looks awfully like some testicles.
Isn't it amazing how goofy and immature med school students can be.... :D


Elephant Orphanage - Nairobi, Kenya

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