Saturday, July 24, 2010

Ch. 5: Getting a Headache?

Haha just kidding, I don't have a headache. I just needed a clever title. :D

Before starting this chapter, I didn't know much about the structure and complexity of the human head. The way Shubin described the cranial nerves (particularly the trigeminal and facial nerves) was straight forward and fairly easy to understand. I'd better remember it in case I take an anatomy class in the future. It was interesting to find out which nerves perform what functions. The arches and indentations were also a new concept for me, although they were more confusing. It surprised me that Shubin spent the majority of the chapter focused on human anatomy. It was even more surprising when he started talking about Amphioxus like worms. Now that I think about it, it would make sense to include them since it would help demonstrate a connection between headless organisms and those that have heads. Shubin effectively uses all sorts of creatures to show how almost all animals can trace their origins to fish, not just humans. I thought it was pretty cool to find out that sharks and humans are so similar with the way their heads are structured. So if our indentations didn't close up, it'd be like having gills? I feel like I can call myself part shark.

~Bryanna Streeter :)

2 comments:

  1. HAHA I liked this title and I think it fits the chapter well.

    Are the development and blueprint of our heads that simple? Sure doesn't seem like it!
    - Ejay

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  2. lol well I'm sure it's definitely not simple. Shubin could probably go on writing a whole other book about the structure of the human head. But I guess the bits and pieces he focused on in this chapter seemed straight-forward enough, to me at least. Although it is still quite confusing...if that makes any sense at all...haha :p
    ~Bryanna Streeter

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