13 May 2008
The course yesterday was pretty hardcore! Woke up at 4am again (can see a pattern emerging here!) and went to the hotel gym. It’s got pretty much the same machines as our usual one, so I pounded the X-trainer and did some free weights. :)
Then I knocked round a couple of rooms, after getting the list from reception, and went over to the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. They have five, yes, FIVE scanners! Including a 7T, which they only use on animals because it’s a bit too cutting edge!
The $20 we get for food is enough to cover a massive breakfast and lunch. We got there for 7.45am but a lot of the delegates seemed real keen and got there even earlier. For breakfast I had a melon/pineapple bowl, a chunky choc au pain and Special K, only 3 quid!
Then we had introductions and four 2-hour lectures! They were pretty full on, but these guys are really experienced researchers and speakers and it was really interesting! We get these course books with all the notes printed and everything, so we just have to listen and take everything in.
We had lectures on MRI, EEG, MEG and just a general one on imaging tools. These guys are like the mac-mothers of imaging! We had 15 minute breaks between each lecture and an hour for lunch, where I had delicious sushi and a choc brownie the size of my face! :) Met some really interesting people, quite a few of them are American MDs, think only my and Michael my roomie are from England. Couple of Europeans chucked in there too.
Lectures lasted until 6.30pm and then we all went to a restaurant called Figs. It was sooooo nice! Bruschetta, calamari and funky bread with olives for starters, and various slices of fig and parma ham, tomato and basil and pepperoni pizza, and also some funky Belgian ale that tasted like oranges (my new favourite!).
About 15 of us are all staying at the Constitution so we all came back and were so knackered we all went to bed. It’s so warm here I just slept on the bed outside the sheets and had the windows wide open the whole night.
Got up at 5am today, gymmed 6am to 7am and then a saw the computer was free so I thought I’d quickly stop and give you a (not so short) update. :)
Gotta dash upstairs, shower and get ready to go over for breakfast at 8am. Today we’ve got a couple more lectures, then we’ve got workshops for designing our own fMRI and EEG experiments. There isn’t much MRS on the course, but the course director (who’s such a nice guy!) is going to set me up on a lunch date with someone who knows a thing or two. Don’t finish until 9.30pm tonight though. 11 hours of hardcore work!
Been longer than I thought writing this, gotta dash!
Hello to everyone else who reads this!
Mae
13 May 2008
Sounds hardcore! You must be learning so much – I am so glad you were chosen to attend! What an adventure! :)
hesmita patel
15 May 2008
oh my god…i never realised how much of a geek you were untiil i saw how excited you got aboput having FIVE scanners! wow how do you contain your excitement. i will tyr and keep up to date with the blog but tis hard as am in lib 9am-11pm most days now trying to avoid comps – too many distractions. lol glad your having a good time meeting new people and learning its a wicked oppourtunity and your geekky enought o deserve it! speak soon, keep enjoying yourself! miss ya! x ps i had my brain and behavior exam today seeing as how now your a bit of an expert….does MRI measure ERP…..? x love ya x