ooooooooh brain cells

Bwog Staff Writer and wannabe clinical psychologist Riya Mirchandaney nerded out over some dope women scientists at the event “Neuroscience in Action: A Conversation About Early Life Trauma and the Brain.”

On Tuesday April 24th, Trauma-Free NYC—an organization with the goal of understanding and promoting trauma-informed policies in the city of New York—provided a platform for three impressive speakers (Dr. Noble, Dr. Tottenham, and Dr. Bernard) to discuss their cutting-edge research on the subject of the psychology and neuroscience of early childhood adversity.

The first speaker was Dr. Kimberly Noble (MD and PhD!), Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Education at Teachers College and Principal Investigator of the NEED (Neurocognition, Early Experience, and Development) Lab. Her research focuses on the way that socioeconomic factors shape brain development, specifically studying the relationship between poverty, family stress, cognitive ability, cortisol levels, and (s/o to FroSci!) the hippocampus.

The force of socioeconomic status on cognitive development is quite clear, noted Dr. Noble, as children of high SES with low early test scores improve their scores over time, whereas children of low SES with high early test scores show the opposite trend—essentially, socioeconomic status trumps early cognitive ability in predictive power for later performance. And brain structure plays a key role: Dr. Noble found that higher income is associated with greater volume of the hippocampus—a part of the limbic system linked to learning and memory.

More brain stuff after the jump

Per annual Bwog tradition, we sent a top-secret Bwogger to infiltrate the Columbia Class of 2022 GroupMe and find out what next year’s Columbia freshmen are truly like. Here’s what we found.

A Budding Columbia Romance:

They Really Like Making Polls:

They Also Really Like Arman Azad:

Betsy’s two new best friends

Yesterday morning, around 11 am, our fearless EIC sat down in Butler to begin work on a presentation which was supposed to be the culmination of several weeks of data collection and analysis, as well as a semester’s worth of self-led computer science tutorials. Naturally, she was set to give the presentation at about 10:30 am today. The following ensued.

11:15 am: Even though I’ve been up for a few hours already (thanks, Wind Ensemble obligations), I just sat down in Butler. Since I don’t study in this library much, when I do go here, I tend to guide my actions with the adage What Would Finn Klauber Do – which usually leads me to either the eighth floor or the sixth floor reading rooms. Right now, it’s the latter. The room isn’t too crowded, the natural light from the windows is nice, and I am… already procrastinating. I have 22 hours and 45 minutes until my 10 am class tomorrow, when this presentation is due. Let’s get down to business.

11:25 am: Actually, scratch that, I need to go to the bathroom again.

11:28 am: I was going to write something making fun of the girl sitting next to me who has three (3) “Friends” stickers on her laptop, but then I remembered that I spent a half hour of my morning reading an article on “the top 100 pairings on AO3, ranked” earlier, so I really have no leg to stand on here.

12:01 pm: Have installed approximately 15 R studio packages. Not entirely sure what all of them do or if anyone will be useful for my project, but uh… I have them?

1:20 pm: Figured out how to do one (1) successful thing. Still feeling very proud of myself. Going to take a lunch break.

2:50 pm: Lunch break turned into an impromptu covering a protest break. I love Columbia.

The lack of productivity doesn’t stop there…

This entire building only has one good bathroom in it.

To the Butler 6 Bathroom:

I remember how I first met you. It wasn’t through a friend of a friend, or Tinder, or any of those superficial, stale mechanisms kids these days use to attempt to find love. All I needed was the right situation, a little bit of luck, and Bwog.

One day, while searching for a place to cry in Butler, I pulled up the Pooping in Pupin post and found a recommendation for the Butler 6 bathroom. I took the elevator upstairs, locked myself in a bathroom stall, and plugged in my earphones to listen to Camila Cabello’s “Real Friends.”

A profound sense of peace began to settle on me. Maybe it’s the bright white walls. The clean tile floor. The faint smell of sunscreen. The benevolent faces of grad students populating floor 6. Whatever it is, I’m convinced that you’re the most blessed bathroom in Butler, maybe even at Columbia.

You’re truly one of a kind. I mean, it’s really kind of hard to find good bathrooms at this school. To this day, when I’m studying in 209 and find all the bathrooms on floor 2 occupied or just plain stinky, I know I can always take the elevator to floor 6 and count on you, clean and reliable. Never change.

Love,

Anonymous Bwogger

Used to be a cynic before I met you via Bwog Archives 

Cara’s blue and white plates return

If you’ve made the splurge on ~real maple syrup~ and not just the Log Cabin sticky goo, this is a perfect way to justify it– using it in a delicious, healthy dinner! The proportions listed for the sauce is a pretty rough estimate– taste away and see whether you want it sweeter/spicier/etc. 
Maple Soy Tofu, adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

1 12-oz. block firm tofu
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 ½” piece ginger, very thinly sliced
A splash of sesame oil
Juice of half a lime
½ cup vegetable or canola oil.
Sliced scallions and steamed rice (for serving)

Drain tofu, then sandwich between several layers of kitchen towels to remove excess liquid. Cut into cubes.

Whisk soy sauce, maple syrup, rice vinegar, red pepper flakes, sesame oil, lime juice, and ginger in a small bowl.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. When oil is rippling across the surface, carefully add tofu so it doesn’t splash. Cook, undisturbed, until very crisp and dark brown underneath, 3–4 minutes. Carefully turn and repeat on opposite side. Holding tofu back with a spatula or slotted spoon, pour out oil into a small bowl.DO NOT POUR OIL DOWN THE DRAIN! I REPEAT, DO NOT POUR THE OIL DOWN THE DRAIN or you’ll ruin your sink!

With that aside, return the skillet to medium-high heat and add soy sauce mixture. Cook, reducing heat to medium until glaze is thick enough to coat a spoon, about 4 minutes.

Serve over rice and sprinkle with scallions! Look at you, you god/goddess of health!

procrastinate on your finals and make this via Bwogger Cara

Throw out the whole website.

Happening in the World: The leader of the regional government in Madrid resigned after a video of her being detained for shoplifting was made public. 53-year-old Cristina Cifuentes had already been under pressure to leave her post after it came to light that she didn’t do all the coursework needed to receive her bachelor’s degree. A blow to the ruling part, this is also an important reminder to write your papers and study for your finals. (NYT)

Happening in the US: Because we live in the worst possible timeline, Donald Trump thanked Kanye West on Twitter for his public support, after the rapper returned to the platform two weeks ago. Among other comments, he said Trump shares “dragon energy” with him and posted a photo in a MAGA hat. (BBC)

Happening in NYC: Police are searching for a dog that bit a woman on the 4 train in Manhattan. The conflict started when she asked the owner to move the dog after bumping into her. An altercation ensued and she was bitten on the foot (NBC).

Happening on Campus: The Human Rights Program at Barnard will be hosting a panel discussion and Q&A on gun violence in America today from 6 to 8 pm in 307 Milbank. The panel features: Barnard Professor of History Matt Vaz; Vanderbilt Professor of Psychiatry, Jonathan Metzl; founder of Columbia Students Against Gun Violence, Nikki Shaner-Bradford; and CU Dems Lead Activist, Joanna Cohen.

World of the Day: Luz, the Spanish word for light. Here’s your weekly reminder that more than 33,000 people in rural Puerto Rico still don’t have power or adequate shelter, and have been relying on generators since Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit in September (CBS)

do you think god lives in heaven because he too lives in fear of what he created? via Bwog Archives