Reflections in the mirror

Journal 5:

I have so far dedicated a lot of time and energy to researching mirror neurons. Every night and usually after English class I am on the computer trying to further this project. A lot of that time on the internet is spent just trying to learn the lingo of neuroscientists so that I can understand their research well enough to be able to summarize it. This topic is one that greatly interests me, but one that is turning out to be difficult to step into overnight. The blog is coming along well and the assignments for class are as well, but I am not so confident when it comes to the final project. One aspect I would like to explore for the final paper is the acceptance of the existence of a mirror neuron system in humans around the world; however all of my efforts to search for information about this have come up empty. I find blips in my resources about research done outside the United States but never in detail.

Another obstacle in my way is; of the 833,000 results that Google gives me 80% of what I have read is about the same two breakthrough experiments I have already used in my blog. It is becoming difficult to find new sources for the blog and for the paper. I am confident I can write the paper with what I have now , with all the comprehensive data and deep explanations required, but I really want to be able to talk about the discovery and acceptance of both mirror neurons and autism as well. Frustration is setting in because I know in choosing this topic I have made things harder for myself, but I could use the push to force myself to become better at writing difficult papers like this one. I know my skills as they are now would get me about ---------- that far in a higher level course, so this will be good for me in the long run anyways.

I’m not looking for pats on the head from the teacher, but I want this paper and this blog to be useful to me after this class, especially because I am deeply considering researching this for the rest of my life. I am going to e-mail Lindsay Oberman, one of the people I have described in my ‘breakthroughs’ post and conduct an interview with her if she is willing and I want to ask her to look at my blog. That adds another level of pressure to keeping this blog as perfect as possible .Through the bit of research I have done I have come to respect her a great deal and I do not want to seem lame. I think there is much I could learn form Ms. Oberman and there is some much appreciated advice that she could give me not only for this project but for my career goals as well.