Neurons communicate through synapses between the cells, where chemicals called neurotransmitters are released. Neurotransmitters transfer signals from one neuron to the next, forming a synaptic pathway. A new synaptic pathway is formed as you absorb a new way of thinking, or learn new information. The more a synaptic pathway is used, the stronger it will get. However, if you don’t reinforce those pathways, they will become weaker and eventually dissolve away through the process called synaptic pruning, which is your brain’s way of disposing of unused connections. As new stimuli are experienced, the brain adapts to it by making new connections. 

Therefore, to create a healthy habit, we must engage in that activity repeatedly, without overdoing it in the beginning, and following a timely routine, to strengthen that pathway. Moreover, Self-directed neuroplasticity, defined as changing your brain activities and strengthening neural connections, is also known to benefit anyone trying to make lifestyle changes. It essentially just positively rewires our brain, impacting both our mental and physical health. So this new year, let’s put neuroplasticity into action and build a healthy lifestyle. 

But this all changed with the discovery of mirror neurons. First discovered in primates when watching another individual perform a task, a huge amount of neurons in the prefrontal cortex activated. Rapidly, many began experimenting with this new subset of neurons, discovering that when an individual watches a certain action occur, the same neurons for that action activate within that individual. Have you ever squirmed by watching a certain event occur- like someone receiving a vaccine or getting into a brutal accident? When this happens, the neurons of ‘receiving a vaccine’ or ‘getting into that brutal accident’ in your mind also activate even though you yourself are not experiencing it. After all, how else to understand another’s situation than to understand through your personal experience and actually attempt to replicate the scenario in your head?

Watching an individual get hugged will evoke joy for us because our mind mimics the same experience and attributes it to previous feelings of joy we’d received from hugging earlier. It is important to recognize however that while this offers a foundation for empathy, it is not all-encompassing as empathy itself is an arbitrary word to describe a feeling with no real grounding or boundaries. 

Now if the same neurons are activating when watching an action, how come we don’t actually move in the same way? When our body realizes someone is not hugging us, or that we aren’t receiving a vaccine, it inhibits any motor response. If the impulses contrast with the sensory signals the body is sending, the body will win and hence no motor response is necessitated. Otherwise, every time we are learning an action, we would be mimicking it- not to deny the effectiveness of mimicking an action as it has been proven that experience is more effective than non-kinetic learning. 

Critics have pointed out that these neurons do not activate when viewing pantomimed actions and rather mirror neurons are a product of associative learning. This brings to question the validity of many of the emerging studies on mirror neurons, with many responding that mirror neurons only activate in goal-directed actions. Goal-directed action is defined as a behavior driven by an expectation that it is likely to bring about a desired outcome. Our brain is exposed to heavy amounts of stimuli on a constant basis, so your brain logically would have to filter what is pertinent and what is not. Hence, our mirror neurons will not activate for every action that occurs, but rather actions it deems to be essential. 

The question arises of what goes awry with mirror neurons if they do in fact exist. Since we have established that mirror neurons are responsible for understanding each other in society, a person wouldn’t be able to fully understand what is going around them if they lack these neurons. In the case of autism, researchers have found a much lower rate of mirror neurons present in the prefrontal cortex, hence leading to their inability to understand the social consequences of their actions. One could say it is freeing in of itself to not be bound by a societal construct of what is appropriate, but from the objective standing science attempts to propose, it would make sense why they are not able to understand the community they are in. Hence they are isolated and alone with their personal feelings. 

Mirror neurons have gone as far as to extend to the idea of phantom limbs- the feeling that you still have an arm despite it being cut off. Those with phantom limbs have found that they can feel someone touching their phantom limb just by watching another person having their limb touched. The important item to recognize is with the loss of the limb, the autocorrecting feature of sensory reception is lost due to the nerves being there. Because of this, the mind reimagines the limb getting touched, and with no arm to tell them otherwise truly feels a stimulus where there is none.

Mirror neurons are a rapidly growing part of neurology with much of it explaining the evolutionary advantage and growth of communities through the ability to feel, but it is a highly controversial idea with critics simply asserting it is a byproduct. The beauty of science presents itself in these debates, and who knows where this journey of mirror neurons leads us next?

An FRB, a fast radio burst, that was picked up by a radio telescope in Australia initially baffled scientists when they found it was sent by something that happened in a distant galaxy almost 8 billion years ago. This FRB was picked up on June 10, 2022, and was recently revealed, almost a year later, that this particular FRB was more powerful and came from much further away than ever before recorded.  

An FRB is a little-understood phenomenon initially discovered in 2007 and is one of astronomy’s greatest mysteries. While some theories have been thrown out about FRBs, such as them being signs of alien life, many scientists believe the main cause to be distant dead stars known as magnetars. 

This particular FRB is claimed to have been a miracle to catch as it happened for about one millisecond and many astrophysicists claim they are lucky to have caught such a unique FRB. It easily beat the previous record holder, which was about 5 billion years, and took its place as the furthest light years away. The pulse of it was so powerful that it mimicked as much energy the sun releases in 30 years in just one millisecond. To find the location of the radio burst, researchers turned to a telescope in Chile. The Very Large Telescope in Chile would help the researcher pinpoint the location of the radio burst to a particular clumpy galaxy that may have been merging with other galaxies creating a magnetar as the source. In conclusion, scientists deemed that their best hunch was that the radio signal originated from a merging of multiple galaxies sending an FRB reaching about 8 billion years.  

Although scientists aim to understand FRB’s such as this one better, they also hope that a better understanding would help shed light on some more of the galaxy’s mysteries. 

The commonly used acronym, STEM, includes the technical fields dominated by logical and objective thinking, but often lacks the abstract thinking found in the arts. Incorporating the arts along with the more logical elements in other categories allows for more creative thinking and humanistic ideas which can create a broader project or convey information in a more effective way. Colleges and universities, even ones focusing on STEM orientations, are starting to further encourage the studies of liberal arts for STEM majors in order to make more well rounded scientists and engineers. These tactics can be harnessed in the real world and workforce in order to create effective solutions to today’s problems.

When people think of STEAM, they often think about the common fields of physics, robotics, or biology, but it actually extends into many other careers in which the combination of these aspects works to solve specific problems in specific ways. For example, consider the field of medical illustration. This field uses one’s knowledge of both science and the visual arts in order to record and disseminate information within the medical field, often used to teach this information in an easily understandable format for students in medical and healthcare fields. Engineers constantly use mathematics in their lines of work in order to carry out their goals of creating new products and programs with accurate calculations and statistics. Architects use engineering principles to effectively design their works and artistic principles to properly communicate their ideas in sketched format. Artists constantly use science in their processes to better understand their materials in a way that can help them predict how their media will behave under specific conditions. In this way, every element of the STEAM fields has a built-in web of interconnectedness to the other elements.

By teaching students to incorporate these ideas and principles into their mindsets starting early in their careers, we can create a generation of blooming scientists, mathematicians, and artists who can broaden their initiatives into newer contexts and applications.

I am honored to address such a qualified and hard-working audience today, and I congratulate all of our members for gaining the honor of being in this Honors Society. I am overjoyed that all of our members will have a place to unite and share their passions for STEAM. 

Today, I want to talk about the STEAM National Honors Society’s “Patented Process to Progress” to describe the work of the STEAM National Honors Society. Many of you have already taken the first step to progress – applying and being accepted for membership.

Within the STEAMNHS executive board, we strive to make access to critical opportunities, such as the Presidential Service Award or TEDx, available to a broader spectrum of high school students.  

Additionally, we are dedicated to fostering meaningful connections between students, sponsors, and advisors to deepen understanding of STEAM fields through our advisor system: the chance to connect and collaborate with a dedicated STEAMNHS advisor for help with a project, idea, or anything else requiring assistance.  We will keep close records of all of our advisors’ specific passions and skills to ensure that each unique problem will be met with the appropriate advisor. I believe that this system will act as a catalyst for students to find their path to discovery – the start of the path to progress

We are expanding our network and reaching across the nation to start chapters at all types of schools, so be sure to spread the word about STEAM National Honors Society’s growing influence. 

By the end of my term, I hope to create an international platform where all of the members can come together to expand their passions for STEAM.  If you want to be a part of this growing movement, complete the chapter application form on the STEAMNHS website. 

Best regards, 

Austin Lund

STEAM National Honors Society President