This week a 3D printer came into the space so Amy assigned me to help set up the Flashforge 3D printer. 

After setting it up, I continued to calibrate the nozzle of the printer in order to decrease the potential of any errors during the printing process. Then I was introduced to two other devices that came into the lab, one of which was an embosser.

After a little demonstration on how the device works, I continued to browse Thingiverse, looking for a project or model that I could potentially work on and 3D print by next week.

Last week I did not meet up with Avital and Dorothy to discuss the weighted blankets, due to me being sick. During the meeting today we looked at two machines that respectively made the text on a sheet of paper more immersive and accessible for those, not only, with disabilities, but also those who are more of a visual learner. 

This past week I looked at several papers on weighted blankets, from how they work to how they can be improved. The texts I focused on were:

https://research.aota.org/ajot/article/74/2/7402205010p1/6662/Weighted-Blanket-Use-A-Systematic-Review

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S209549642030131X?via%3Dihub

Each respective text explored the effects and efficiencies of the weighted blanket as a therapeutical device. What was found was that weighted blankets DID in fact decrease anxiety within patients who had an above-average anxiety level. Moreover, in terms of more everyday uses for weighted blankets, the second study depicted results that saw the use of weighted blankets during deep sleeping hours having an impact on anxiety levels during sleep.

For the coming week, I plan to look at the different accessories and tech that can be added to weighted blankets to make them more interactive/immersive, and how that might affect their efficiency on anxiety levels and many other psychological disorders.

This week I decided to join Avital and Dorothy on their project involving weighted blankets. During the meeting, we discuss various skills and techniques that we might need in order to make our own weighted blankets. We planned to have a workshop “Sewing 101” this coming weekend

During the week, I looked online on what are weighted blankets plus how and what makes them work as they do. I looked over this paper giving a systematic review on weighted blankets.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32204779/

After looking online and reading papers on weighted blankets, I found out that there are many people who do not believe that weighted blankets can be used to help people rather it could hurt and damage their bodies. After reading the paper mentioned above, I concluded that since weighted blankets can potentially be used to treat psychological disorders such as insomnia or anxiety, it might be a case-by-case solution.

The image here is a list of potential psychological disorders that have been proven to be solved by using weighted blankets.

However, since there are still limitations to weighted blankets and what they can do, I plan to think of possible ideas that could potentially make weighted blankets more of a commodity when it comes to dealing with psychological issues such as anxiety.

In the second and third week I did not participate/join the meetings due to midterms and multiple other assignments. However, I did continue to browse amongst different research paper on whether or not music is able to serve as something that can “reprogram” neurons within a human brain.

Throughout week 2, I looked through multiple research papers regarding music as a neuroagent, these included:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5984303/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2996135/

However, I discovered that over time, brain plasticity worsens, and musics doesn’t really have any major effects on a grown adult’s brain, relative to a younger more underdeveloped brain of a toddler. 

Eventually, as I dug deeper into the topic of neurogenesis and neuroscience, I was met again with the topic of how seasonal songbirds are able to increase neurogenesis within their brains. These research papers can be found in the references and literature insight tabs. 

However, I was met with a dead end, considering there were no research papers to be found that related these songbirds’ brains to human ones, and moreover, there were no evidence supporting that music could be used to “actually” reprogram the human brain. Maybe its the fact that modern technology hasn’t reached a certain milestone yet, a milestone in which we would be able to produce music both pleasing to the ear and the brain. 

In the next meeting, I plan to change my direction to more concrete and in-person activities and look into joining a group that is currently working on a project that I could share with. However, I still plan to continue browsing the internet and research blog sites on when “music technology” is able to make changes to our brain, improving healthcare.