What Can Young Neuroscientists Learn from Cancer Biologists? Engage in Multidisciplinary Research
Embarking on neuroscientific research is a thrilling journey. It offers the opportunity to delve into the intricate workings of the brain, its vital roles in the body, and the profound influence of neurons, the brain's fundamental building blocks, on higher-level brain functions.
During this journey, one might get fixated on the actual building blocks of the brain, and it would make sense to be cognitively fixated on it since you are studying the brain. However, one should avoid such a state of mind as this can slow down creativity.
So, how can a neuroscientist avoid such a fixation?
The key is to expand one's awareness about the topic of interest. The fascinating thing about neuroscience and science, in general, is that scientific fields are highly interconnected. Even areas of specialization that you may think have nothing to do with neuroscience will have some unique and beautiful connection to neuroscience.
Let us take cancer biology as an example. What can we learn from cancer biology, and how can it help us become better neuroscientists? When the knowledge about these abnormal dividing cells emerged, the goal was to target those abnormal cells. That makes sense. You want to eliminate the "bad" dividing cells and try to target them. Were they effective? Well, it depends; if it is the early stage of cancer and you can locate the cancerous tumor, you could surgically resect it. But the chances may not be in one's favor if it is a later stage of the disease and has spread to other parts of the body. So, how did the cancer biologists approach and solve this issue? The solution lies in expanding one’s field of vision.
Cancer biologists soon realized that to tackle cancer cells, one may have to understand their environment, often called the tumor microenvironment (TME). To understand TME, a cancer biologist needs to understand endothelial cell biology to determine how blood vessels are formed around a tumor, immunology to understand how immune cells infiltrate the tumor, and chemistry to understand the metabolism of the cancer cells. All these different areas of specialization became important to design and implement better treatment options.
The most effective treatment options emerged by targeting the cancer cells or tumors themselves and examining the surrounding components. This broader approach led to the discovery of new and better treatment possibilities. In other words, scientists had to move from a reductionist to a more organismic point of view.
The organismic view, particularly in neuroscience, can be enlightening. It fosters the idea that any diseased brain component should be studied not in isolation but in the context of the entire brain.
How can one develop such a view? The answer lies in conducting interdisciplinary research. As neuroscientists, we need to know not only the workings of the brain but also other components that influence its function. That means learning about the vasculature that provides nutrients to the neurons, the immune system's role in brain health, and the impact of metabolic processes on brain function.
Indeed, there are areas of research that are beginning to emerge that encompass this philosophical way of thinking. Areas such as the gut-brain axis, heart-brain axis, oral health-brain axis, and skin-brain axis are already incorporating a broader vision when studying the brain.
These are just a few examples of how interdisciplinary research can enhance our understanding of the brain and its diseases. I believe fostering this way of thinking not only enhances our critical thinking skills but also improves our ability to make connections thus enriching the field of neuroscientific research.
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