It wasn’t MacLean’s theory per se that caused problems.  But, diving into some of the intricacies of the reptilian brain (and the rumors that go along with it) also meant looking into some amount of brain anatomy, some psychology, some psychiatry, and some evolutionary theory.  Choosing a topic that spans a few disciplines is trying (particularly when you’re looking to summarize something in a 2 minute animation).  And, would be you believe that neither my doctorate nor my postdoctoral work is in any of these areas?  It meant more research than I anticipated, and more reading than I anticipated.

Remind me not to do this in the future.

To see the finished produced, you’d never guess how much time it took for me to rummage through some of that information and come to some sort of a conclusion.  And, like many things science, there’s not always a clear black and white answer (in fact, this is true in most cases).  It’s all shades of gray folks, and instead of hitting a clear YES or NO, you’re often going to be left with a strong MAYBE.  The sheer amount of time it took me to arrive at that conclusion was mind-boggling.  In future reviews, I’ll be looking to keep that topic a little more focused.

Now you know.

But, the fact that I was willing to rummage through papers in fields very different from my own is something I’m hoping to inspire others to do as well.  There’s a lot of garbage on the net, and sometimes you have to be willing to take the gloves off and wade through some of the muck in order to reach a meaningful conclusion about a question that interests you.  If that is, in any way, inspiring to you, my work is done.

It started with an idea.

A vague one.

Then things went right off the rails.

The truth is that I really didn’t know how to kick off this website.  Anyone can put up a portfolio.  Literally thousands have.  There are hundreds of scientific animation studios out there.  They all claim to be the best in the world at what they do, and they all claim to be award winning.

Me?

I create animations from my kitchen table while my daughter’s at school.  There aren’t any awards or accolades.  Yet.  Just a scientist on a mission: to help others spread science-related messages and to help debunk some of that anti-scientist-movement-thing that seems to have developed over time.  An ex-academic who feels she can do more good outside the Ivory Tower than she ever did within it.  If you think I’m on some kind of a crusade to help spread a few messages, work with a few inspiring minds and help debunk…whatever needs debunking, you’d be right.

Enter the Vit Review.

These are short, impactful video versions of academic literature (lit) reviews, where I comb through peer- reviewed research to present concepts and ideas in a way the general public can understand.

But, that single decision (to start my website with an animated series instead of simply posting a portfolio) didn’t come without challenges.

Who knew 2 minutes of animation could cause so many headaches?

While we’re talking about headaches, I shall respectfully acknowledge that taking on the role of researcher, writer, editor, artist, animator, voice over talent and blogger seriously needs to be filed under “seemed like a good idea at the time.”

But, there’s some good news.

I’ve worked in research for a long time.  If there’s anything I can do, it’s dig up information and make some sense out of it.  But, that task is  made more difficult when there’s less information to find, or when that information is harder to dig up (which is what happened in this case).

I’ll elaborate more on this in an upcoming blog post.

My hope is that if any of you have a message to share, you’ll find some valuable lessons in my experience.  Over the coming weeks, I’ll share the five key lessons I learned while pulling this piece together.

One painful lesson at a time.

Stay curious.

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