Posted by Shawn. T. on April 18, 2003, at 16:02:08
In reply to Thanks Shawn!, posted by bretbe on April 18, 2003, at 0:50:33
I would say that I'm engaging in a hobby at the current time, but I plan to make it my profession in the future. Most of my educational background is in computer science. I'm still an undergraduate; I recently made the switch to a major in biology. I've been interested in how drugs work for several years, but I've only taken a strong interest in neuroscience research since roughly a year ago. I'm a quick learner, so I've covered a lot of ground.
If you want to learn about neuroscience as a hobby, the best way to start off is to read a few books on neuroscience; they don't have to be text books, just broad overviews to introduce you to some of the jargon and concepts. A general knowledge of biology would also be helpful. The next step would probably be to just delve into a certain topic; you could begin by researching it on the web and then move on to searching through PubMed. You'll want to read the PubMed tutorial to insure that you understand how to create tight search strings. A medical dictionary like the one at http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?action=Home&query= might be helpful. Once you tire of one topic, move along to another (perhaps a related topic). I began with researching the pharmacology of serotonergic drugs, then moved to researching serotonin, then to mood disorders, and finally moved on to several other topics. I initially took lots of notes, but then I realized that creating HTML pages with dozens of logically organized abstracts on them could allow me to easily get the big picture on a certain topic. For a beginner, notes and bookmarks would probably be your best bets. In the end, perhaps the most important things you'll need are a good memory and a strong interest.
Shawn
poster:Shawn. T.
thread:219077
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030417/msgs/220429.html