Diagnosing Tanzi

We're learning about neuroanatomy in my gross anatomy course now. It is a lot of fun and is very interesting. We had a quiz today for the first couple of weeks of neuro material, and it went well. Everyone seemed pretty relieved to have it done and over with. Now there are only 6 exams between me and the end of the term. The excitement is building...


Tanzi is our family's dog. And by my family's dog, I mean my Dad's dog. And my Mom's, and my brothers, and well, pretty much she loves everyone, but for slightly different reasons I'd like to think. I have this theory that her master plan is to have the entire family with her all the time. She loves the ear rubs and treats from my dad, the cuddling with my mom, the play time with my brother, the walks and new places with my sister, and with me... who knows, obedience? Memories of going to high school every day when she was a puppy? If only we could understand their brains...

Oh wait, I can! A little. Through neuroanatomy. But just a teeeeeenie itty bitty bit. We learned about the different parts of the brain, what they are responsible for (sight, movement, smell, etc) which led to me learning a little bit more about Tanzi and why she is the way she is.

If you don't know Tanzi already, she has issues, of the nervous kind. She is deathly afraid of sounds like motors/engines and film reels. We're not 100% sure where this fear came from, but we think it was from when she was attacked by another dog on a bus during her training YEARS ago. Anyway, now whenever she hears these noises she hides and trembles and becomes very subdued and submissive. We've tried to calm her, tried to help her through this, but we have learned that there really isn't anything we can do to help short of drugging her, which we don't want to do.

So, back to neuroanatomy. This is what I have diagnosed about Tanzi. (I use the term "diagnose" VERY loosely... as I am just a student).

She had a traumatic experience (being attacked by another dog) in which she tied a sound (engine of a bus) to a strong emotion (fear). The memory of this is very strong, this process occurs in the Amygdala, which is a portion of the brain responsible for such a connection. We were also taught that these memories which tie sound to an emotional response are nearly impossible to change. Awesome.

So there it is, Tanzi, you need to go into your brain, mess about with your Amygdala. But only remove the bad memories, because we still want you to remember that seeing your people and food make you happy.

A dog's brain looks a bit different, but you get the picture. (haha...)

6... more... exams...