Over the course of my STEM Fair research, I found out a lot about what part of the brain mental illness most affects (my question for the research). Since I was building a model instead of conducting an experiment, I had an engineering question I had to ask instead of a hypothesis. As I researched the different areas of the brain, one kept coming up. Buried within the temporal lobe, is the small, almond-shaped amygdala. Even though it might be small in comparison to the brain, the amygdala is responsible for so much. When the amygdala is stimulated, or overused, it causes intense emotions. It is the emotional center of our brain, and can cause us to overreact. The amygdala is triggered/stimulated by intense emotions or more likely, high stress in work, relationships, and living in a competitive world. These emotions cause the amygdala to release even more emotional stress/overreactions. As seen in many mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, victims often feel very strong emotional impulses that make them do or say crazy, and sometimes dangerous, things. An extreme example of this is when Seung-Hui Cho killed thirty-two people at Virginia Tech. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia. If he received treatment or a solution earlier, perhaps thirty-two people would be successful, happy adults. They were never given the chance to grow into an adult.
Here are some photos of my finished work and my board!
My board made it to the regional STEM Fair, but that’s where my journey with STEM Fair ended 😂. Oh well! Learned a lot and had fun with friends 😊.
Out of My Mind 