My friends ask me why I study neurobiology. Biology, particularly neurobiology, piqued my interest because of a strange experience I had when during my childhood I was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy, a temporary facial paralysis that causes unexpected loss of control of movement in the facial nerves.

I learned that my disease was idiopathic, without a cure, and that the effects would wear off with physiotherapy and time. I was introduced to cranial nerves, a set of twelve pairs of nerves that emerge directly from the brain. One of the sets, called the 7th cranial nerve, directs the muscle on each side of the face to move. When the function was disrupted the nerve, I learned, the brain could not communicate with the muscles, and therefore the muscles could not contract.

Standing in front of a mirror, I would pretend I was a scientist looking at a patient checking for symptoms and observing if there were any improvements with time and therapy. With time I saw improvements, as I could slowly move both sides of my face at the same time. This is when I knew I was drawn towards sciences.