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Biology EE (Neurobiology)


MalakBasel

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HI,

I've been thinking of an EE topic and I came up with this, "What is the influence of age, gender and BMI on the myotatic reflex" and maybe discuss the diseases associated with the disfunction of the neurons responsible for this reflex after coming up with an experiment. Does it seem like a good topic?

Thank you :D

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mm, not really, no.

Before questioning the idea itself, let me ask you; where is the research question? Yes you want to test/explore myotatic reflexe but for what context? For example, if I want to test the consequence of a lack of a certain enzyme, I wont say "What is the effect of lack of (say...Lipase) on the digestion of Lipids?" I would say: "How does a pancreatectomie affect one's nutrition?" Malphrased, but you get my point.

Now, for the idea itself: How are you going to do it? Is it really something you could write 4000 words about without making it sound like a medical research? You are going to have to experiment on humans (probably), did you read the EE guide to make sure you don't do anything against the rules on testing on humans?

If you want my own personal opinion, this is either a plain simple straightforward topic that you wont find 4000 words to write about and will end up taking information and data from the thousands of researches already done about it, or..a very complicated yet vague topic that 4000 words wont be enough to answer the research question. Yes it sounds like an interesting..easy topic to do; set different groups of people (of different ages, gender and BMI) and try the different myotatic reflexes on, record data, analyze. But that is hardly experimental or anything new, there are tons of researches out there that pretty much solved this question, any website could tell you myotatic reflex is like this with woman and that with man because the CNS is that with woman and this man. I am trying to sound blunt and harsh, but what's the point of doing a whole research on something that the IBO would just see as "taking all the information from the internet and putting them into the EE that it looks like a medical research".

That's my opinion anyways. :)

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Does "What is the effect of age, gender and BMI on the formation of visual and verbal short term memory in the hippocampus?" sound like a good topic for a biology EE? I have an idea for an experiment I can conduct that won't violate any of the IB experimenting policies.I can't seem to get the right topic and it's getting frustrating.

Thank you!

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Does "What is the effect of age, gender and BMI on the formation of visual and verbal short term memory in the hippocampus?" sound like a good topic for a biology EE? I have an idea for an experiment I can conduct that won't violate any of the IB experimenting policies.I can't seem to get the right topic and it's getting frustrating.

Thank you!

That is way to wide for a 4000 word essay. You are saying you're going to experiment 3 different factors (with god knows how many people you're going to test) for 2 different types of short term memory.

I am not saying it's a bad topic, it's quite interesting. But, if you can put it into context, like I said above it would look much better. Also, this doesn't really seem like a biology EE. I am not sure what they study in IB Psychology, but the psychology I study talks a lot about short term memory, difference between that in kids and adults..etc. Check the psychology syllabus, if it talks about these things, your EE is better put as a Psychology EE rather than a biology one. I am not 100% sure about this, but I think the IBO is quite picky with the word "experimental", it needs to have a scientific experiment. I've never seen a biology EE of this type, it's all about plants, enzymes, environment..etc.

You need to talk to your supervisor about this, they will give you better advice. But if you really want to do a biology EE, I think you should find an easier topic. If you want to do this topic because you find it interesting, then you should talk to your supervisor and see if it's possible to put the EE under "Psychology". If you can do that, and you're fixed on this topic, I will be able to help you put it in context. :)

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