Lolita in Fukushima / Neuroscience

Determined to buy a lolita-style coat some time on my trip, I finally picked this one up from a Bodyline shop in Osaka for only $50! The shape of the coat is absolutely gorgeous, with its tie-up cape and how the bottom part of the skirt flounces out. This new wig is also from the same Bodyline store! I'm more than happy to be spending all my money in that shop, because no only do they provide wannabe Japanese lolitas with cheap lolita-style clothing, they also have some transgender employees, which is awesome because I think it can often be hard for transgendered people to find jobs, just because of who they are. I paired my beautiful new cape with these platform shoes from Tokyo, and as it was Valentines day, these "Je t'aime" tights sent to me by My Tights! wearing coat - Bodyline shoes - from Tokyo tights - c/o My Tights necklace - 315 yen store in Osaka headband - 315 yen store in Tokyo As my Japanese-related science factoid for today, I'm going to talk about Japanese neuroscientist/biophysicist Ichiji Tasaki - a scientist who I look up to - who made a massive breakthrough in the world of neuroscience: this guy discovered the purpose of myelin sheath. In our brains, we have special cells called neurons. The electrical signals passed between neurons is essentially the basis of all sensations, thoughts, movements and memories we experience. For example, a signal passed from the nerve cells of the hand to the brain along neurons is what tells the brain that your hand is touching a hot stove, and also helps move your hand away. Ichiji Tasaki discovered the myelin sheath, which is what wraps around each neuron's axon, acting like an insulator on an electric wire. Without it, the electrical signals that go around our brain would be much, much slower, and our brains wouldn't have the capabilities that they have. We'd also have very slow reaction times. The myelin is what is attacked and destroyed by the immune system in the autoimmune disease MS (multiple sclerosis). Ichiji Tasaki's discovery helped the world understand what was going on in MS, and also greatly advanced the field of neuroscience. More from me soon, p.s. Thanks so much for leaving such super dooper lovely comments on my Valentines day post, featuring the first-time appearance of my boyfriend Luciano! You made him super happy, and much more confident about his appearance!! Hopefully he will now be appearing on the blog more regularly, as he often wears really cool outfits I want to snap photos of! p.p.s. Fukushima probably sounds familiar because of the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake & tsunami. I'm not in that particular Fukushima in this photo, I'm in a ward called Fukushima in Osaka.