Optimize your scientific literature consumption
When I first started working at a neuroscience lab in 2018, I had to read a lot of scientific literature. Though important, learning dry, neuroanatomy facts can be a bit boring. What I found most helpful was reading interdisciplinary science papers that discussed the theory behind models and incorporated some philosophy/mathematics perspectives.
The reason why I love mathematical and theoretical models so much is that they make complex concepts intuitive. You can get insight on how signals are transmitted through the brain by examining the behavior of slime mold, which optimize their creation of tubes to best access energy, or treat a set of regions in the brain as a circuit and apply control theory. These are just examples off the top of my head, but there are many more.
To cite my favorite quote,
It would be interesting to inquire how many times essential advances in science have first been made possible by the fact that the boundaries of special disciplines were not respected… Trespassing is one of the most successful techniques in science.
— Wolfgang Köhler in Dynamics in Psychology (1940)
