Narcolepsy

     Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. When someone suffers from this disorder, they tend to experience sudden sleep attacks throughout the day. They also have a great probability of suffering numerous symptoms. Some of these symptoms include cataplexy (loss of muscle tone and control), sleep paralysis (temporary inability to move) and excessive daytime sleepiness. What is less fortunate, is the fact that it cannot be controlled by the people who suffer it and doctors still do not know what causes this disorder. They think that Narcolepsy could be a genetic or biological disorder.
     This week, we saw a series of videos, that reflected the life of a narcolepsic. This man not only suffers narcolepsy, but he also experiences cataplexy, which is one of the various symptoms of narcolepsy. Suprisingly, when he experiences sudden sleep, he can still keep doing what he was doing while awake. He also has the necesity of taking precautions, because these attacks are sudden. In order to avoid severe injuries, he wears a helmet when he goes to the kitchen and uses protection. He tries not to be lazy or not interested, but his narcolepsy won't allow him to accomplish such thing. He usually feels fatigued, tired and experiences about sixty attacks per day.
     To conclude, Narcolepsy is a fatal disorder, which affects a person's quality of life. Usually people feel fatigue and tired. They are also unable to control or avoid attacks, because they are sudden. Finally, this disorder is usually accompanied by various symptoms, which can contribute to the fatality of this disorder.

PICTURE CITATION:

WinPump. Web. 31 Mar 2011. <http://gigasize-files.co.cc/?id=1379&q=narcolepsy>.

Sleep and Dreams...ZZZ

     Sleeping and dreams have been a topic that has caught many people's attention. Now days we have the ability to use technology and formulas that will actually provide more information on these topics. For instance, in Montreal mathematics is being used to record patterns and explain dreams. Scientists have also discovered that dreams help us learn in our sleep. How is this? Quite simply, through dreams we 'rehearse' stressful events, because in our dreams, we actually find a way to get our of a certain stressful situation. This eventually has led many to think that dreams help us survive. Through a dream, we are also able to see things more clearly and we think 'outside the box'. In addition to this, scientists have come to find that our Motivation System is active in our sleep. In other words, we do not use logic in our dreams. This fact contributes to an idea of why we dream. Finally, there are theories that many have come up with, but have not yet been tested.One of these theories, is that nightmares are inherited! To conclude, thanks to the new and advanced technology and formulas, scientists have come to uncover small things about dreams and sleep. As they discover more information, they also begin making their own theories, which could eventually be proven true or false, helping us find more about dreams and sleep. 

Facts on Dreams and Sleeping:

>one fifth of women's dreams involve sex, usually with celebrities.
>one sixth of men dream with their partners.
>three fourths of our dreams are bad!
>People with depression go directly to REM sleep. This is why they take REM off them as a cure for their depression.

PICTURE CITATION:

"dream-factory." JEFF JONES ILLUSTRATIONS. Web. 20 Mar 2011. <http://www.jeffjonesillustration.com/illustration/3/homepage/dream-factory/>.

Sensory DEPRIVATION and ISOLATION:

Imagine being alone, in a dark room with all of your senses deprived. Awful right? Well, believe it or not, this is a punishment that is used by various people for various reasons. This punishement is known as sensory deprivation (a very controversial topic among some people). Some of the people who use these are: military armies, Navy, and in general all of those people who want to punish a delinquent, terrorist, traitor, etc. The people who use this method, usually use it as an aid of interogation. 
Now... what does sensory deprivation and isolation do exactly? Quite simply, sensory deprivation goes deep into the human minds and/or brain by removing stimuli to one´s senses. This consequently causes emotional trauma, because in order for the brain to stay healthy and working adequately, it needs stimulation. It also has to do with coordination. 
To conclude, sensory deprivation and isolation is a method that removes stimuli to one´s sense and goes deep into the mind affecting them emotionally. This is used as an aid of interogation to those people who want to punish delincuents, terrorists and traitors. 

PICTURE CITATION:

"Number 4 – Sensory Deprivation Research Subject."Worst Jobs.com. Web. 6 Mar 2011. <http://www.worst-jobs.com/number-4-sensory-deprivation-research-subject-2.html>.

Mental Abilities: Genius, Savant and Autism

Savant Syndrome: This is a phenomena that is developed in those individuals who show mental and physical disability but still have great talents. After a variety of studies, the doctors have come to notice that savants usually obtain these extraordinary abilities, after they´ve suffered injuries to the left side of the brain (with right brain compensation). 


What is a Genius? What is the difference between an genius and a savant?
     Genius: (based on dictionary.reference.com) "an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially asshown in creative and original work in science, art, music,etc". 
     The difference between a genius and a savant, is the fact that a genius has an intellectual ability, is creative and has high IQ, while savants have relatively low IQ and are skillfull in certain specific areas. 


What is a Stroke? How can it affect your mental functioning?
     Stroke: (based on dictionary.reference.com) "...a blockage or hemorrhage of a blood vessel leading to thebrain, causing inadequate oxygen supply...". 
     A stroke affect mental functioning by affecting the motor skills of the victim and also providing left and right brain damages. When a person is affected in the left area, they usually tend to develop difficulties when it comes to reading and speech. They also become cautious, slow to act and it shortens one´s attention. 


What is a functional MRI? How does it help us understand brain activity?
     Functional MRI: This is a medical test that physicians use to diagnose condition and consequently see the possible treatments to a condition one might suffer.
     The MRI help understand brain activity, because affter physicians run a series of tests and experiments you could say, they see which part of the brain is used through each experiment, giving them an idea on how the brain function normally. 


What is Epilepsy? How does it affect one´s brain abilities?
     Epilepsy: (based on dictionary.reference.com) "a disorder of the nervous system, characterized either by mild,episodic loss of attention or sleepiness (petit mal)  or by severeconvulsions with loss of consciousness (grand mal)". 
     Epilepsy kills brain cells as seizures start to appear, but scientist have found that individual seizures do not cause brain damage. (this is stated due to lack of scientific evidence). 


What is Autism?
     Autism: (based on dictionary.reference.com) "...developmental disorder of children,characterized by impaired communication, excessive rigidity,and emotional detachment". 


What is Asperger´s Syndrome? 
     Asperger´s Syndrome: This is a form of autism that provides anxiety and confusion due to the fact that this syndrome makes it difficult for one to interact with others and read simple signs. 

Synesthesia

SYNESTHESIA:

This word means joined(Syn) perception (aisthesis). This is a condition where the person who carries it has one sense which "is simultaneously perceived as if by one or more additional senses."

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Grapheme-color synesthetes: This is a type of Synesthesia where an individual perceives a certain color when it comes to observing any letter, word or number. Neuroimaging studies have shown that people who suffer from this condition have fusiform gyruses that appear to be bigger when it comes to volume and surface area of such brain area on both the left and right side.


Ordinal-linguistic personification: This is a type of Synesthesia where any word, number or letter a person experiences seems to have an animation such as gender and personality. Argue that neurodevelopemental basis share "unified underlying behavior". 

Number-form synesthesia: This is the type of synesthesia where an individual can see the numbers as diagrams in their heads. This allows for many who have this condition, and understand it to solve complex arithematic. Based on Mitternachtsblau, this condition provides great failure to the person who wants to solve these arithmatic problems on paper.
Sound-color Synesthesia: When a person hears a sound/music and in exchange experiences color, then this person suffers from sound-color synesthesia. Thes colors these people experience all depend on the type of music they are listening to.This synesthesia can be broken down into two distinct categories. The Narrow band and the Broad band.

Lexical-gustatory Synesthesia:Magnetic resonance imaging has proved to various neuroscientists that people who suffer from this, can actually taste words. Every time a certain word is given, they have a taste for it, just like number-form synesthesia sufferer experience different diagrams depending on the number that pops up. 

Accidental Genius?

    The third section of these set of videos, talks about accidental geniuses. These are geniuses that are known as savants. Why are they categorized by their amount of genius? Well, all of the people that appear in this video have amazing talents, which are almost impossible for any average person to obtain. For instance, George Wedener is a teen which has an amazing ability when it comes to calculating, Tommy McHugh is a great (compulsive) artist, George Widener is an individual that can tell you the day of the week of any past dates and   Kim Peek is a savant which has the ability of using both eyes to read two different pages at the same time and still memorizes books! 

     You might ask...What do all of these savants have in common? Well, all of these people have savant abilities because they have all suffered brain damages. George Widener has a diminute amount of autism as well as George Widener, Tommy McHugh became a great (compulsive) artist after suffering a stroke and Kim Peek was born with macrocephaly. 

             Finally, savants are also known for being "released from tyranny of the left hemisphere" of the brain. Scientists also believe that testosterone levels affect neurons, because they have come to find that a fetus has the same level of testosterone as an adult male. 

     To conclude, accidental genius are those who are savants. These savants have extraordinary abilities that have been consequence of brain damages these individuals suffer. These savants are also known for having brain structure differences due to these damages. 

PICTURE CITATION:

 "sa1." Degree Scout. Web. 27 Feb 2011. <http://www.degreescout.com/online-education-news/eleven-amazing-savants-show-the-power-of-the-human-brain>. 

Make me a Genius!

In this second section of the video, its producers talk about making genius. For this video, they interviewed and videotaped a famous chess champion known as Susan Polgar. They chose her, because her father, Laslo Polgar wanted to make his children genius. He got this idea from Mozart. Why Mozart? Well it is simple, based on studies, Mozart´s dad gave this gifted musician early musical knowledge and training.This led to Mozart´s great knowledge. Evidently, this was Laslo´s plan for his children. He even wrote a book about this plan of his. This book mentions that genius is made and not born with and that genius is the same as work with forunate circumstances. In order to make his children genius, he decided that they should be homeschooled, because he strongly believed that this benefited them more than school did. Susan´s love for chess and dedication made her greatly talented in this game. This was because she had to have willingness and this would make the rest easy. This was another contributor and probably the work combined with fortunate circumstance that her dad talked about in his book. 
     This video also mentions the differences between a girl´s thinking and a boy´s. Dr. Peter McLeod, carried out an experiment where he set some children to find the statue which is found in the middle of the Blenheim palace maze. This would mark the difference of thinking between genders. Over time, these psychologists have found out that boys have a mental map when it comes to figuring directions, while girls prefer thinking more logically. To prove this, psychologists experimented and found that the cortex is larger on the right side which contributes to a guy´s spacial awareness. On the other hand, the corpus colosum on the left side of the brain, which is in charge of reasoning, is more developed in the girl´s brain. 
     To conclude, based on Laslo Polgar, genius is made and not born with. Genius´variables are work and and fortunate circumstances. Psychologists have also found that boys and girls think differently. This affects how they solve situations. 

PICTURE BIBLIOGRAPHY:

"thinking-girl." Your Basic Geek. Web. 27 Feb 2011. <http://yourbasicgeek.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/how-to-impress-a-geek-guy/>.

Brilliant Brain...Born Brilliant:

  A video that talks about Brilliant Brains, is divided into three sections. This first section, mentions cases of those who are supposedly born genius. To prove this statement, a young child was observed. This young child is known for his great musical abilities. He is, Marc Yu. He is known for his ability of knowing by memory over 15 musical pieces. He is not only musically genius, but he also studies subjects that people way older than him study. For instance, a seven year old (like him) is usually tought to add, substract and multiply in school, but he is being tought algebra. Due to this, he is required to be homeschooled by his mother. He metnions the fact that he feels uncomfortable going to school and having to interact with people who are not his contemporaries, because he does not find anything in common with them. 

    

    

After observing this child, scientists prove that musicians are usually more ´brilliant´than an average person. This is because their brains are more stimulated. This stimulation can consequently make those who are musicians have a higher IQ and more facility for learning. These people also have more probability of succeeding in activities they do and they find better jobs. Musicians also have parts of the brain which are in charge of hearing and analyzing music more active. They also find that the cerebelum and the corpus colosum are used greatly by musicians.

In order to see how brain stimulation affects a child, the Abecedarian project was carried out between the years 1972-1977. This project consisted in stimulating a child´s brain and observing how this affected their learning, and overall how their brain works. At first they saw no difference between the stimulated children and the non-stimulated ones. After a period of time, they observed that in fact, those who were stimulated had greater facility of learning and having greater IQ´s. But, this stimulation was not the only variable that affected an individual´s intelligence and behavior. Psychologists also have observed that an individual´s environment also affects their behavior. If someone is born and grows in a bad environment from previous family members then this can result in the same for the future offspring. 

To conclude, a child can be a genius if their brain is stimulated. This was proved by the Avecedarian project. But not only does stimulation help a genius become that brilliant. Another variable is the environment in which they grow. 

    

PICTURE CITATION:

"Born Genius." CAPTION WIT.COM. Web. 27 Feb 2011. <http://captionwit.com/tag/born-genius/>.

Nature vs. Nurture -Homosexuality-

This week, we just saw a video on twins (both boys), who are identical, but have two very opposite personalities. One of those twins is into toys that boys usually play with. The other twin, is completely different. He likes barbie dolls, white horses, nail art and other girly stuff. This second twin has been detected with Child Gender Nonconformity. This phenomenon occurs when a child does not conform with his gender, and identifies himself with the opposite sex. This experiment also supports the statement that homosexuality is noticeable since you´re born. 

In this video, they also demonstrated an experiment done where scientists started interviewing homosexuals and straight individuals. The purpose of this, was to see whether homosexuality was noticeable or not. Scientist found it is noticeable. They saw how gay individuals acted, dressed, expressed themselves and talked differently. 

 

Finally, as many might know, homosexuality has not yet been explained, and this is exactly what scientists want to achieve. They have various theories, and one of those expresses that homosexuality is hormonal. They came with such conclusion after studying rats. Scientists express that they are able to change a rat´s sexuality by altering its hormones. Evidently this is what scientists think happen to human beings. They also found a pattern in homosexual males. They found that older brothers affect a younger brother´s homosexuality. What is strange, is that this only works if they are right handed.

To conclude, scientists have been trying to explain a very controversial topic, which is homosexuality. They have studied twins, experimented with rats, finding patterns and observed differences between straight individuals and homosexuals. The explanation they have been trying to uncover has not yet been uncovered, but as time goes by, they are coming closer to reaching their goal.

PICTURE CITATION:

"rainbow people glowing in the dark." iStockphoto. Web. 20 Feb 2011. <http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/concepts-and-ideas/teamwork/4090100-rainbow-people-glowing-in-the-dark.php?id=4090100>

Mind of a MURDERER!

Have you ever asked yourself.... Why do murderers act like they do? 

Psychological studies on these individuals have been able to explain their behavior. These studies have found out that usually murderers act the way they do, because of brain injuries. Usually, delincuents have had a tough past where they have been victims of abuse, mistreatment, etc. This eventually has led to brain injuries which are the reason of their behavior. Any kind of abuse or mistreatment, can result in lobe injuries but when these people are abused, the lobe in the brain that is usually affected is the Frontal lobe. This lobe is responsible for social aspects, reasoning and rational aspects as well. As an individuals´ Frontal lobe is affected, they have a difficulty to manage these aspects. As they have difficulty to manage these aspects they loose their minds or are not able to control their behavior and suddenly they act the way they do as murderers or delincuents. So you could say that in many cases, it is innevitable. Based on some psychologists, things that come and go set delincuents to the edge through time. This is the factor that determines WHEN these people commit the crime. 
All of this information is what has derived from Dr. Louis´ theory. Originally she had proposed that some kind of brain damage could be a factor that affects these people´s behavior. With the help of Dr. Jonathan Pincus and some delincuents (used for experimenting) have been able to support this theory. This said, she has been sent several times to court, so that she can testify in favor of the delincuents and/or murderers. In the majority of the cases, this does not help the delincuent get out of jail, but it certainly helps society understand why these people act like they do. To conclude, a murderer´s behavior can be explained. Based on Dr. Louis delincuent´s minds are injured, which causes them to commit these acts that sometimes are innevitable. 

PICTURE CITATION:

Telovation. Web. 8 Feb 2011. <http://www.telovation.com/articles/beer-may-help-brain-injuries.html>.

Living with Traumatic Brain Injury

DID YOU KNOW..... that a quarter of a million Americans are diagnosed with brain injury!?!?  :O


Brain injuries are really common, and they provide individuals suffering them with a variety of problems. There are three main types of brain injury. These are Contusions, Axonal Injuries and Bleeding. Contusions are those injuries that show bruising in the brain tissue. Axonal Injuries are those injuries that axons tear or break and this is severe, because axons send electrical impulses throughout the body, and if your suffer this type of injury, your are likely to have problems with your nervous system. Finally, bleeding is a type of brain injury that is known as a hemorrhage, and it affects blood flow and brain tissue. What all of these injuries have in common is that they provide trouble when it comes to managing ones feelings, ideas, reasoning, movement and speaking. This occurs, because as someone suffers from a brain injury, Neurons in the brain are affected. This evidently provides more inefficiency on how the brain normally works.
There are also Traumatic Brain injuries as well as Frontal and Temporal lobe injuries. Traumatic brain injuries are those injuries that occur when force is applied to the skull, eventually hurting any lobe which is compressed by the skull. Frontal and Temporal lobe injuries are those who affect the excecutive aspect such as analyzing, decision making, etc.

PICTURE CITATION: 

NY Minute Chats. Web. 8 Feb 2011. <http://www.blnotary.com/?p=1046>.

Mind Reading....?

It is impressive how technology has evolved. Modern technology has been so advance, that it has even been able to read a person´s mind! It sound impossible, but it is possible. This mind reading can occur through an MRI scanner. At first, the MRI scanner would just give your doctors a picture of your brain and if you had any injuries or abnormality, this machine would detect it. It was years later that doctors discovered that MRI´s could show which section of your brain is working. This is done when a doctor demonstrates various pictures and the part of your brain which is functioning at that moment in time will light up. This is evidently demonstrated in the screen the doctors see as your are having an MRI scan. This allows for doctors to read the mind, because a certain pattern is shown when you think about something or do something. This has eventually helped doctors figure out why teenagers act like they do, what drives them to doing those things and it also proves that people become more mature as they become adults due to the fact that the brain stops developing until you´re about twenty years old or so. To conclude, technology has evolved and has even shown to read people´s minds. This occurs through an MRI scan. 

PICTURE CITATION:

Slate. Web. 8 Feb 2011. <http://www.slate.com/id/2161936/>.

Inside the Teenage Brain

For various individuals, teenagers have become the synonim of careless, problematic, self-centeredness in some cases and other negative terms. Usually adults do not comprehend why teenagers become like they do at these stages in life. For teenagers, adults do not comprehend them nor the way that they act. 
It is undenibale that this is a rough stage for anyone. 
In this video we just saw, there are various factors mentioned that explain why individuals act like they do when they become teenagers.   For instance, the reason of why teenagers get bad grades in school is due to the lack of sleep they get. At this stage in our lives, we tend take time off our sleeping. Sometimes it´s because of homework, but usually teenagers sleep really late because they´re to busy on their cellphones, chating online, facebook, twitter, etc. This affects our grades and learning in school because when we sleep we basically remember better what we learned in school. It is also a way for the brain to restore itself and to be prepared the next day.
Secondly, teenagers tend to do what many consider stupid, because their frontal lobe is not fully developed. When the frontal lobe isn't fully developed, people are not used to thinking as rationally as adults do. The teenager's brain is also characterized for being uneffective when interpreting feelings.
To conclude, there are a diverse amount of factors that explain a teenager's behavior. Some of those factors are the developing of the frontal lobe and the amount of sleep we have.