Narcolepsy

A great amount of people experience sleeping disorders in their life which affect the way they conduct. There are many disorders that people suffer from, like insomnia and sleep apnea, but the one disorder that surprises me the most is narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that affects the control of sleep and wakefulness. This is when people get uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during day time; sudden sleep attacks. Scientists do not know what causes this disorder but think that it is biologically or genetically gained. Something is definitely not right in the person’s brain. Some symptoms people experience are: excessive daytime sleepiness, hallucinations, cataplexy (loss of muscle tone), and sleep paralysis (temporal inability to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up). During class we saw a video in which we could see a man with narcolepsy and how this affected his everyday life. It was very interesting how this man would fall asleep in any place at any time. He does not have a normal life because he is constantly falling asleep and cannot control it. These attacks only last for a few seconds and a woman had to be with him at all times to help him up. One precaution measure he took was putting a helmet to protect his head whenever he fell down. This disorder prevented him from doing lots of activities and definitely has an impact on his life. I think this disorder is very difficult to live with. It prevents you from doing some activities you once liked and someone will always have to be with you to help you out and be sure you are alright. I think it is very dangerous because sleep can hit you at any time and people that have this disorder will have to abstain from doing certain things. This disorder definitely has an impact on the person's life and it is very hard to carry out a normal life once you have this disorder. Sadly, this disorder cannot be cured. They have to deal with it for the rest of their lives.

picture: http://catherine333.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/kitten20with20narcolepsy.jpg

Why do we dream? This question has been a constant one for scientists for a long time now. Most scientists explain dreaming as our way of organizing the information we have gathered throughout our day.

While we are asleep, our brain can swift through different stages of sleep. There are five different stages that we go through in order to fall asleep. The first stage can be considered as the transition period between wakefulness and sleep, and your brain produces theta waves. In the second stage, the brain starts producing rapid, rhythmic brain wave activity, our body temperature starts to decrease and heart rate begins to slow down. Stage 3 is said to be the transitional period between light sleep and a very deep sleep and our brain produces slow brain waves know as delta waves. Stage 4 is considered the deep sleep stage. Stage 5 is also know as Rapid Eye Movement (REM), in which your respiration rate and brain activity increases. Muscles become more relaxed and heavy dreaming occurs during this stage.

During REM sleep, your body becomes paralyzed to avoid you from getting up and acting out your dreams. These are some people who have a disorder in which they get up and act their dreams, which is dangerous for themselves and others around.

Scientists carried out an experiment and found out that deep sleep produces positive dreams whereas REM sleep produces negative dreams. About 75% of our dreams are negative and our parietal lobe is responsible four our dreaming. 

They say that dreams help us solve problems and survive, but there is not an exact and proved reason on why we dream.

picture: http://www.1000mumsmakingadifference.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Dreams.jpg

Alone

Sensory deprivation is now being used as a weapon. What is sensory deprivation? Sensory deprivation is the intentional removal of stimuli affecting one or all of the five human senses. Living without one of your senses can affect who you are. In this video we saw how scientists gathered individuals for an experiment. This experiment consisted of isolating these subjects in a small room for 48 hours. Before the isolation took place, they practiced some tests in these people and tested their skills involving their different senses. They computed the results and proceeded by putting them inside a dark room with no sound at all. During this 48 hour period, there were cameras inside the different rooms for the scientists to see their actions and how they changed during the process. I was surprised to see that after a day, the subjects started hallucinating and hearing sounds that were not there. They started talking to themselves and walking around the room. After the two day were over, a scientist took them out of the room and did the same tests on them they had done before the isolation. The results were worse. Their conclusion was that people who are/were isolated will loose some brain capacity, reduction in ability of abstract and fluid language. People who are outgoing will suffer more than people who enjoy spending time by their selves. I personally did not know that if you were isolated your brain would be damaged and this experiment was a new learning experience.

picture: http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/total_isolation_sensory_deprivation.bmp

Synesthesia

1. Synesthesia

Synesthesia is a neurological condition in which one sense is experienced though the perception of another sense. People with synesthesia can taste colors, or see colors when they hear something. They have a unique connection between senses; for example, a person may see the number 10 as the color yellow, or may say the color purple tastes sweet.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-synesthesia.htm

2. Grapheme-Color Synesthesia

Grapheme-Color Synesthesia is one type of Synesthesia where a person associates numbers and letters with colors. It is involuntary and it is one of the most common and most studied forms of synesthesia. For example, a person with grapheme-color synesthesia can see the letter P and the color purple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapheme–color_synesthesia

3. Ordinal - Linguistic Personification

A type of Synesthesia where ordered sequences, like days, months and letter have a link with personalities. Scientists have paid little attention to this type of synesthesia because it is not so common. For example, the month of november can be overlapped with the feeling of happiness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinal_linguistic_personification

4. Number-Form Synesthesia

A person with number-form synesthesia have a mental number line or a mental map of numbers that appear in an involuntary way whenever they think of numbers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_form

5. Sound-Color Synesthesia

People with sound-color synesthesia associate color with sound. It can be broken down into 2 categories: narrow band and broad band. In the narrow band synesthesia, music expresses different shades and brightness. In broad band synesthesia, people see colors when they hear ordinary sounds, like the ringing of the alarm clock, airplane flyings, etc. Colors change in response to different sounds.

http://undacovabear.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/sound-colour-synesthesia/

6. Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia

This is one of the rarest forms of Synesthesia and it is when a person can taste words. Some scientists have found that lexical-gustatory synesthesia is caused by early food experiences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexical-gustatory_synesthesia

pictures:

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http://www.elchill.com/pictures/color_number_synesthesia.jpg

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Mental Abilities: Genius, Savant and Autism

1. Explain in detail what "savant syndrome" means.

The Savant Syndrome is exceptional skills that seem to come out of nowhere without previous training or experience. Savant skills can include incredible memorization skills, outstanding mathematical skills, unaccountable ability to learn foreign language, calendar calculation, artistic and musical skills, and occasionally, sensing abilities. Savant skills generally occur in around 1% of people with autism, with Asperger’s Syndrome. These skills are usually found in all kinds of disability groups, such as loss of hearing or sight, people with brain injury, and people with bipolar or mental health conditions.

http://www.donnawilliams.net/savantsyndrome.0.html

2. What does genius mean?  Explain the difference between genius and savant.

Genius means a person with extraordinary intelligence, with mental and creative activity, or a person who has a strong talent in something. A personal with an extraordinary IQ, usually above 140 can also be considered a genius.

A savant is not a genius, and vice versa. A savant is not creative, while a genius is naturally creative. A genius can be created while a savant is innate with the skill.

http://www.blurtit.com/q214858.html

http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2007_06_03_archive.html

3. What is a stroke and how could it affect your mental functioning?

A stroke is a disease of the circulatory system caused by the rupturing or the blockage of an artery. A stroke can interfere with your mental performance, you will have problems thinking and remembering, it will change the way you feel or see things. Your feelings will also be altered.

http://www.womensheart.org/content/stroke/what_is_a_stroke.asp

http://brainfoundation.org.au/a-z-of-disorders/107-stroke#lifeafterstroke

4.What is a functional MRI and how does it help us understand brain activity?

Functional MRI stands for functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; brain imaging technique that scans by measuring magnetic changes in the flow of blood to cells in the brain. The functional MRI will help analyze the anatomy of the brain and what parts are functioning when handling different aspects. It can also help identify bad things such as brain tumors and strokes.

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=fmribrain

5. What is the corpus callosum and what role does it play in your brain's activity?

The corpus callosum is nerve fiber. It connects the left and the right hemispheres of the brain. One of its basic and more important functions is to communicate between the two hemispheres.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/corpus-callosum-function.html

6. What is epilepsy and how might it affect your brain's abilities?

Epilepsy is the tendency to have recurrent seizures. It affects the nervous system and can affect your memory.

 http://www.epilepsy.com/101/ep101_epilepsy

7. What is autism?

Autism is developmental disability, a neurological disorder that affects your brain function and social skills.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/autism/

8. What is Asperger's Syndrome?

Asperger Syndrome is a neurobiological disorder that refers to developmental disabilities. People with this syndrome have a tough time communicating, interacting with others and show social awkwardness 

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/brain/asperger.html

http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-an-introduction/what-is-asperger-syndrome.aspx

pictures:

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Accidental Genius

Some people become accidental genius’. For example, some people know things they have never learned. They showed us one man that, when you told him a date, he could tell you the day of the week it had or would be. Then, he got put inside a functional MRI and scientists saw that his brain was using some parts to think that would not be used by a normal person. This tells us that genius’ use or have parts of their brain functioning that other people do not have working. Another situation showed to us was the life-changing event that a man went through. He experienced a stroke and his life changed completely. Before this stroke, he was not interested at all in painting, and after the stroke happened, he became obsessed with it. He became so obsessed with it that his partner left him, and now he is living alone and grabs every opportunity he has to paint wherever he can. These are some cases that show that people can become a genius by accident.

http://www.quotesandsayings.com/quotes/genius/genius-quotes.jpg

Make Me a Genius

If you put your mind to it, and really want it, you will achieve it. Adding to the previous blog, the case of a Russian women being a professional at chess can show us that geniuses are not necessarily born, but can be made. She said that hard work is required to become a genius, and in her case, her father taught her to play chess since she was a little girl. When you do things repeatedly, you then do not have to think about how to do them, and this is exactly what happened to this woman. She trained appropriately and she achieved what she wanted; beat men at chess. She does this technique called chunking, in which she takes in the information in the chess board by chunks and this helps her remembers it. They did several experiments with her and her result were impressive. So can genius’ be made?

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhicXT-6Wj_hdnygLldNvaRWwAsivDPj8GQeVbt_vFDwtrkM-JFpyB_drUDazulhstwKNQ08x-nm1RXxgWFKZjKoB0vyjrSeVoZeGePvD25UVohiqy0Ge2m3VC3qcDwdojElh9ceh31Q/s1600/girl+chess.jpg

Genius

Some people think genius’ are born. Other people think that gifted kids have something extra in their brains that normal people do not have. Either way, I strongly believe that environment affects everyone, and our environment shapes who we are. I used to think that people who are genius’ are socially awkward because they spend most of their time studying rather than interacting with others but this was not the case of a little kid who was a professional in piano. He spends most of his days practicing at least 8 hours but he still interacts with his neighbors and his neighbors think he is a nice kid. He balances his time between school, piano and friends and his case was impressive. He was playing high level songs  and he made it look so easy. His mother said that since he was little he was playing piano and enjoyed it a lot. He was a natural piano player since little and has big dreams for his musical career when he grows up. So, is there such thing as a gene for a genius?

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Homosexuality

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There has been a constant disagreement between whether homosexuality is nature or nurture. In this video, we saw several evidence of both sides, but it was more concentrated on the theory that homosexuality is nature. There is an action or personality that is called childhood gender nonconformity in which the child’s behavior is more typical of the opposite sex. This one case of twins surprised me a lot. One twin was a boy who acted as a boy and the other one, who was a boy also, was already leaning towards the feminine side. The ‘normal’ boy, we can say, had G.I. Joe dolls, green and gray quilts while the feminine boy had finger nail polish, barbies and had a pink theme room. The video also showed us how gay people act differently from straight people like for example their hand and feet gestures and the way they talk. Most people differentiate them from straight people using this kind of judgement. One very interesting theory that I learned in this video was that the more older brothers a man has, the more chance he has of turning out gay. What is even more interesting is that this theory only works if the boy is right handed, and not left handed. Most psychologists think homosexuality is not nurtured, its natured, but not completely genetic. In my opinion, homosexuality is nurtured, it depends fully on you environment. If you are born a boy, you are born the way you are and it is not possible that you have genetics that make you act as a female. Your environment changes the way you think and it is the most important factor in homosexuality.

Mind of a Murderer

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Murderers are made, not born. This video taught us that there is a probability that murderers or harmful people don’t act the way they do because they want to, but because of their past. Brain damages can be related to violent behavior. One common example is that children have had impact on their frontal lobe since little age. This causes permanent injury in their frontal lobe. Abuse causes mental illness and brain damage. If a child was abused at young age, they will probably be bad people making bad decisions in the future. Brain damages also contributes to crimes. We saw an aged man in the video as an example of criminal behavior. This man had killed women in his adult years and he did confess that he was sexually and physically abused when child. This is a perfect example and explanation of why people do the things they do. In my opinion, children should not be treated badly or harmed at young age. If they get harmed when they are little, they will probably harm someone else when they get older. Because of this bad treatment they got in their childhood, they tend to have aggressive behavior. I think frontal lobe damage is the cause of why criminals and criminals. As learned in previous videos, your frontal lobe controls your emotions, your personality, problem-solving, reasoning and many more important functions. If you damage this very important lobe, your personality, your reasoning and your problem-solving will alter badly. Your personality will not be the same, it will be more aggressive and violent. You will not have intelligent reasoning. Brain damage changes your life in big ways. You need to protect it to be able to function to the best of your abilities.

Brain Injury

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Almost a quarter of a million people are hospitalized for brain injuries. Brain injuries can cause multiple harms since you damage one part of your brain. All of the brain lobes are important, but the one who gets the most damage is the frontal lobe. When you injure your frontal lobe, you will experience some problems with thinking and controlling your actions. In this video, we saw how the lives of ordinary people change when they have brain damage. Traumatic brain injury happen when force is applied to the skull, harming it. Although brain damage can be lessened with therapy, your brain will never be the same. Therapy tries to develop the activities you have lost, but this takes patience and time. People with traumatic brain injury will do impulsive things or have aggressive behavior. This is because the frontal lobe is in charge of controlling our emotions and reasoning. There are three types of bran injuries: Contusion, axonal injury and brain bleeding. These injuries can be mild, moderate or severe but can be treated with therapy; over time you will recover. People with brain injuries will lead a hard life, but everything gets better if you have patience, will and faith.

Mind Reading

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I learned that computers are now able to read minds through an fMRI. This MRI can see the movement of your brain and can see what you are thinking at that same moment you are inside the machine. Back in the days, mind reading was unreal and fiction, but now, technology is advancing and will be able to do what we thought was impossible. This new process of mind reading involves the person being put into the MRI and tell them to think of an object. The computer will identify the object according to the places in your brain that are functioning. For the moment, it can only identify the specific object you are thinking but in the future, it will be able to read more in-depth thoughts. Later on, this can be very useful and can be used as a lie detection device. An example used in the video was that it will be used in airports. When the police officers are asking questions, they will be able to see if you are lying or not. In my opinion, mid reading can be good but it can also disrespect your privacy and your personal thoughts. This device will keep getting better and more advanced but it should be used adequately, keeping in mind the right of privacy of the rest. 

The Teenage Brain

Everyone passes through teenage years. 'The Teenage Brain' was a video that taught us how and why the teenage brain acts the way it does. When people get into their teenage years, they change a lot. Most teenagers start arguing and disagreeing with their parents at a daily basis for silly things. People at this age tend to complain a lot. Our brain is growing, like a tree, and it will stop growing when we are in our 20’s. One of the big things teenaged people do is misinterpret situations. Teenage brains tend to be ineffective at interpreting some else’s emotions. Teenagers understand a different message than the other person is really trying to communicate by their expression and language. A factor that affects us a lot is the lack of sleep. When teenager’s don’t get enough sleep, it affects their mood and their ability to think. The less rem sleep you get, the less information your brain stores. If you don’t have enough sleep, you will carry out your tasks poorly and not to your full potential. This video interested me a lot because I can relate with it. All the information the video gave us is true, and us teenagers, know it’s true. Our brain is growing and we are still discovering who we are. Adults may not understand us, but they passed through this same period earlier in their lives.

picture: http://www.adoration.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/TeenageBrain.jpg