The Teenage Brain

Teenagers think that adults do not understand their actions and thoughts. Parents do not comprehend that teenagers are going through a series of changes that makes their personality change or differ form that they had when being children. Once you are a teenager some parents forget that you are still developing. This is why there is a constant battle between parents and adolescents.

The transition to puberty is analogous to the transition to childhood. The teenage brain changes and thickens through adolescence still. The Frontal Lobe keeps developing, as well. That is why cells and connections used in the brain will flourish, while that those that are not used die. Unchallenged brain parts do not develop, making an individual loose those certain undeveloped abilities. The Prefrontal Cortex is in charge of planning behavior, solving problems, and controlling emotions. In teenagers this part of the brain is not fully developed. The skills in the frontal lobe are still developing. Furthermore, the cerebellum also continues to develop itself during the teen years. It is involved in both the intellectual and thinking processes of teens.

Unluckily, the most important decisions in life are taken during the teenage years. Adolescents are still not equipped to make these big decisions. Teenagers always engage themselves in risky behaviors (drugs and alcohol), not taking the responsible decisions they should.

Another thing is that the academic abilities are also developed throughout the teenage years. This is why teenagers should have proper sleeping hours. They should get from 9 hours of sleep. If they do not get enough sleep, then their abilities to learn, react and function diminish.

To conclude, I think that parents should be more comprehensive with their teens. Instead of fighting them, parents should be closer to their sons and daughters. They should be always there for them with no exception. Teenage years are filled with change and random emotions. Sometimes teens want someone to lean on that supports them in all of their actions and decisions. Another thing is that schools and teachers should understand that sleeping hours for developing teens are extremely vital. If teens do not get enough sleep because of homework excess, then there would be crucial effects on their brain development.

 

How Our Brains Work

The human brain has cerebral hemispheres. Those cerebral hemispheres are divided exactly through the middle of the brain into the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere.

The right and left sides of the brain are in charge of different functions. The right side is like an image processor, responsible for spatial skills, face identification, visual descriptions and music. It also deals with emotions, creativity, intuition, and trust. The right side deals with subconscious thought too. On the other hand, the left side is more logical since it deals with numbers and words. It makes human beings be more analytic and rational.

The corpus callosum is a thick band of fibers located between the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere of the brain. It connects them and allows both sides to share information.

Paul Broca was a French neurologist, surgeon and anthropologist who discovered “Broca’s Area”. He observed and studied the brain of aphasic patients, which are people who cannot talk at all. It all started at the Bicetre Hospital with a patient named “Tan”. Broca performed surgeries on Tan´s brain in order to examine it well. Through these examinations Broca realized that Tan had a lesion in the left frontal lobe, or left inferior frontal gyrus. This part of the brain was soon considered the center of speech of the brain, and now a days “Broca´s Area”.  

Roger Sperry was a famous neuropsychologist and neurobiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine with his “split-brain” studies back in 1981.  Sperry studied patients who had a split brain with the corpus callosum cut off. He would put them in front of a screen. There were some objects behind the screen. The patient would look in the middle of the screen. Then a word would appear on the screen, in the left side of the patient´s visual field. The information had to be received by the non-verbal right hemisphere of the brain, making the patient not capable of telling what they saw. The patient was later asked to pick out an object from behind the screen with his left hand that corresponded with the word formerly flashed on the screen.  Since the right hemisphere controls all of the movements of the left side of the body, the patient´s left hand was able to pick up the corresponding object, even if the patient was oblivious that he or she saw the word on the screen. This study made Sperry comprehend that the left side of the brain controls reading and speech, when the right side can´t process verbal stimuli.

Carl Wernicke was a German physician, anatomist, psychiatrist and neuropathologist that came up with “Wernicke´s Area”. He studied a patient that suffered a stroke. The man could speak, but had trouble with hearing since he hardly understood what was told to him. He was not able understand written words neither.  After the patient died, Carl examined his brain and noticed there was injury on the parietal region of the left hemisphere of the brain. Wernicke concluded that this part of the brain was involved in speech comprehension. He named this syndrome “Sensory Aphasia”, which nowadays is known as “Wernicke´s Aphasia”. The part of the brain affected in this syndrome is known as “Wernicke´s Area”.

The occipital lobe is responsible for vision.

The Temporal Lobe is responsible for hearing and language.

The Frontal Lobe is responsible for performing math calculations. It´s also responsible for judgment reasoning, and impulse control.

WORKS CITED:

Alic, Margaret. “Carl Wernicke.” http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g2699/is_0006/ai_2699000652/ .  September 25, 2010.

“Corpus Callosum.” http://biology.about.com/library/organs/brain/blcorpus.htm . September 25, 2010.

Nick K. “How to grow a better brain.” http://library.thinkquest.org/J002391/functions.html . September 25, 2010.

 “One Brain... or Two.” http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/split.html . September 25, 2010.

“Roger Sperry and Split Brain.” http://scienceray.com/philosophy-of-science/roger-sperry-and-split-brain/ . September 25, 2010.

Teter, Theresa. “Pierre-Paul Broca.” http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/broca.htm . September 25, 2010.

 “The Difference Between Left And Right Thinking And Why It Matters.” http://www.virtual.co.nz/index.php/StrategicSnippets/TheDifferenceBetweenLeftAndRightBrainThinkingAndWhyItMatters  . September 25, 2010.

Phineas Gage and the Brain

Phineas Gage was a foreman who used to work on the railroad in Cavendish, Vermont. His job was very dangerous since it involved digging holes and putting dynamite inside of them. On September 13 of 1848, when only being twenty-five years old, Phineas suffered a terrible accident. When filling explosive powder into a hole with a tamping iron, the powder exploded. The tamping iron that had a length of 43 inches, a diameter of 1.25 inches, and a weight of 13 pounds  flew into the air at a high speed into Gage’s direction. It went through his left cheek, penetrating and ripping through his brain, and exiting through the top of his skull. This left a big hole inside of his skull. The front part of his brain (the frontal lobe) was gone. Even though Phineas lost brain and a lot of blood, he survived and kept his consciousness. 

Unluckily, Phineas was never the same back again. He did not become retarded, but he had a complete change of personality. Gage showed rude and aggressive traits. He became an antisocial person, without a good stable job. Still, Phineas got to live a kind of normal and healthy life for eleven years under this condition. At thirty-six he died after a series of seizures, probably caused by his brain damage.

Doctor John Martyn Harlow was the doctor who treated Gage over the years. He wrote and studied about Gage’s weird case. Through his writings, neurologists and scientists over the years have come up with theories about the brain. It has been discovered that the frontal lobe (front part of the brain) is important to control behavior and emotions. Damaging it alters personality and self control.

All of these new ideas lead to the study of “Brain Localization”. This concept of brain localization states that the different parts of the human brain perform different functions. Every spot of the brain is responsible for who you are as a person, your movements, vision, speech, auditory, and other tasks.

There was also another concept developed called “Brain Lateralization”. The brain is composed of two halves. Brain lateralization states that the two halves of the human brain are not similar in any ways. Each half has a specific functional specialization. The left part of the brain is in charge of language comprehension amongst other functions such as logic, analytic thought, science and math, etc. The right part of the brain is in charge of creativity and other vital functions like holistic thought, intuition, art and music, etc. At the end, Phineas Gage´s case lead to many neurological discoveries.

WORKS CITED:

Twomey, Steve. “Phineas Gage: Neuroscience’s Most Famous patient.”  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Phineas-Gage-Neurosciences-Most-Famous-Patient.html  . September 21, 2010.

“The Incredible Case of Phineas Gage.” http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/12/04/the-incredible-case-of-phineas-gage/ . September 21, 2010.

“What does Handedness Have to do with Brain Lateralization?” http://www.indiana.edu/~primate/brain.html . September 21, 2010.

"Neurons, Hormons, and the Brain." http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~bbrown/psyc1501/brain/loclat.htm . September 21, 2010.

The Real Cause of Criminal Behavior

              Is criminal behavior a product of nature or nurture? Psychologists have always been wondering about this. Criminal behavior involves all of those actions that infringe both religious and moral standards and beliefs. This kind of behavior brings its consequences. It is supposed to be punishable by law. The penalties are a life in prison or even worse, death. To be frank, I think that criminal behavior is an effect from the surrounding environment. People are not born with it. They gain it throughout their lives, especially during their childhood years. There are many that undergo a lot of pain, abuse, and sorrow when being kids. Not everyone has the strength or might to stand these things physically or mentally. This is why small innocent children who experience these kinds of tragedies end up committing severe crimes.

              Certainly, there is proof that people are sometimes born as criminals in some cases. Many psychological problems such as personality traits and disorders can be inherited from one generation to another. This includes criminal behavior. Many researchers throughout the early twentieth century believed that genes were the ones to blame for the existence of criminals in society. Twin, family, and adoption studies have come to this conclusion, too. Supposedly, criminality can be heritable for up to a 54%. Many identical twins have proven to share the same levels of criminality in their genes. Having biological criminal parents increases the chances of being a criminal, as well. For sure, criminal behavior can come within the genes of a person.

              On the other hand, others become criminals throughout their lives because of their surroundings. According to many researchers, family and peers are some environmental causes for criminal behavior. The Family environment is what shapes the conduct of people. There are many who are not fortunate of having a normal caring family. There is a 50% possibility that children can become criminals if they are abused. Criminality can also be the result of weak relationships and communication within a family. Poverty and education are some other factors that influence the development of children throughout the years. If a child sees aggressive or violent behavior between parents or siblings, he or she will demonstrate this kind of behavior when growing up. Peers can also influence the way a child acts. If a child demonstrates aggressive behavior towards his or her peers, there is a great possibility that he or she will be left out of the group, as an outcast. This same antisocial criminal behavior will arise from the child as an adult. It is all about the environment an individual lives in.

            At the end, criminal behavior is caused by both the genes and the environment. An individual’s personality and its surroundings can get to influence how an individual acts. Some people are born with criminal genes within themselves. Others live in an instable environment full of negative factors such as violence and poverty. Still, there can be the chance of avoiding this. People can be treated or given a better life. In conclusion, criminal behavior is a challenge to live with in society nowadays.

WORKS CITED:


Jones, Caitlin M. “Genetic and Environmental Influences on Criminal Behavior.” http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/jones.html . September 9, 2010.

“Forensic & Criminal Psychology.” http://www.psychologycampus.com/forensic-criminal/  . September 9, 2010.