The Developing Brain
David Cohen in How the child's mind develops, 2017
This chapter provides a simple guide to the way the brain develops from birth to adulthood; descriptions of methods used to study the brain; and a guide to the many unsolved puzzles about the way children's brains develop. It also provides a guide to the methods used in studying children and an introduction to the nature versus nurture debate. The brain is an immensely complicated organ with over 100 billion brain cells or neurons, including glial and ganglia cells. The brain starts to be identifiable when the foetus is 3 weeks old, as a slab of cells in the upper part of the embryo. Some psychologists suggest the brain is working in a quite sophisticated way even while the baby is still in the womb. Elizabeth Cox Lippard and colleagues focused on whether abuse influenced the development of the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain responsible for emotional regulation and self-control.
A developmental model of the mind
Patricia Hughes, Daniel Riordan in Dynamic Psychotherapy Explained, 2017
The human brain is the only one of our organs that could not conceivably be given to another person. It is special because of the way in which it changes from birth to childhood to adult life. The functions of the brain include: sensory perception; movement and motor control; autonomic control; and the 'higher' functions of thinking and feeling. The human brain or mind is different from the computer brain because it is linked to a body through which a person experiences the world. There are particular areas of the brain whose integrity is essential for certain aspects of psychological functioning. The pattern of arousal associated with each emotion is different, although there is a good deal of overlap between, for example, pleasurable excitement and fear. Verbal memory depends on the effective functioning of the prefrontal cortex, which is not biologically mature enough to verbally represent experience until the end of the second postnatal year.
Is Addiction a Choice?
Jenny Svanberg in The Psychology of Addiction, 2018
Addiction is a process which draws on the brain systems involved in reward and motivation. Food addiction is contributing to the obesity 'epidemics' described in the Western world, particularly the US. The part of the brain that inhibits the impulses of the motivational core is the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), but as impulse becomes compulsion, it can run into trouble. Brain imaging studies have shown that the dlPFC is more active in early stages of repetitive and motivated behaviour, but over time its control over the motivational core may falter, and in longer term addictions it can fragment. It is true that the brain changes as a result of addictive behaviours, but this is not necessarily a marker of disease. The brain changes associated with learning are faster and stronger when they are driven by strong emotions, and this is particularly true at vulnerable points in the development, such as infancy, adolescence and early twenties.
Using 3D-MRI to localize the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in TMS research
Published in The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 2010
Karolien Peleman, Peter Van Schuerbeek, Robert Luypaert, Tadeus Stadnik, Rudi De Raedt, Johan De Mey, Axel Bossuyt, Chris Baeken
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is currently used as a non-invasive treatment for depression. In most clinical trials, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been selected as the target site for TMS treatment and this region is commonly determined by a “standard procedure”, using a fixed position with respect to the motor cortex. In this study, to evaluate the relevance of using individual anatomical data during coil positioning, we used a more individualized localization method, based on three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging of the head (3D-MRI). We wanted to examine the intra-individual variability of the localization of the stimulation area using a method taking into account individual brain anatomy by 3D-MRI, by comparing this method to the “standard procedure”. As expected, even in a gender-controlled sample, our results demonstrate that the difference between the anatomical localization and the standard procedure of a well-defined part of the prefrontal cortex varies within subjects. Therefore, our results confirm the need for a TMS-coil positioning method which incorporates individual anatomical information.
Assess BA10 activity in slide-based and immersive virtual reality prospective memory task using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)
Published in Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 2019
Dong Dong, Lawrence K. F. Wong, Zhiwei Luo
By using slide-based task in a laboratory setting, previous studies have found that activation of the rostral prefrontal cortex (BA10) is related to prospective memory performance. In this present study, we used immersive virtual reality (VR) technology to measure PM performance in a real-life task in a simulated virtual environment. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy was used simultaneously to record the rostral prefrontal cortex activities of the subjects. By comparing the data against the ones from the slide-based task, the result suggested that the activation of BA10 in the VR tasks were greater than the one in the slide-based tasks, and the VR tasks have the potential to identify the particular location of BA10 that is connected to the PM performance in our daily lives.
How working memory enables fluid reasoning
Published in Applied Neuropsychology: Child, 2017
The strong relation between fluid reasoning (Gf) and working memory (WM) is well established. Gf depends on WM to hold necessary information in a span of awareness until the reasoning task is completed. The influence of time constraints on the Gf-WM relation indicates that the abilities to control attention and inhibit interference may be the underlying traits that account for the Gf-WM relation. Neuroanatomy also explains the interrelations among these cognitive processes. Neuroimaging (fMRI) studies have confirmed that the same regions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) are active during Gf and WM functioning. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dPFC) is also a critical structure for attention functions and inhibition.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Apraxia
- Executive Function
- Limbic System
- Frontal Lobe
- Speech
- Broca Aphasia
- Language