The Brain: The Negative Effects Of Damage To The Brain

1231 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Brain damage research paper

Weighing only 3 pounds, the human brain is the most complex structure known to man. It is what sets humans apart from the rest of the other animals. It is a powerful organ that allows us to learn, store memories, think creatively, and communicate with one and another. Physical damage to any organ in the human body can be detrimental and that is no different with the brain. However, once the brain is damaged, there is often nothing that can be done. Damage to the brain is not only done physically, but a person 's lifestyle, in particular, living in poverty has negative effects to the brain. According to the 2012 Census report, poverty affects 46.5 million people in the United States alone. Out of the 46.5 million people, 16 million are children. The National Scientific Council report summarized the conditions associated with poverty "as overcrowding, noise, substandard housing, separation from parent(s), exposure to violence, family turmoil," and other stressful …show more content…

The brains of children are still developing; however, constant stressful conditions can stun or slow down the development of the brain. Furthermore, high levels of cortisol have shown to convert the stems cells present in the brain to mature into oligodendrocytes, a type of glial cell responsible for producing the myelin sheath (a type of fatty covering for the nerve cells), instead of maturing into mature neurons or astrocytes. Even though myelin sheath is important, astrocytes are needed for the formation of connections to the prefrontal cortex. Therefore, resulting in issues with memory and learning. Additionally, high levels of cortisol have shown to destroy the nerve cells present in the hippocampus resulting in a decrease in size. Consequently, these children suffer intellectual, memory, and spatial learning

Show More
Related

  • The Glass Castle Stereotypes

    1391 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty in America is a very complex issue that can be looked at from many directions. There are a plethora of statistics and theories about poverty in America that can be confusing and at times contradicting. It is important to objectively view statistics to gain a better understanding of poverty and to wade through the stereotypes and the haze of cultural views that can misrepresent the situation.The official poverty line in America begins with a person making at or below $12,060. To calculate the poverty line for a family, an additional $4,180 is added to the base of $12,060 for each additional member(“Federal Poverty Level Guidelines”). According to the last U.S. census, over 45 million or 14.5% of Americans are at or below the poverty line(Worstall). At this level, the U.S. poverty level has not changed much from the 1970s when the government began a “War on Poverty.” However,

    Read More

  • Catholic Community Services Helps Poverty-Stricken Community in Utah

    1104 Words  | 3 Pages

    In recent years, the number of children whose families fall under the line of poverty has risen at an alarming rate. Crosson-Tower (2013) postulated a reason for this increase when she said, “The recent weakening economy, a higher unemployment rate, unprecedented numbers of home foreclosures and a decline in the safety net for children and their families have resulted in a gradual continuing increase in children living in extreme poverty” (p. 57). Apparently, nearly every aspect of the United States’ crumbling economy affects a family’s ability to meet basic needs. The rise in single parent, mother headed families has not helped poverty statistics because of the lower earning potential of women. A major reason so many children liv...

    Read More

  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

    2218 Words  | 5 Pages

    amilies Undisputedly, poverty has been one of the major persistent social problems in the United States for hundreds of years. Poverty does not discriminate against Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, Jews, homosexuals, heterosexuals, age, gender, or persons with disabilities. Poverty can strike any population, community, ethnic group, or family. According to the U.S Census Bureau, 43.6 million people were in poverty in 2009, which was an increase from 2008. Insert citation for website.

    Read More

  • Occupational Justice: The Framework Of Occupational Justice

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2014 African Americans held the highest poverty rate of 26%, with Hispanics holding the second highest rate at 24% (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). When comparing this to the poverty rates of Whites at 10% and Asians at 12% in 2014, we see that in America, racial and ethnic minorities are more vulnerable to experiencing poverty (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). In addition, discrimination is seen between genders among those living in poverty. Family households of a single adult are more likely to be headed by women and are also at a greater risk for poverty (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). In 2014, 30.6% of households headed by a single woman were living below the poverty line compared to 15.7% for households headed by a single male (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor, 2015). Many factors such as poor wages for women, pregnancy associations, and the increase of single-woman parented families have impacted the increase of women in poverty. Children are most harshly affected by poverty because for them the risks are compounded, as they lack the defenses and supports needed to combat the toxicity surrounding them. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 21% of all U.S. children (73.6 million children) under 18 years old lived in poverty in 2014 (DeNavas-Walt & Proctor,

    Read More

  • African American Sociology

    1392 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the main causes of poverty is a lack of money. There are some families that do have at least one person employed in the household but the money earned is not enough to provide for the family. Tough decisions such as paying rent buying groceries become a daily challenge for struggling households. Those living in households headed by people with no high school degree are the most likely to enter poverty. Limited options in the job market make it hard for those without degrees the ability to find jobs that will pay above minimum wage. Many Americans earn less than the nation’s median income which hinders most Americans from living a life free of hunger. Children who grow up in poverty suffer more persistent, frequent, and severe health problems than do children who grow up under better financial circumstances. Children of poverty are at an extreme disadvantage and cycle ends up repeating itself until the pattern is somehow

    Read More

  • Affects of Frontal Lobe Damage

    2599 Words  | 6 Pages

    Damage to the frontal lobe cortex of the brain can cause difficulty in everyday activities. The frontal lobes role in people’s behavior includes executive processes, language, emotional expression and movement. Ryan Godfrey has difficulties in some areas of executive processes due to the damage tumors caused in his brain. Ryan and others with frontal lobe damage can benefit from knowing these deficits by taking steps to reduce their impact. The brain tends to compensate for damaged parts and a faith in God brings power to overcome deficits. Thus, behavioral difficulties for frontal lobe damaged patients are only a guideline not a box, for nothing is impossible for God to accomplish.

    Read More

  • Child Poverty In America

    1493 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the U.S. approximately “21 percent of kids are living in poverty” (“Child Poverty”). This shows that child poverty impacts both urban and rural populations and is crippling one out of every five children in the U.S. With poverty being so diverse and widespread this puts a lot of pressure on kids to try to escape. Also, with so many of America's kids living in poverty, it leaves a good chunk of America's population at risk for damaging effects. In another study by NCCP, they found that “42 percent of kids born into the bottom fifth of the wage class will stay there” (Frass). This shows that with so many kids in poverty that a lot of them are going to be stuck in poverty. This is an issue because serious health concerns are in place with people in poverty such as poor living conditions and inadequate food supplies. This statistic also affects children due to the fact that there is a greater chance for these kids to have children who are born into poverty, thus perpetuating the

    Read More

  • The Other Wes Moore Essay

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty has many influences on children under the age of 16. The research fined out that in recent year, an increasing number of children become poor, live under the poverty condition- childhood poverty lasted 10 years or more. So, what does the poverty exactly mean to children? According to Brook-Gunn and Duncan, The kids who live in the poverty condition have the low quality of schools; more likely to have domestic violence and become homeless; less access to friends, services, etc.

    Read More

  • Negative Effects Of Homelessness

    1670 Words  | 4 Pages

    The United States is divided into three different classes when classifying a group by their income. The classes are the High class, the middle class, and the low class. People who live in the high and middle classes have every day struggles similar to people living in the lower class have; but one thing that fluctuates is the types of struggles people in poorer class have to face proceeding on an everyday basis. For example, not knowing if they will have food on the table for their children, heat for their house in the winter, or have a roof over their head by the end of the month. Unfortunately to every difficulty there is always a gray area over looked. When dealing with poverty, children are often the ones left in that gray area with no

    Read More

  • Poverty and Crime in America

    3673 Words  | 8 Pages

    The exact amount of poverty that exits in the United States are difficult to ascertain, since the manner in which poverty is measured determines the amount of poverty reported. The U.S. Bureau of the Census reported that there were about 33,100,00 persons classified as officially below the poverty level in 1985. Small children that live in low-income households, are vulnerable to a wide variety of problems, including poor nutrition, inadequate housing, substandard medical attention, lack of proper nutrition, and physical or emotional abuse. Adolescents from these backgrounds become part of cycle of low-income or unemployment. Black and Hispanic teenagers have particularly acute problems obtaining employment. The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice recognized the role of poverty in producing delinquency and noted that the most serious forms of juvenile delinquencies are more prevalent between youths at the lowest socioeconomic levels.

    Read More

  • Poverty And Poverty

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poverty itself is a controversial and widely debated issue with a variety of opposing viewpoints. Despite differences in opinions on how poverty should be treated, the vast majority agrees that poverty is a problem plagues the nation on both economic and social levels. Economically, poverty affects everyone. As taxes are paid by the entire nation, poverty influences where our money goes and how it is spent. Socially, poverty affects families and individuals on an emotional level. Impoverishment affects happiness and health, the decisions people make, and most importantly the development of children. To best understand poverty, one must look at the issue economically and socially, and contextualize the numbers surrounding poverty as well as

    Read More

  • Detroit Is The Poorest City

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    Children represent a disproportionate share of the poor in the United States; they are 23.1 percent of the total population, but 33.3 percent of the poor population. In 2014, 15.5 million children, or 21.1 percent, were poor. Poverty can shape a life of a child and leave them with feelings of hopelessness and unworthiness. There are also specific ethnic and race groups whose children are affected by poverty than others.

    Read More

  • Poverty and Substance Abuse

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1990, Schwarz (1990) stated about one in five American families lived beneath the poverty line. According Lein (2013), it is estimated that as of the beginning of 2011, about 1.46 million U.S. households with about 2.8 million children were surviving on $2 or less in income per person per day in a given month. This constitutes almost 20 percent of all non-elderly households with children living in poverty. About 866,000 households appear to live in extreme poverty across a full calendar quarter. The prevalence of extreme poverty rose sharply between 1996 and 2011(Lein, 2013).

    Read More

  • Poverty And Poverty

    1830 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poverty can have damaging effects on children. Poverty rates amongst children are higher than another other age group according to Dalaker, 2001. Though there have been many improvements made, there are still approximately 1.2 million children still living in poverty. In terms of race and ethnicity, the poverty rate for children under 18 years of age are as followed; 30% African American, 29% Latino and 13% White. This extenuates the statistics ...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Children And Poverty

    1952 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poverty is “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions” (Merriam-Webster dictionary, 2015); in other words, struggling to provide a comfortable living style. It is the cause of family stress and many other problems, especially for the children. Millions of people around the world are struggling with poverty; families suffering to provide enough food seem to be growing in numbers. According to the United States Census Bureau, the poverty rate was highest in the 1960s and decreased greatly in the 1970s. However, it is now slowly starting to increase again. Recently released census data by the Bureau showed that one in five people are living in poverty (Census Bureau, 2014). Poverty is even

    Read More

More about The Brain: The Negative Effects Of Damage To The Brain

Open Document