Prefrontal Cortex Lesions from Neurosurgeon and Patient Perspective
In this paper, I will discuss lesions of the
prefrontal cortex from the perspective of the practice of
neurosurgery (in particular, the sub-field of psychosurgery) and
then I will consider some studies that look at the implications
of lesions to the prefrontal cortex to the brain and behavior,
from the perspective of the patient with the lesion. Initially,
I will start with the history and explanation of psychosurgery.
Psychosurgery is the branch of neurosurgery that involves
severing or otherwise disabling areas of the brain to treat a
personality disorder, behavior disorder, or other mental illness
(Rodgers 1992). Modern psychosurgical techniques target the
pathways between the limbic system (the portion of the brain on
the inner edge of the cerebral cortex) that is believed to
regulate emotions, and the frontal cortex, where thought
processes are seated.
The field of neurosurgery as a specialty was not defined
until the end of the 19th century. In earlier days, surgeries
had to be tailored to poor lighting and lack of magnification
(Valenstein 1986). The development and implementation of the
operating microscope in the 1960s allowed surgeons to operate
through a narrow tunnel to resect deep-seated lesions
(Valenstein 1986). Psychosurgery, and lobotomy in particular,
reached the height of use just after World War II. Between 1946
and 1949, the use of the lobotomy grew from 500 to 5,000 annual
procedures in the United States (Valenstein 1986). Lobotomy is a
psychosurgical procedure involving selective destruction of
connective nerve fibers or tissue. It is performed on the
frontal lobe of the brain and its purpose is to alleviate mental
illness and chronic pain symptoms (Valenstein 1986). At that
time, the procedure was viewed as a possible solution to the
overcrowded and understaffed conditions in state-run mental
hospitals and asylums. Known as prefrontal or transorbital
lobotomy, depending on the surgical technique used and area of
the brain targeted, these early operations were performed with
surgical knives, electrodes, suction, or ice picks, to cut or
sweep out portions of the frontal lobe.
Today's psychosurgical techniques are much more refined.
These technological advances include the use of computer-
assisted stereotaxis, intra-operative ultrasound, brain mapping
and endoscopy. Minimally invasive surgery is a major advance in
neurosurgery and refers not only to a more limited skin incision
Phineas Gage, a 25 year old construction worker is known as one of the most famous patients that suffered from a traumatic brain injury. While working at a railroad site, an iron tamping rod (43 inches long, 1.25 diameter) went through his left cheek, through his brain, and out the skull. He surprisingly ended up surviving this traumatic injury. After a month in the hospital, he was back out on the street. Once a nice, caring person, Phineas turned into an aggressive man who could not even keep a job. Just like Phineas Gage, a TBI can potentially change everything. Brain studies on traumatic brain injuries are increasing every year. Even though the brain is very functional, brain injuries can have many physical, emotional, social, and economical effects.
The Beatles are an iconic English rock band and are widely regarded as the “foremost and most influential act of the rock era” (Unterberg). Formed in Liverpool in 1960, the Beatles were comprised of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, with Stuart Sutcliffe on bass guitar in January and Pete
The story of the most legendary group in the history of popular music began in 1960, in Liverpool, England. The Beatles, were an English rock band, whose most well-known lineup, consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, is considered by many as the most innovative, emulated, and successful music group of the twentieth century. John Lennon was largely responsible for the development of the band, since he, together with Paul McCartney, wrote most of the music for the Beatles. Lennon is largely responsible for the Beatles being considered the first rock performers who were truly considered groundbreaking artists in their own time, and years after the band broke up, with his lyrics, “Beatlemania”, and the controversy that he caused the band.
It seems as though it’s impossible to provide an analogy to a group today that accurately expresses what the Beatles were to their hayday. I guess that the closest thing to the Beatles of 2014 is One Direction, British and super popular, but the Beatles were obviously much bigger and much more influential than any other pop culture icon in recorded history. The question is though, why were the Beatles so popular that they defined a genre and generation of music? Why did they have such a strong influence on pop culture that they still remain popular today? The Beatles have a distinct sound, but they also didn’t stick to this image that seems to be so popular in bands of today. They let their music change with their mood, and the mood of the time they wrote the song in. This, instead of causing them to seem instable and fragmented, made them even more defined. Their songs are different from each other in a way that keeps it exciting. Hearing the same song over and over again from one artist causes their fame to die out quickly, in the same way that no matter how much you like a song, i...
According to history1900.about.com “About this same time, the Beatles began to shift to psychedelic influences. They started using marijuana and LSD and learning about Eastern thought.” The eastern thought and early western philosophy was the idea of matters in basic human existence. This is around the time when the Beatles music started fighting for world peace and talking about how we should come together. John Lennon’s song “imagine” tells people how the world would be a better place without religion, war, conflict, possessions, and greed. He also explains that he isn’t the only person to have fought for this. Doing so many peace riots happened in the 60’s during the vietnam war. These peace riots were usually filled with hippies which was a term for people that are “with nature”. You could say that the Beatles were hippies for they fought for these riots trying to end the war in vietnam. This made a major impact to how we view the world now and how we need to protect our environment now. allmusic.com states “They were also the first British rock group to achieve world wide
The Beatles were a legendary rock and pop group that formed in Liverpool, England in 1960. John Lennon met Paul McCartney in 1957. He invited John to join his music group. George Harrison met Paul in grammar school.Later, they discovered George’s talent of the electric guitar, and he was invited to join Lennon's group, The Quarrymen (News, CBS). George Harrison joined them in February of 1958. Later in time, they started experimenting with different type of music styles. The Beatles became the most popular band of all time (A&E Networks Television).
Brain Lateralization is a complex and ongoing process by which differing regions of the brain “take over” the functioning of specific behaviors and cognitive skills. Lateralization literally means that certain functions are located (in part or total) on one side of the brain.
The human brain is one of the body’s most complex organs. It enables us to think, move, feel, see, hear, taste, and smell. It controls the functioning of our body, receives sensory information, evaluates informationThe human brain is one of the body’s most complex organs. It enables us to think, move, feel, see, hear, taste, and smell. It controls the functioning of our body, receives sensory information, evaluates information, and stores information.
Juvenile delinquency is the participation of illegal behavior by minors. Usually crimes committed by a child under the age of 18. The young people who usually live in difficult circumstances are the ones who are at risk of becoming “delinquents.” Juvenile delinquency is becoming more complicated and universal. This is a local problem happening in our cities today. It is easy for people to view “juvenile delinquents” as thugs or criminals. The reality is many of these so called “delinquents” has either been abused, lack proper supervision and support, or have been untreated fairly in schools.
Pascal’s Triangle falls into many areas of mathematics, such as number theory, combinatorics and algebra. Throughout this paper, I will mostly be discussing how combinatorics are related to Pascal’s Triangle.
Before the Beatles were the Beatles, they were just normal musicians. John Lennon the person in charge of the band in the 50’s called the Quarry Men met Paul McCartney on July 6, 1957, where both musicians are performing in Skiffle Groups. After hearing Paul play at the concert John’s manager asked Paul if he would like to join the Quarry Men, Paul accepted his offer. Many musicians tried out to join the Quarry Men, however none of them made it. On February 6, 1958 George Harrison tried out by playing Raunchy and John made him become the newest member of the group. The members of the Quarry Men are; “John, Paul and George, with the addition of Johns Friend from art college, Stu Sutcliffe and a guitarist named Pete Best” (The Beatles pg. 1). They went off to Germany to get a better chance to become known and famous. While they are in Germany, Stu Sutcliffe decides to go back to college to get back into art which he is in love with and be with Astrid which he met in Germany. The members remaining in the Quarry Men group renamed their group and now their group calling it Silver Beatles and returned to Liverpool. As the group thought their luck was terrible, a young record storeowner in the late 1961, with the name of Brian Epstein, noticed the Beatles with their great musicians skills, he thought they have something unique to them (History of The Beatles pg. 1). The Silver Beatles held a tough ima...
Firstly, there is various of sensing activities as in seeing and hearing as in a sense of understanding of what is seen and heard. Secondly the sense of feeling in numerous parts of the body from the head to the toes. The ability to recall past events, the sophisticated emotions and the thinking process. The cerebellum acts as a physiological microcomputer which intercepts various sensory and motor nerves to smooth out what would otherwise be jerky muscle motions. The medulla controls the elementary functions responsible for life, such as breathing, cardiac rate and kidney functions. The medulla contains numerous of timing mechanisms as well as other interconnections that control swallowing and salivations.
Throughout this report a variety of major issues will be discussed, including gender and age, association with antisocial/delinquent peers, family Issues, XYY chromosome, and media/people(s) perceptions. The research indicates that theses are the most influential factors leading to youth engaging in criminal activity. Some other major issues that I haven’t spoken about through this topic are low socioeconomic status, low academic/vocational achievement, truancy throughout schooling, unemployment and boredom.
The social environment of teens holds an enormous influence on how the teens act and behave. Teens are easily influenced by their surroundings and they look to others for guidance. Their behavior results from that of the parent and peer influences. Parents play a particularly influential role in their child’s life and it is up to them to make sure that they are leading their sons or daughters in the right directions. A teen’s peers also play a large role in how the teen behaves when the parents are not around. A teen’s social environment, consisting of family and peers, plays a vital role in their life, therefore becoming the ultimate cause of juvenile delinquency.
There is no one certain theory, regarding juvenile delinquency, that can completely distinguish all the determining factors that makes youth turn to crime; although, the study of all these theories and ideas can bring criminologist one step closer to uncovering the truth about juvenile delinquency. Only the further understanding of juvenile delinquency can help the prevention of future juvenile offenders. This paper will focus on the individual factors of delinquency, as well as the social elements, and provide an explanation of how the combination of the two elements may cause children to engage in criminal activity.