The brain is an astonishing product of evolution. This can be seen by our numerous technological developments and society structure. The brain has always been the most important organ for species that had developed past the cellular stage and has always performed the same functions that it does now but has developed constantly to where it is now through growth and a reorganization of its’ primary functions and gained the ability to learn has been something that the human brain does better than other brains. Our brains have not always been like this and many social and biological factors have led us to where they are now.
While genes do play a large role in early development, environment plays and even greater role. In fact, it is the mutual connections of nature and nurture contour the growing brain. Genes are responsible for functions like breathing, control heartbeat, regulate body temperature and produce reflexes etc. A child’s environment shapes their social, emotional, cognitive health of a child. The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University’s journal The Science of Early Childhood Development Closing the Gap Between What We Know and What We Do have conducted decades of brain research that proves from birth to age five is the groundwork for a child to have a happy, healthy life. A child’s environment and early experiences will have a profound affect good or bad on his or her life.
Scheibel, A.B. 1996. Structural and functional changes in the aging brain. In: Handbook of the psychology of aging. 4th ed. San Diego: Academic Press. p.105-128.
4)Teenage Brain: A work in progress, recent research concerning structural changes of the brain during adolescence
Positivity, family support and regular therapy enables neuroplasticity to occur efficiently and effectively as ones brain is constantly stimulated by new experience and receptive to change. Therefore, neuroplasticity is more likely to occur and enable one to recover from brain injury or trauma as effectively as possible while taking into account the severity and type of injury or trauma.
Xu, J., Kobayashi, S., Yamaguchi, S., Iijima, K. I., Okada, K., & Yamashita, K. (2000). Gender effects on age-related changes in brain structure. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 21(1), 112-118.
William James was conceivably the initial pioneer in addressing the topic of brain plasticity from a contemporary viewpoint, as he showed an association between the
The first fact of human brain anatomy is that even at the gross level, brains are different. But how do these differences come about? If I take the simple and extreme view of genetic influence, our DNA and genetic chemicals should clearly spell out in detail all aspects of development. In this paper I want to ignore the genetic aspect of development and review the evidence for the effects of experience on brain development, the adaptability of the brain for alternative pathways to learning and the impact of experience on memory.
On the other side we have older adults. Does music have an effect on neuroplasticity of elderly or did the time frame for such adaptation end in childhood? Literature suggest that plasticity is affected by how much a person actively engages in music training and that the regulation of sensitive period onset and duration is not simply by age, but by experience, and thus the presence of enriched environments may prolong sensitive periods or spark the plastic changes (Miendlarzewska & Trost 2014, p. 279).
The most stood out statement from this material for me it is the fact that the brain is enormously plastic and its structure changes with every experience. This confirms the author's
A major concern in the world today is the brain development of adolescents who have abusive parents. Many studies have gone into the research of adolescent’s brain development during these challenging times. However, there has not been a considerable amount of research when talking about non-abusive parenting behavior on brain structure in adolescents. Environmental influences during this period of an adolescents’ life impact the way that the brain develops over time. In the article, Observed Measures of Negative Parenting Predict Brain Development during Adolescence, they aim their study to investigate the association between aggressive and positive parenting behaviors on brain development from early to late adolescence.
Since the beginning of humankind our brains have grown over 600ml. The history of brain development studies shows that since the beginning of humanity our brains have grown double or triple the size of the prehistoric brain. Now due to environmental variables brains are believed to have shrunk back down to the same size of humans over 2 million years ago. For millions of years humans have been curious to how our brains change over time, with these modern studies we can now have a deeper understanding of these developments. If we put theses studies to use, we may create a new future for the next generation of humans. In order to use these studies we must first fully understand them, beginning with what exactly encourages the brain to adapt and
Set in the cerebral cortex sits cognition which is the ability to learn and develop solutions to problems. “Ongoing cognitive development rests on brain plasticity and its role in continuously facilitating accommodation to changing environmental
The notion that development is a process of emergent self-organisation is further supported by the growing understanding of brain plasticity, which could only be possible if human brains develop in a non linear, dynamic fashion. The brain’s plasticity allows for changes and development throughout life, and for the brain to overcome certain levels of damage through reorganisation of the neural pathways. Although learning and the ability to make new pathways slows with age, it does not stop and it allows for the brain to change, even in adulthood, should the need arise (Mosier W., ...