Nurture versus Nature

763 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Brain structure and function essay

Nurture versus Nature

The human brain is a portion of the central nervous system and serves as the control center for movement, sleep, hunger, and virtually everything else vital and necessary to survive. Not only that, but the brain also controls all human emotions from fear and love, to elation and sorrow. It also receives and interprets countless signals from other parts of the body and the outside environment. Summarily, the brain makes us conscious, emotional, and intelligent. It's no wonder that with everything going on in the brain, so much emphasis is placed on its development. We now know, from scientific research, that the brain grows at a rapid rate within the first years of an infant's life. With this information in mind, one can't help but ask how and when THEIR brain developed and did it eventually lead to the person they are this very day?

From birth, nearly every human being brain contains 100 billion neurons and 50 trillion connections. As stated in Begley's "How to Build a Baby's Brain", "The genes the baby carries from the egg and sperm that made him- have already determined the brain's basic wiring." These genes are responsible for breathing, heart rate, and digestive activity. They are the fundamental building blocks of synapses to come. The months subsequent to birth are the most important as to synapse strengthening and growth. It is in these few months that the number of these synapses skyrockets to nearly 1,000 trillion. The only logical explanation for this phenomenon is experience. It is from these experiences that the synapses mature and strengthen. "At 20 months, children of chatty mothers average 131 more words than children of less talkative mothers… the critical factor is the number of ...

... middle of paper ...

...urally taken six. Hence, one can conclude that isolation will inhibit the maturation of an individual within the first six to ten years of life, undoubtedly.

The brain serves as the primary operator of the body's functions and behavior. With so much allotted responsibility, it is no small wonder that the development of the brain is so significant. This development of the brain has its peak maturation within the first year of life. Hence, whatever may happen to a child during that first year is absolutely going to leave a lasting imprint on that life. This occurs due to the advance of the synapses within the brain. In conclusion, experience does, in fact, strengthen the formation of the synapses; traumatic events do alter the structure of the brain, and a lack of stimulation or isolation garner harmful effects on physical growth, maturation, and socialization.

Show More
Related

  • Nature and Nurture, not Nature vs. Nurture

    1763 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a study conducted in 1983, researchers studied more than 350 pairs of twins in order to research if human personality traits were largely inherited or learned. Daniel Goleman, author of “Major Personality Study Finds that Traits are Mostly Inherited,” shares with his audience the parameters and results of this elaborate twin study. Goleman introduces his reader to Auke Tellegen, a psychologist and principal researcher on the long-term study, performed at the University of Minnesota, discovered that the human traits most strongly determined by heredity were leadership, obedience to authority, and even traditionalism. He would surely argue that heredity, more than influence of experience, is more responsible for development in human traits. Tellegen may have substantiating facts that nature is more predominant in a mere handful of traits, but what about the several other traits he failed to test? It is possible for a person who shows leadership and obedience during one part of their life to have an experience in which their obedience and leadership is thwarted. The study Tellegen conducted could not have been without environmental influence. Every single one of the participants, whether a twin or not, had environmental experiences separate from the others. Since every person experiences and responds to environmental stimuli differently, how can several prior years of experience be measured in order to present an unbiased result in this study? Unquestionably, it is impossible. Just as this particular study failed to take into consideration a persons’ prior experiences, it also failed to consider the probability of future environmental factors that could affect the traits Tellegen focused on in his study. Although difficu...

    Read More

  • Juveniles Don 't Deserve Life Sentence

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    As every child grows up in a different environment, not all have a safe one to grow up in and as a result everything that surrounds them becomes apart of the clarity that their mind incorporates and becomes apart of that child 's behavior of way. In terms of brain development children or teens often listen, and see what is around them, it is also said, by researchers of the National Institute of Health, that in recent studies that were made that in teen years massive loss of brain tissue...

    Read More

  • Nature Versus Nurture

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the well-received novel “Pudd’nhead Wilson,” Mark Twain skillfully addresses the ancient argument about the origin of one’s character and whether it’s derived from his nature or his surroundings. We can best see this battle between nature versus nurture by inspecting the plot lines that follow the characters Thomas a Becket Driscoll, Valet de Chambre, and Roxana the slave. Thomas was born into a wealthy white family while Roxy birthed Chambers into a life of slavery. It seemed as though each would have gone their separate ways into opposite walks of life, but Roxy secretly swapped the children, which destined each to their counterintuitive fates. Through their words and actions, Tom, Chambers, and Roxy have proven the idea that one’s behaviors and desires are a result of his upbringings and the environment he lives in rather than by his innate nature.

    Read More

  • Left or Right Who Has More Brain Power to Learn

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    brain is a very complex part of the body that has everything to do with daily life and the ability to learn. As many people do not understand there are two parts of the brain and each works completely different in how one will learn and retain information. Why is the brain such a complex system and has the ability to adapt to every situation. We are going to be looking at the Left and Right side of the Brain and how each hemisphere works from the time you are a child and starting to receive information and the brain as a whole. We will also be looking into the Right side of the brain and how it learns faster as the Left side retains information. There has been a lot of research and case studies on the brain and how different people from different back grounds learn based on ethnic groups such as the American Indians and how they learn different with their brain.

    Read More

  • The Nature Vs. Nurture: Nature Vs. Parents

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    For this first analytical essay, I have decided to have a go at analyzing the Nature Vs. Nurture using my own viewpoint as a sibling. No doubt this is a topic that has been debated to mental death already, but I think it is something I will benefit from thinking about. Also, at the end of my main topic, I will quickly address a topic brushed on in the book.

    Read More

  • Cognitive Maturation Essay

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    With time and sufficient environmental exploration, regions become specialised and differentiated through the process of activity-dependent specialization, whereby-they interact and compete to acquire specialised computational abilities. Specialisation allows for faster and more efficient information processing and has been attributed to age and myelinisation, a process which allows nerve impulses to travel throughout the brain more quickly and efficiently, increasing integration of brain activity and supporting-efficient cognitive maturation. The general principle of structural brain development states areas related to simple functions reach full maturation faster than those supporting high-order complex-functions. Faster processing speed and lower mental effort via myelination enable automatic processing which is beneficial but only for older-children and adults who have mastered a particular behavioural or cognitive ability. In contrast, prolonged plasticity supports efficient cognitive development in young-children in two ways. Firstly, studies of adopted children with past experiences of maltreatment have shown that adoptees largely outperformed their peers left behind on cognitive tasks, provided being adopted at an early age (before 12 months of age). The fact-that adoption can be an effective intervention enabling significant cognitive catch-up demonstrates the benefits of plasticity during development (van Ijzendoorn & Juffer, 2006). Secondly, in the context of childhood learning, prolonged plasticity is considered beneficial, facilitating adaptive change and learning in response to environmental stimuli via formation of new neural connections (Anderson, 2011). Although time-consuming, effortful and non-automatic, non-differentiated learning protects children from premature acquisition of

    Read More

  • The Brain: The Structure Of The Brain

    1495 Words  | 3 Pages

    The brain is an amazing thing, but it’s also such a weird thing. We just have this 3 pound ball of nervous tissue inside of our skull that helps us walk, talk, move, solve problems, write, read, imagine impossible situations that will stress you out at 4 AM , feel emotions, stores memories, and so many other incredible things.

    Read More

  • Infant Development Essay

    1938 Words  | 4 Pages

    The first two years of a humans life are bursting with biosocial, cognitive, and psychosocial development. In the first few weeks after conception to two years after birth a child’s brain experiences more growth than any other organ in the body. During the first two years of a child’s life the brain is very plastic and malleable. In order for children to continue down a path of success and learning there are certain experiences a child must have in order to develop normally. The First Two years of a child life is responsible for the foundation that is layed.

    Read More

  • Nature vs. Nurture

    1206 Words  | 3 Pages

    Susan Evers and Sharon McKendrick, the famous identical twins from the movie The Parent Trap, were separated at a young age by their divorcing parents. Sharon grew up in Boston to a socialite mother while Susan grew up in California on her father’s ranch. Sharon had structure while Susan’s life was very laid back. They looked the same and liked many of the same things, yet their personalities were very different. What is responsible for these differences? Is it simply that they are two different people with different interests and preferences? Or did the environments that they grew up in play a part in making who they are? In the nature vs. nurture controversy, nature proclaims that our genetic make-up plays the primary role in human development, while nurture declares that our environment dictates our development.

    Read More

  • Nature vs Nurture: Genes vs Environment

    1049 Words  | 3 Pages

    The argument of nature vs. nurture is a long-standing one in the psychological and social worlds. It is the argument about whether we are ruled by our genes or our upbringing. It is my thought that neither is true. It is nature working with nurture which determines our personality and our lifestyle.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Brain Development

    1658 Words  | 4 Pages

    Brain Development is a nonstop development, we never stop learning so our brain isn’t going to just stop I mean well when it’s our time, but it won’t as long as you continue to learn and grow. The human brain begins to develop as early as three weeks after conception. But our brain development is a lifetime process. It doesn’t just stop developing at a certain age. There is a difference in brain development in children and adults the early life is impressionable then in the maturity aspect of life. This is a positive thing because as children they learn new thing they’re open to new and exciting things but then again it can be negative because children tend to be vulnerable to development problems. Our brain develops not only from nurture

    Read More

  • Human Development: Nature vs. Nurture

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    The nature versus nurture debate is an old issue within the field of psychology. “The nature-nurture issue is a perennial one that has resurfaced in current psychiatry as a series of debates on the role that genes (DNA) and environments play in the etiology and pathophysiology of mental disorders” (Schaffner) The debate is essentially about what is inherited (nature) and what is experienced by environmental factors (nurture) and how they affect human development. Naturally, the nature versus nurture debate relates to many controversies such as intelligence, gender identities, violent behaviors, and sexual orientation. There are countless studies on whether intelligence is an inherited trait or if it is influenced by environmental factors.

    Read More

  • How Nurture is More Dominant than Nature

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    Undoubtedly, humans are unique and intricate creatures and their development is a complex process. It is this process that leads people to question, is a child’s development influenced by genetics or their environment? This long debate has been at the forefront of psychology for countless decades now and is better known as “Nature versus Nurture”. The continuous controversy over whether or not children develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or the way in which they have been raised (nurture) has occupied the minds of psychologists for years. Through thorough reading of experiments, studies, and discussions however, it is easy to be convinced that nurture does play a far more important in the development of a human than nature.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Nature Vs Nurture

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nature vs Nurture is a very long living debate that has been on the minds of many who study motor development. This can be a very difficult topic to choose a side to argue for because both Nature and Nurture have very strong points which prove they influence the development of a person. Nature refers to the genetic makeup and genetic relations an individual has linked to their birth parents. Nature is strictly about the genetics and the way these genetics make up and influence the way a person develops, behaves and lives their life. Nature refers to heredity and the traits an individual will obtain from their parents that have been passed down from generation to generation. Nurture refers to the environment one lives in and the experiences

    Read More

  • The Importance And Development Of Brain Development

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brain development undergoes some major changes between the ages of 3 and 8 years old in the prefrontal cortex, cognitive development, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and perceptual development. The prefrontal cortex is the highest level of the brain and develops very rapidly between the ages 3-6. This plays an important part in attention, memory, and self-regulation. The brain in cognitive development shows rapid increase in memory and learning abilities. The density of synapses peak at age 4. Gross and fine motor skills in the brain show tremendous progress in the early childhood

    Read More

More about Nurture versus Nature

Open Document