According to Lu and Bludau, the brain is partitioned into four lobes: frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital. The frontal lobe formulates major decisions, such as planning, thinking, problem solving, organizing, and executing movements. It is located at the front of the brain. The temporal lobe is positioned under the frontal and parietal lobe. It generates and stores memories. It also coordinates the senses of taste, sound, and smell. The location of the parietal lobe is behind the frontal lobe. Parietal lobe controls sensation and perception sensory information such as smell and touch. The occipital lobe is located at the back of the brain. Its primary function is vision.
The brain functions through a system of “chemical and electrical
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The effect to the brain is at a cellular level. Amyloids plaques increase beta-amyloid, also known as protein fragments. Beta-amyloids “originate from amyloid precursor proteins (APP)” (Lu & Bludau, 2011). APP is large proteins associated with the cell membrane. They split into three enzymes. APP uses diverse conduit where the beta-amyloids are created. It then “deposits in the space between neurons and exert toxic effects” (Lu & Bludau, 2011). In certain areas of the brain, amyloids develop into additional abundant with Alzheimer’s. This damages neurons that “react with neuron receptors and axon” (Lu & Bludau, 2011), which impinge the cells ability to function. Neurofibrillary tangles are made up of tau proteins. It plays a major role with microtubules, which are shaped like stacks of straws. Microtubules transport important cellular components and nutrients. The tau proteins separate from microtubules and twist into tangles. When tau proteins become defective, microtubule disassemble and initiate the internal network to falter. Then neurons disable and cannot function normally. Over time, the influence of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles trigger the neurons to immobilize the ability to
In the article “Brain Gain: The Underground World of “Neuroenhancing” Drugs” (Yorker 2009) Margaret Talbot discusses the misuse of prescription drugs that enhance academic performance at the college level. First Talbot introduces readers to a young college history major at Harvard University named Alex who receives a description of a demanding, busy life which seems impossible to control without the safety unapproved adopted use of a drug named Adderall. After that Alex’s dependency on the prescription drugs cognitive enhancers is described when he asks his doctor to increase the amount of intake and the listing of his daily routine on using Adderall during a week that required him to write four term papers. Next Talbot describes a personal
The Frontal Lobe: Is the anterior part of cerebral hemisphere of the cerebrum of the brain, extending back to region called the central sulcus is a deep cleft on the upper surface of the brain. The frontal lobe is for intelligence which carries out high mental procedures such as thinking, judgment making, and forecasting. The human body uses their frontal lobe nearly every day. The frontal lobe
Nerve cell death and tissue throughout the brain is the most significant affect over time. Naturally by age twenty-five the brain starts to decrease in size. With Alzheimer’s, the amount decrease is extremely significant. The cortex begins to shrivel up which is the part of the brain required for planning, remembering, and thinking. The most noticeable shrinkage occurs in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is responsible for the formation of new memories, it is also located inside the cortex. Upon further inspection under microscope, tissue samples are observed and synapses and nerve cell count is severely decreased. Tangles, are also found which our twisted strands of another protein due to nerve cells dying and bunching together. Plaques and tangles are prime suspects in the death and tissue loss in the Alzheimer’s brain. Beta-amyloid is a chemical and is sticky which causes it to gradually build up into plaques. This chemical derives from a larger protein found in the nerve cells with fatty membranes. These tangles destroy a vital cell transport system made of proteins.
Clinically, Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaque between living neurons in the brain (Sabbagh, 2008). This results in an excessive calcium influx inside the neurons and the breakdown of a protein called tau. Normally, the rol...
Prefrontal Cortex The prefrontal cortex is the most anterior portion of the frontal lobe. It responds mostly to stimuli signaling the need for movement, however it is also responsible for many other specialized functions. It receives information from all sensory systems and can integrate a large amount of information (Kalat 2004). Studies have shown that the prefrontal cortex is responsible for working memory. Working memory is defined as "the information that is currently available in memory for working on a problem" (Anderson 2005).
The frontal lobe comprises a third of the brain and it enables us to engage in higher cognitive functions such as planning and problem solving (Jonides & Smith, 1999). The frontal lobe is divided into 3 regions, the motor cortex, premotor cortex, and prefrontal cortex. The motor cortex is located in the precentral gyrus and directs fine motor coordination. The premotor cortex is involved in planning, organizing, and integrating body movements. The prefrontal is involved in executive functions, including short-term memory, working memory, decision making, and prioritizing behaviors (Wilson, 2003). Some of the frontal lobe disorders than can cause brain damage and behavioral changes are Huntington’s disease, infection, stroke, tourettes, dementia, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, tumors, closed head injury and traumatic brain injury (Chow, 2000).
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.
The left and right hemispheres of the brain are each divided into sections. Within each sections are lobes, controlling such processes as our visualization, our movement, and our personalities. For instance, the occipital lobe in the back of our brain is responsible for processing vision, and the frontal lobe behind our forehead controls cognition and personality. The lobes of the brain are split between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. This well-designed arrangement is for the lobes to function correctly, so the two hemispheres of the brain can communicate with one
Scientists believe that for most people, Alzheimer's results from a combination of genetics, lifestyle and environmental factors that affect the brain over time. Alzheimer's is caused by specific genetic changes that virtually guarantee a person will develop the disease. The causal effect for this disease is still unknown with fingers pointing to plaques and tangles in the brain. Although the causes of Alzheimer's are not yet fully understood, its effect on the brain is clear. Alzheimer's disease damages and kills brain cells. A brain affected by Alzheimer's disease has many fewer cells and many fewer connections among surviving cells than does a healthy brain. As more and more brain cells die, Alzheimer's leads to enormous brain shrinkage. When doctors examined an Alzheimer's brain tissue under the microscope, they saw two types of abnormalities that are considered the cause of the disease. One of these abnormalities is plaques that clump up, a protein called beta-amyloid which damages and destroys brain cells. In patients with Alzheimer’s the plaques created interfere with cell to cell communication. The other abnormality seen is tangles in the brain. Brain cells depend on an internal support and transport system to carry nutrients and other essential materials throughout their long extensions. This system requires the normal structure and functioning of a protein called tau. In an Alzheimer's patient, the threads of tau protein twist into abnormal tangles inside the brain cells, leading to failure of the transport system. (Alzheimer's Association) (National Institutes of Health, 2012)
Scientists know that Alzheimer disease is characterized by a gradual spread of sticky plaques and clumps of tangled fibers that disrupt the organization of nerve cells in the brain. However , a definite cause, prevention, or cause has not been found.
Alzheimer’s disease or AD is an incurable disorder of the brain that results in loss of normal brain structure and function. In an AD brain, normal brain tissue is slowly replaced by structures called plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The plaques represent a naturally occurring sticky protein called beta amyloid and in an Alzheimer’s brain, sufferer’s tend to accumulate too much of this protein. Neurofibrillary tangles represent collapsed tau proteins which, in a normal brain along with microtubules, form a skeleton that maintains the shape of the nerve cells. In Alzheimer’s disease, the tau proteins break loose from their normal location and form tangles. Without the support of these molecules, nerve cells collapse and die. As normal brain structure is lost with progression of the disease, brain function also degenerates. Patients afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease display a gradual mental decline. Initially, and most apparently, there is a loss of short-term memory. Eventually, as a patient progresses to later stages of the disease, the brain becomes so damaged that patients can no longer communicate or recognize immediate family or even themselves. They have difficulty walking and standing and frequently fall. In the final stages, they lose bladder and bowel control and have difficulty with swallowing, frequently leaving them malnourished and dehydrated. Eventually, they are forced to remain bedridden and, without the help of life-prolonging measures provided in a hospital, die. However, this level of deterioration is severe and may take as long as twenty years. Because of the disease’s slow progress and its usual later start in a person’s life, a victim of AD will usually die first of natural causes. Under the objectives ...
Most of the body’s functions such as, thinking, emotions, memories and so forth are controlled by the brain. It serves as a central nervous system in the human body. The mind is the intellect/consciousness that originates in the human brain and manifests itself in emotions, thoughts, perceptions and so forth. This means that the brain is the key interpreter of the mind’s content. Jackson and Nagel seem to resist identifying what we call “mental events” with brain events, for different reasons, while J.J.C. Smart takes the opposing view.
It contains the primary motor cortex and the prefrontal cortex, which extend from the central sulcus to the anterior of the brain. The posterior part of the frontal lobe is the precentral gyrus which is specialized in the control of fine movements. The very most anterior portion of the frontal lobe is the prefrontal cortex. The neurons in this area have up to sixteen times as many dendritic spines as neurons in the occipital lobe or primary visual cortex. As a result, the prefrontal cortex is able to integrate a great deal of information (Kalat, 2004).
The area at the front of the brain is the largest. Most of it is known as the cerebrum. It controls all of the movements that you have to think about, thought and memory.
Alzheimer’s Disease is named after a German doctor, who specializes in the brain and nervous system, named Alois Alzheimer. This Disease forms in the brain. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of Dementia, a general term for memory loss and other intellectual abilities serious enough to enter. The Tau protein ensures the tubes in your brain stay straight allowing molecules to pass through freely. In Alzheimer’s Disease the protein collapses into strands or tangles, making the tubes disintegrate. There is visible differences of brain tissue in the from misfolded proteins called plaques and tangles. Beta-Amyloid clumps block signals and communication between cells in the brain. Researchers agree that Alzheimer’s Disease is m...