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SCHIZOPHRENIA – RESEARCH & TREATMENT [ WAVES OF CHANGES ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD

SCHIZOPHRENIA – RESEARCH & TREATMENT [ WAVES OF CHANGES ] RESEARCH & TREATMENT Research for treatment and a future cure focuses on imbalances of dopamine and other neurotransmitters in the brain’s neural networks. In particular, the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate is believed to play a significant role in schizophrenic episodes. Imbalances damage brain cells, and the…

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WAVES OF CHANGES – AN ADOLESCENT BRAIN

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD

WAVES OF CHANGES – AN ADOLESCENT BRAIN As CHILDREN become teens, the brain continues to develop, grow, and change along with the rest of their body. Brain specialization becomes more apparent at adolescence. The adolescent brain can imagine and ponder at a much higher level than a child’s brain. Whereas a child tends to dwell…

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YOUTH & PLASTICITY / SPECIALIZATION [ A NEW BRAIN ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD

YOUTH & PLASTICITY The younger the brain, the more plastic it is. Young brains have the ability to learn and adapt with great ease. Young brains even have the potential to rewire themselves, and are thus able to overcome severe trauma, such as damage to an entire hemisphere. For example, a seven-year-old named Michael in…

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LEARNING LANGUAGE [ BRAIN DEVELOPMENT ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD

LEARNING LANGUAGE [ BRAIN DEVELOPMENT ] The enhancement and pruning of neural networks occurs most apparently as the baby begins to develop language. Spoken languages can sound very different from each other. In all, human languages produce about 200 different spoken sounds, called phonemes. Spoken English contains just over one-sixth of those possible sounds. Brain…

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CHANGES IN PLASTICITY OR ALBERT & THE RAT

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD

CHANGES IN PLASTICITY OR ALBERT & THE RAT CHANGES IN PLASTICITY By the time a baby is three or four months of age, its behavior provides clues to its having reached new milestones in brain development. At that age, individual infants differ widely in their reaction to events and in their patterns of brain activity…

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NEURAL DARWINISM [ NEWBORN ]

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD

NEURAL DARWINISM Some scientists argue that as the brain incorporates new experiences and makes new connections among neurons, it expresses a form of evolution through the competition of its various neural networks. Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Gerald Edelman suggests that the brain’s many networks vie against each other in “neural Darwinism.” While genes determine how the…

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NEWBORN NEURONS / ESTABLISHING NETWORKS

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD

NEWBORN NEURONS As a baby emerges from the womb, brain development expands to include processing responses to the baby’s new experiences sights, sounds, smells, actions, sensations, and emotions. Networks of neurons, primed to receive new stimuli,compete for survival. It’s a random battle at first, but soon becomes more organized as environmental stimuli strengthen some connections…

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A GOOD START FOR THE PREGNANT MOTHER

ByTeam HUMANITYUAPD

A good start for the pregnant mother – diet/prevention/risk EAT WELL The first, and easiest, thing a mother to be can do is to eat for two: This doesn’t mean doubling up on servings it means remembering that the vitamins and minerals from a well-balanced diet not only nourish mom’s brain and body but the…