Tag Archives: neurology
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore: The mysterious workings of the adolescent brain (TED)
Mirror Neurons and their roles in language development, learning and Autism
During the 1990s, a group of Italian researchers discovered that a group of neurons in the brains of macaque monkeys fire (or are activated) not only when they perform an action, but also when they watch other monkeys do the same. However, subsequent studies have found that mirror neuron activation is not correlated with actions but with specific goals. Over the years, research into these ‘Mirror Neurons’ have found that humans also possess the same mechanisms.
Although the function of mirror neurons may seem simple enough, they really have an important function in our daily lives. Mirror neurons allow us to be able to know what another person is thinking or feeling, i.e. it is possible that the development of mirror neurons are a major component of empathy. Indeed, renowned researchers such as Prof. Ramachandran and Prof. Simon Baron-Cohen believe that this is the case. Mirror Neurons have been associated with Autism– a neurological condition which is characterised (amongst other things) by difficulties in understanding other people’s actions, intentions and thoughts.
Albert Bandura (1977) proposed that we learn through observing others performing different tasks (Social Learning Theory). For instance, (most) children copy most of what their parents are doing. It is possible that Mirror Neurons and related circuitry allow for this to happen. This proposal can be extended to the possibility that Mirror Neurons are partly responsible for the development of language and culture. If this is the case, it could explain how humans survive challenging situations. Culture helps us adopt to new environment, know what food to avoid and access better nutrients.
Image source: ScienceDirect.com
More on Autism:
Diagnosing Autism: What you need to know
Vote for Miss Montana 2012, Alexis Wineman
Communication difficulties in Autism
Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper: Asperger’s Syndrome’s Poster Boy?
Still unsure if Sheldon has Asperger’s?
The Autistic Me: BBC Documentary
Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds
Autism in the classroom:
Guide to parents of students with ASD on coping with the first day back to school
Common signs of Autism in the classroom
First day back to school: Top tips for parents of children with Autism
Practical tips to make your classroom Autism-Friendly
Inspiring People with Autism:
Jessica-Jane Applegate (British Paralympian)
Satoshi Tajiri (Pokemon creator)
More on Savants:
The Psychology of Savants: Memory Masters
The Einstein Effect: Is there a link between having Autism and being a genius?
Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders: What you need to know
A presentation by Pamela Compart, MD about the diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Whether you’re a student, a parent or a professional who wants to know what professionals look for when they diagnose individuals with Autism, watch the video below:
More on Autism:
Vote for Miss Montana 2012, Alexis Wineman
Communication difficulties in Autism
Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper: Asperger’s Syndrome’s Poster Boy?
Still unsure if Sheldon has Asperger’s?
The Autistic Me: BBC Documentary
Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds
Autism in the classroom:
Guide to parents of students with ASD on coping with the first day back to school
Common signs of Autism in the classroom
First day back to school: Top tips for parents of children with Autism
Practical tips to make your classroom Autism-Friendly
Inspiring People with Autism:
Jessica-Jane Applegate (British Paralympian)
Satoshi Tajiri (Pokemon creator)
More on Savants:
The Psychology of Savants: Memory Masters
The Einstein Effect: Is there a link between having Autism and being a genius?
I’ve literally just seen God! Can you explain why?
Over the course of our history, there have been people who claimed that they have seen God (Christian and others). These people are often able to vividly describe the ‘god’ that they have seen. They usually have an interaction with this ‘god’, which changes the way they live their lives. This phenomenon has been experienced by people, regardless of their stance on religion. But why? Did a ‘god’ really visit them? Or is it all in their minds?
Temporal Lobes and Spiritual Experiences
One theory proposes that there is a part of the brain, called the Temporal Lobe, which possesses the circuitry for religious experiences. This theory was proposed by Professor Vilayanur Ramachandran, who found that around 25% of people with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) are obsessed with religion. After an episode of intense seizure, these patients claimed that they saw ‘god’ and afterwards are convinced that they should follow the path shown to them by that ‘god’. Prof. Ramachandran mentioned in an interview that after such an experience, most patients will be walking around with huge necklaces with crosses and bibles.
In order to test this theory, Prof. Ramachandran and his colleagues seeked to find out how people respond when they are shown neutral words (e.g. chairs and tables), sexual ones and religious words by measuring their Galvanic Skin Responses. What they found was that TLE patients are highlly responsive to religious words, but not on sexual and neutral ones. In addition, based on their skin responses, they are far less interested in sexually loaded words that neutral ones. Participants without damage to their Temporal Lobes on the other hand, were highly responsive to sexual words.
Can this be induced?
A better question, I suppose is that is it possible to give healthy (people without TLE) people these experiences by altering their brain circuitry? Dr. Persinger set out to do just that. He developed a helmet connected to a machine which if worn, alters the function of an individual’s Temporal Lobes. He asked participants, who did not know what the experiment was about, to wear this helmet while doing various activities. 80% of them reported feeling that something or someone (which they cannot see) was around them. It should be noted that Dr. Persinger insisted that the susceptibility to experience such a thing varies from one person to the next.
Why do Alzheimer’s disease sufferers remember songs from distant past?
Alzheimer’s disease, the 6th leading cause of death in America, is a form of dementia, commonly associated with memory loss in later life. It affects different areas of people’s lives such as planning, organisation and co-ordination. Despite being widely known as a condition of the elderly, it is not uncommon for people in their 40s or 50s to develop Alzheimer’s. At the time of writing, the causes of this disease is unknown, and hence, there is very little known about its treatment and prevention.
SYMPTOMS
Brain imaging studies have shown that little by little, the brains of people with Alzheimer’s are getting thinner and are losing their connections to each other. Such degeneration of the brain causes significant memory loss, particularly of newly presented items. Symptoms also include a decline in organisation skills, planning and co-ordination, as well as having (unfounded) suspicions over significant others. These symptoms will gradually worsen over time- the progression varies from one person to another.
THE EFFECT OF MUSIC
There has been some cases where Alzheimer’s sufferers who were non-responsive and were unable to communicate suddenly awakens when they hear a piece of music which they liked in the past (before they had Alzheimer’s). A case in point is that of Henry, which as you will see in the video, was unresponsive to other therapies and interventions. But after being given an ipod which played music from his era, he began to respond to simple questions. Here’s the video:
One of the reasons why people such as Henry is able to respond to music is because our medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) is one of the last parts that are affected by Alzheimer’s. A recent fMRI study conducted by Dr. Janata of the University of California-Davis has shown that the mPFC is the part of our brains which processes music and interlinks it with memory and emotions. As long as the mPFC is still intact and relatively undamaged by Alzheimer’s disease, significant pieces of music will still be able to evoke emotions and memories.
For an abstract of Dr. Janata’s research, click HERE
The Einstein Effect: Is there a relationship between having Autism and being a genius?
This documentary features one of science’s enigmas, the Savants, a.k.a. ‘The Knowing Ones’. There are less than 100 known Savants in the world today and half of them have Autism. These people have extraordinary talents in areas such as Mathematics and Art. A lot of them have brilliant memories, too (check out my post on The Psychology of Savants: Memory Masters). Scientists in the documentary below conducted experiements that looked at the workings of the brain to answer questions about how the brains of the Savants work. They also wondered whether geniuses such as Albert Einstein and Mozart had Autism. Watch and enjoy:
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Part 5:
More on Savants:
Vote for Miss Montana, Alexis Wineman
The Psychology of Savants: Memory Masters
More on Autism:
Communication difficulties in Autism
Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper: Asperger’s Syndrome’s Poster Boy?
Guide to parents of students with ASD on coping with the first day back to school
Inspiring People with Autism:
Jessica-Jane Applegate (British Paralympian)
The Psychology of The Savants Series: Memory Masters
Savants (the knowing ones) are people with neurological conditions like Autism Spectrum Conditions, who also possess incredible intellectual abilities. The videos below are about Savants with impressive memories. Watch and be amazed:
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Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5:
More on Autism:
Vote for Miss Montana, Alexis Wineman
Communication difficulties in Autism
Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper: Asperger’s Syndrome’s Poster Boy?
Guide to parents of students with ASD on coping with the first day back to school
Inspiring People with Autism:
Jessica-Jane Applegate (British Paralympian)
Understanding and Embracing Diversity 