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Neuropsychological Bases
Basic Neuropsychology
Nerve Cells and Nervous System
I.
II.
Neural Communication
a. Action Potential The neural impulse that fires down the axon. Is
fueled by the passing of positively charged Sodium (NA) and
Potassium (K) ions in and out of a semi-permeable membrane
filled with negatively charged proteins ions that cannot pass
outside the membrane. For every two Potassium ions that go in,
three Sodium ions must come out of the membrane.
b. Threshold the minimum amount of a stimulus to cause the
neural impulse to happen. This does not change if a stimulus is
increased.
c. Synapse the space between the terminal knob of a neuron and
the dendrite of another neuron.
d. Neurotransmitters chemical messengers stored in the terminal
knobs that jump across the synapse when triggered by an
action potential impulse.
III.
Nervous
system
Peripheral
Central
(brain and
spinal cord)
Autonomic (controls
self-regulated action of
internal organs and glands)
Sympathetic
(arousing)
Parasympathetic
(calming)
IV.
The Brain
V.
The Brain 100 billion neurons, 100 billion X 10 (trillion) glial cells
(supporting structures).
VII.
VIII.
stimulation helps treat Parkinsons) and all work together with the
thalamus (a switchboard above brainstem) and the striatum (on
outside of basal ganglia that works to communicate with the
cerebral cortex, most notably to coordinate motivation with
movement)
IX.
X.
XII.
XIII.
Cerebral Aqueduct -- Holds CSF and connects the 3rd and 4th
ventricles.
XV.
XVII. Corpus Callosum A bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two
hemispheres of the brain and facilitates sharing information. Lies in
the middle of brain. Agenesis of the corpus callosum can cause
problems with hemispheric integration. A surgery for severe
seizures is to split the corpus callosum, which will reduce or
eliminate the seizure but cause problems with integration. Rehab
for remediating integration is promising because it can teach other
areas of the brain to facilitate integration. This ability is known as
Brain Plasticity. We will discuss more on plasticity and split brain
research later.
XVIII. Cingulate Gyrus - An area above the corpus callosum that assists in
regulating sensation distribution, particularly with respect to
emotions, pain and aggression.
XX.
Metencephalo
Rhombencephal
n
on
Myelencephalo
(Hindbrain)
n
Brain Development
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/09/15/health/20080915-braindevelopment.html
Conception 10 Days Germinal period. Teratogens can do little harm or
can do great harm.
2 8 Weeks Embryonic period. Organs and CNS are most affected by
teratogens.
9 Weeks to Birth Fetal period Organs not as affected by teratogens.
Genitalia and brain are susceptible.
0 2 Years -- Newborns brain is about 25 percent of its approximate adult
weight. Most of the neurons ever needed are present, but the glial cells,
mylenation, and increased connections (not increase in number of neurons)
is what accounts for increase in weight and development over time. Birth
trough age one entails much basic sensorimotor development (sensori and
motor strips).
2 -- Two up to beginning of age 3 entails more development of sensorimotor
as well as association areas (entire cerebral cortex grows rapidly, although
still very immature).
3 Brain has grown dramatically by producing billions of cells and hundreds
of trillions of connections, or synapses, between these cells. Language
begins to develop rapidly. While we know that the development of a young
childs brain takes years to complete, we also know there are many things
parents and caregivers can do to help children get off to a good start and
establish healthy patterns for life-long learning.
4 primary senses and motor skills are very developed almost fully. Vision
(occipital) is fully developed. Sensation (sensory strip in parietal) is almost
fully developed. Great strides in language, although still very immature.
5 Basic motor skills very well developed (areas of motor strip in back of
frontal lobe). Brain starts degenerating neural links (not neurons) to make
way for more used areas or functioning.
6 Language continues to exponentially develop and become more complex,
but still not fully developed (left brain still forming). Reasoning skills very
immature (frontal lobe, particularly prefrontal, not fully developed).
Reading
Brain Processes Involved in Reading
1. After the stimulus is picked up by the retina, the visual cortex in
occipital lobe processes the letters with facilitation from the
midbrain (visual stimulus coding) and the thalamus (routing), with
transfers the stimulus to
2. Visual-spatial centers of the right hemisphere (which are quite
diffuse and include the right angular gyrus in the parietal lobe
and short term memory function in frontal lobe) transfer the
stimulus to the left hemisphere mainly via the
3. Corpus Callosum in the midbrain, which has about 200 million
nerve fibers ( although there are a few less dense right-left
pathways that play less of a role than the Corpus Callosum), to
the
4. Angular gyrus of the left brain, which is in the middle of the
parietal lobe, and transforms the visual stimuli from the right
hemisphere into auditory code. However, how well coded is only
as good as what is in the reservior of codes. Thus, the left
angular gyrus can actually be working fine but can still cause
problems because reservoir of codes is not well-developed. From
the angular gyrus the stimulus goes to the
5. Wernickes area of the left hemisphere that processes the
auditory code in to discernable sounds, also known as receptive
language. . (Note: this area can cause problems with
comprehension alone and/or with problems with sound
discrimination. Also, reading problems are typically problems with
interply between the the angular gyrus and the Wernickes area or
by either area alone). After being processded by Wernickes, the
processing goes to the
6. Brocas area is where expressive language happens. Brocas
allows one to mentally form our expressions and to articulate
verbally by connection to the motor cortex. (Note: How well
someone does or does not articulate while reading aloud does not
translate into how well one does or does not comprehend
reading).
RAS Theories
loss of consciousness
Stages
Stage 1 While we are asleep, our brains are on a bit of a "rollercoaster" through different stages of sleep. As we drift off to sleep
(alpha), we first enter stage 1 sleep (alpha, theta). High amplitude but
low frequency. Not as rapid.
..then it's back down again, and back up again, and down
again...you get the picture. As shown in the figure below, in an 8 hour
period of sleep, the brain cycles through these stages about 4-5 times
for an adult.
Children spend more time in REM and stage 4 and the overall
time for each cycle is less time -- is a bit more rapid from cycle to cycle.
Electroencephalogram (EGG) Patterns Associated with Sleep (average
adult)
10
11
Can continue
for another 2 to
3 hours with
another REM
period,
particularly at
younger ages.
More time in
deeper sleep
makes more
opportunity for
some sleep
disorders to
occur than in
adults.
Older Adolescence through Mid Adulthood
(note how the cycles become more shallow)
Time can be
more or less
than 8 hours.
Average is 7 - 9.
REM periods
can be 4 or 5.
Older Adulthood
(note the awakenings but keep in mind that this is in large
part due to other issues of older age that briefly disturb sleep,
which is fine because sleep is designed to be periodically
disturbed)
Sleep Disorders
Note: Sleep disorders and sleep problems that are not full-blown sleep
disorders are often confused for ADHD and other behavior problems. Sleep
issues should always be ruled out. This can sometimes be difficult to do in
school settings.
Sleep Apnea
Exercise
Weight loss
Therapy
CPAP device
Insomnia
recurring problems in falling or staying asleep
True insomnia requires medical intervention.
Narcolepsy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11739821for more
information
Nightmare Disorder
Occurs during REM
Awake with vivid recollection of a dream
Causes -- stress, anxiety, medical issue
Treatment -- First line is to simply reduce stress and anxiety,
particularly at home where the person sleeps. Can require therapy and
possibly medication.
Sleepwalking Disorder
Night Terrors
Depression
Anxiety
Fight or flight response, a combination of epinephrine and norepinephrine,
become too intense for too long and during times when not needed. The
GABA neurotransmitter, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, does not act to
inhibit the response.
Bipolar
Limbic System problem resulting from enlarged ventricles and or
nueurotransmitters or other disregulation.
Amygadala
Septum
Hippocampus
Lateral ventricles (other ventricles toothe third had been discussed)
No other animal seems to be able to acquire and develop language ability as humans do
Children in different cultures learn to speak very different languages, but they all seem to go
through the same sequence of stages
Language Stages
Infants communicate through crying, with different cries for hunger and for pain, and through
movement and facial expressions
Prefer baby talk (or motherese) the different format of speech that adults use when talking with
babies that involves the use of shorter sentences with a higher, more melodious pitch than normal
speech
Language Stages
At about 4 to 6 months, babbling, the rhythmic repetition of various syllables, including both
consonants and vowels, begins
At about 1 year of age, the infant begins to speak a few words, which usually refer to their
caregivers and objects in their daily environment
Language Stages
Vocabulary grows slowly until about 18 months, and then infants learn about 100 words or more
per month
Overextension: The application of a newly learned word to objects that are not included in the
meaning of the word (e.g., calling any female person mama)
Underextension: The failure to apply the new word more generally to objects that are included
within the meaning of the new word (e.g., not extending the category of dog to include dogs that
are not the family pet)
Language Stages
Between 18 and 24 months, children experience a vocabulary-acquisition spurt and words are
combined into sentences
Telegraphic speech is the use of multiple 2-word sentences with mainly nouns and verbs (e.g.,
Dada eat for Dad is having dinner and go by-by for then has to go to work). These multiple 2word statements form more complete ideas and begin to be expanded.
Between the ages of 2 and 5 years, the child implicitly acquires grammar of the native language
Rapid Language Growth 30 36 months By age three, average child has about a 1,000 word
vocabulary and use three-word sentences.
Complex Grammar 3 to 6 years Make gains in constructing phrases, asking questions, putting
together thoughs, etc.
Language Stages
Language development is a genetically programmed ability; however, this ability is not developed
without exposure to human speech (phonemic awareness studies with infants
Brain/Neural Development
3 Brain has grown dramatically by producing billions of cells and hundreds of trillions of
connections, or synapses, between these cells. Language begins to develop rapidly. 4 primary
senses and motor skills are very developed almost fully. Vision (occipital) is fully developed.
Sensation (sensory strip in parietal) is almost fully developed. Great strides in language, although
still very immature.
5 Basic motor skills very well developed (areas of motor strip in back of frontal lobe). Brain starts
degenerating neural links (not neurons) to make way for more used areas or functioning. Gross
motor becomes very sophisticated by about age 5.
6 Language continues to exponentially develop and become more complex, but still not fully
developed (left brain still forming). Reasoning skills much more advanced but still immature
(frontal lobe, particularly prefrontal, not fully developedbut is getting there).
While we know that the development of a young childs brain takes years to complete, we also
know there are many things parents and caregivers can do to help children get off to a good start
and establish healthy patterns for life-long learning!!!!
Three Theoretical Perspectives
Piaget did not conduct formal experiments, but rather loosely structured interviews in which he
posed problems for children to solve, observed their actions carefully, and questioned them about
their solutions. Happens from birth.
Was particularly interested in childrens error, which would provide insights into childrens thought
processes
Schema Theory
Cognitive adaptation
Schema Theory
The child learns he needs to accommodate (i.e., change) his schemes, as only one type of fourlegged creature is dog
It is through accommodation that the number and complexity of a childs schemes increase and
learning
occurs
It is when the schema is satisfied with the knowledge(this can and does change over time)
Drawings tend to be more realistic as the child progresses across the early childhood years
Intuitive thought
Egocentrism
Animistic thought
Artificialism
Vygotsky
Socio-Cultural Theory
Agreed with Piaget that children are active learners, but their knowledge is socially constructed.
required the more competent other to mediate the process of learning and development
Zone of Proximal Development: more competent other assists the child in moving from what the
child can do independently to that which the child can do only with support
Scaffolding: the process of supporting the child across the zone of proximal development
Impacts on educational practices:
Vygotskys Perspective (and Piagets): Applications to Development of Gender Norms (and other
socially constructed knowledge)
Girls left brain develops sooner and boys right brain develops sooner. Both start to equal out
around age 6 8 and or completely equal before puberty (thats the Piaget part).
However, socialization, particularly in Western culture, reinforces gender language roles (thats the
Vygotsky part).
Norms and other socially constructed knowledge happen in similar ways and are strongly shaped
in this period of development. What are your experiences with this?
Uses the model of the computer to describe how the brain works.
Focuses on how information is perceived, how information is stored in memory, how memories are
retrieved and then used to solve problems.
Increased practice at particular tasks (using naming, answering questions, other similar strategies)
pays off
Making leaning meaningful and engaging the entire brain (e.g., what mentioned above, multimodal
strategies, etc.
Developmental Considerations
for Interventions
Controlled Processes
Automatic Processes
Developmental Considerations
for Interventions
Practice
Acquisition of knowledge base
Acquisition of more efficient strategies
o Note: Example is tying shoes, riding a bike, learning to rad effortlessly. This is part of
moving from declarative to nondeclarative memory that we will discuss when we discuss
memory specifically.
Developmental Considerations
for Interventions
Early on, young children typically require an adult or more competent individual to help sustain
attention (Vygotsky)
As CNS matures and more effective strategies are acquired, child is able to manage own focus
(natural = pruning, myelination; nurture = scafolding, teaching and rehearsing strategies)
Many of those who test as not ready for kindergarten can be accommodated in regular
kindergarten classes
Old-for-grade tends to be more predictive of problems than movement into kindergarten with some
additional support.
Therefore, schools might be reconstrued as being ready for children vs. children as being ready for
schools.
Class Exercise
Using what we covered today and earlier in the course along with your readings and other
assignments, discuss among your group what you can to improve the school experience for
children in PK-2 grades (this should include academic as well as social).
Apgar Scale
Infant Reflexes Automatic responses to stimulation. Happens during first 6 months and is not as
much controlled via cortex at this point. Cortex takes over more after 6 months because dendrite
connections and myelination increase. By 1, brain is about 60% of adult weight.
Babinski Reflex Big toe extends and little toe spreads when bottom of foot is stroked.
Moro Reflex When head is suddenly dropped while body is supported or when there is a loud
sound, baby arches back and extends legs and arm looking like grabbing for support.
Sensory Ability
Vision
Hearing
Within a few days, prefer human sounds to other sounds and have some voice recognition.
Immediate sound localization (turn toward sound) at birth. This disappears for a few months during
the first year but then reappears and becomes sophisticated by 1 year. This is due to the brains
pruning and generating of connections and myelination.
Taste
Bitter, sweet, sour, and salty (all taste sensation) can be distinguished at birth.
Preference for sweets (attracts to mothers milk and detracts from toxins).
Smell
Neural/Brain Development
0 2 Years -- Newborns brain is about 25 percent of its approximate adult weight. Most of the
neurons ever needed are present, but the glial cells, mylenation, and increased connections (not
increase in number of neurons) is what accounts for increase in weight and development over time.
Birth trough age one entails much basic sensorimotor development (sensori and motor strips).
Language Development
Telegraphic Speech 18 to 24 months Two word sentences. such as Hi Daddy or My car, etc.
Rapid Language Growth 30 36 months By age three, average child has about a 1,000 word
vocabulary and use three-word sentences.
Complex Grammar 3 to 6 years Make gains in constructing phrases, asking questions, putting
together thoughs, etc.
Brain/Neural Development
8-9 Fine motor skills exponentially increase. Strides in writing, manipulating etc. (maturation of
frontal lobe and the motor strip).
9- Parietal lobe matures greatly at this point. The Angular Gyri and other components of the
parietal lobe allow for greater cooperation with left (language in left temporal is developing very
rapidly at this point) and right temporal lobes to facilitate symbolic processing required for math
skills. Can facilitate gains by incorporating flash cards and math drills because the brain is now
hardwired to take this on.
13 The frontal and prefrontal areas are maturing but are still not fully mature. The limbic system
(governs emotions) is quite mature but it is not commensurate with the frontal and prefrontal areas.
Thus, emotional instability exists because it is not under strong executive functions. The parietal
lobes are quite mature and allow for very good analytical reasoning. The discrepancies in
development account for why adolescents are weird at this stage.
15 Brain begins to become very specialized. This is because unused neural connections die off
and the areas used more begin to flourish due to increased use and thus increased connectivity.
17 Fontal lobes and prefrontal come becoming more mature but not totally (frontal last area to
mature). More planning and self-control possible.
21 Frontal lobe nearly fully developed. Hugh gains in executive function (planning, control,
emotional regulation) happen between 17 and 21.
21- 30 The frontal lobe still continues to develop during this time. Full myelination may not
happen until 30 or so.
Important Considerations
Frontal lobe
Limbic system
Syntactic Development
Application of a rule is syntactically appropriate but incorrect (e.g. runrunned instead of ran)
Errors typically reflect syntactic rather than semantic errors (errors in structure, not meaning)
Bilingual Children
Three models
Simultaneous
Additive
Subtractive
Second language is learned as a preferential language or as a replacement for the first language
Bilingual Children
Cultures that value bi or multilingualism tend to have either simultaneous or additive bilingualism
Cultures that devalue one of the two languages tend to have subtractive bilingualism
True bilingualism (simultaneous or additive) tends to be related to more astute language users
Languages are exponentially harder to learn as one grows older. Becomes much harder in later
childhood and very hard in adolescence and adulthood.
The sense of phonemic awareness begins to decline after being very acute in earlier years.
Whorfs Linguistic Hypothesis Language shapes cognition, based on Hopi language study of
time.
Class Discussion
What is your personal experience with language as it related to Whorfs Linguistic Hypothesis?
Memory Systems
1. Sensory Memory -- This actually happens very briefly for everything we see and hear.
Although it is a very brief phenomenon, the information is actually available in sensory
memory for a few seconds (auditory lingers a bit longer than visual).
Iconic STM -- visual
Echo STM -- auditory
Note: Also STM for touch and taste but it works a bit differently residual is different.
Smell is routed straight to olfactory bulb in the limbic system area (emotion) and can be a
potential very powerful LTM.
If sensory memory is the focus of attention, THEN it goes to STM.
2. Short-Term Memory (STM; sometimes referred to as primary STM) Where
information is held before processed. Very raw. STM holds 7 +-2 elements up to 30
seconds. Must hold for 20 30 seconds if the information is to be processed farther -otherwise, the STM will simply fade.
Note: One may have a problem with one or the other, cog tests pick this up and can help
plan interventions, which can be quite different depending if STM, STWM, or both.
3. Long-Term Memory (LTM) Subsystems - All the learning that stays with us is
organized into the following systems. LTM impacts everything we perceive and how we
respond.
Types of
long-term
memories
Explicit
(declarative)
With conscious
recall
Facts-general
knowledge
(semantic
memory)
Personally
experienced
events
(episodic
memory)
Implicit
(nondeclarative)
Without conscious
recall
Skills-motor
and cognitive
Dispositionsclassical and
operant
conditioning
effects
Better organized declarative LTMs are typically easier to access than haphazardly
organized ones.
LTMs that traverse multiple brain regions are typically better organized than ones
that are not.
LTMS that are BOTH well organized AND traverse multiple regions are almost
always going to be very solid and accessible LTMs.
Forgetting
o
Memory decay is theory that suggests some memory traces that become less
active or inactive can actually fade. This has some debate as to what actually
causes the decay and is it actually decay (see below).
Interference is when memories compete with one another and may not
necessarily wipe away an LTM but can make a less accessible while making
another more accessible. Two types of interference :
Recency and Primacy (serial position) -- Beginning has gone to LTM and end is
still in STM but middle is neither. Example, children have more difficulty with
letters in the middle of alphabet. Students have more trouble recalling what is in
the middle of a lecture. You see this on IQ and memory subtests (e.g., digits and/or
letters forward or backwards). How you structure lessons/studying can impact the
effect and maximize (or minimize) memory.