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ShainaOrbeta

A.P.Biology
ResearchPaper
TheDevelopingBrain
Thehumanbrainishighlycomplex.Itisawellknownfactthatthehumanbrain
isnotfullydevelopeduntilage25.Thisexplainswhykidspickupnewthingseasilyand
whyteenagersconstantlyandeasilymakeimpulsive,irrationaldecisions.Sohowdoes
thebraindevelopfromwhenwewerebabiesuntilwearefullgrownadults?
Thehumanbrainisoneofthemostimportantorgansinourbody.Whenaperson
ispronouncedbraindead,thatpersonisofficiallydead.Oncethebrainisdead,thereare
nomorechancesthatthepersonwillsurvive.Thebrainhasalotoftaskstofulfillinour
bodysystem.Forinstance,itcontrolshowmostofourorgansrespond,itregulatesour
bodytemperature,heartrateandbreathing.Thebrainalsoholdsontoimportant
informationandacceptsinformationfromour5senses.Italsocontrolsourmotor
movements,fromwalkingtorunningorjuststandingorsitting.Thebrainletsusbe
humansbylettingusdreamandexperiencevariousemotions(howstuffworks.com).
Thebrainismadeupofbillionsofnervecellscalledneurons.Ourbrainismade
upofapproximately100billionneurons.Neuronssendelectromagneticsignalsall
throughoutthebrainandbodythroughgatedionchannels.Differentpartsofthebrain
alsohavedifferenttasks.Thebrainthreemajorpartsare;thehindbrain,midbrain,and
forebrain.Thecerebrumisthelargestpartofourbrainanditislocatedintheforebrain.
Itisassociatedwithimportantrolessuchasthoughtandaction.Notethatthecerebral

cortexiswrinkledandfoldedalot.Thepurposeofthisistoincreasesurfaceareato
volumeratio,whichincreasestheamountofneurons.Meanwhile,cerebellum(also
knownasthelittlebrain)isassociatedwithcoordinationofmovementandbalance.The
limbicsystem,whichconsistsofthethalamus,hypothalamus,andamygdala,controls
ouremotionsandfeelingsandholdsmemories.Thebrainstemisresponsibleforout
vitalbodyfunctions,suchasbreathing,heartbeat,andbloodpressure(brynmawr.edu).
Whenwewereborn,ourbrainwillhavemostoftheneuronsthatwewillhave
throughoutourlife,whichisapproximately100billion.Theneuronswilldevelopmore
maturelyaswereachadulthood.Thebrainstepandmidbrainisthefirstareasofthe
braintofullydevelop.Thisisbecausethebrainstemisabsolutelynecessaryforlife;
thereforetheyarewelldevelopedatbirth.Itallowsbabiestodobasicandvitalacts,
suchasbreathing,eating,sleepingandusetheirsenses.Braindevelopmentisactually
theprocessofcreating,strengthening,anddiscardingconnectionsamongthesynapses
oftheneurons(childwelfare.org).Thesynapsesinourbrainaretheorganizers;itcauses
pathwaysthatconnectpartofthebrainstoform.Forinstance,whenweareborn,
synapsesthatareresponsibleforprimarybodyfunctionsuchasbreathingandhearrate,
arealreadypresent.
Duringourearlychildhood,synapsesdevelopatanastonishingrateasa
responsetonewexperiences.Accordingtochildrenwelfare.org,thecerebralcortexatits
peakinahealthytoddlermaycreate2millionsynapsespersecond.Thebrainwillhave
approximately1,000trillionsynapsesbythetimechildrenarethreeyearsold.This
explainswhyyoungchildrenpickupthingseasierthanadults,suchaslearninga

differentlanguageorlearninghowtorideabike.Someofthesetrillionsofsynapses
formedwillremainintactandstrengthenmore;meanwhilesomewillbegradually
discarded.Synapsesbeingeliminatedisnormalinbraindevelopment(Shankoffand
Phillips,2000).Halfofchildrenssynapseswillbediscardedbythetimetheyreach
adolescence.Thisallowsmorebraindevelopmentandallowsustolearn,rememberand
adapttosituationsmore(childrenwelfare.org).
Asidefromsynapsesformingandsynapticpruning(discardingofweak
synapses),myelinationisanotherimportantprocessinbraindevelopment.Myelinisthe
fattytissuethatwrapsaroundtheaxonoftheneuron;itinsulatesmaturebraincells,
whichensurescleartransmissionsacrosssynapses.Myelinationbeginsintheprimary
motorareas(brainstem)andgraduallytothefeelingandmemoriesareas(limbic
systems).Thisexplainswhyyoungchildrenprocessinformationslowerthanadults.,
theirbrainscellslackthemyelinnecessaryforfastnerveimpulsetransmission.A
childsexperiencesaffecttherateandgrowthofmyelination(childwelfare.org).
Thecreationofmemoriesbecomestheorganizerforachildsdevelopment.
Repeatedexperiencesstrengthensaneuronalpathway,thepathwaybecomesencoded
andtherepeatedexperiencebecomesamemory.Forexample,welearntowalkby
puttingonefootinfrontofanotherinourearlychildhood.Wealsolearntosaythank
youanduseourwordstoexpressourfeelings.Aswegetolder,thesebasicthingscome
tousnaturallybecauseourbraincreatesmemories.Ourenvironmentalsoplaysarolein
creationofmemories.Childrenwhogrewupinalovingenvironmentwillhavea
brighterandbetteroutlookinlifecomparetoachildwhogrewupinanabusiveand

neglectfulenvironment.Thebraincreatesmemoriesfromtheexperiencesthatwe
encounterandtheseexperienceschangesourviewoftheworldthroughoutourlife.
Implicitmemoriesareassociatedwiththeperceptionfromthechildsenvironmentand
recallinunconsciously.Anexampleofimplicitmemoriesisrememberingourmothers
voicefromanunconsciousmemoryandunconsciouslyrememberinghowtorideabike.
Infantsarebornwiththecapacityforimplicitmemories.Explicitmemoriesontheother
handarememoriesthatareconsciouslyrecalled.Itismemoriesfromfactsandevents
anditusuallydevelopsaroundtheageof2.(humanmemory.net)
Ateenagersbrainisaworkinprogress.Bythetimeachildreaches
adolescence,about95%ofthebrainhavealreadybeenformed.Ithasbeendiscovered
thatthereareconstantchangesoccurringinthebrainofateenager.Dr.JayGieldandhis
colleaguesdiscoveredthattheprefrontalcortexofthebrainisgrowingagainjustbefore
achildhitspuberty.Theprefrontalcortexactslikethebossofthebrain,itcontrols
planning,workingmemoryandmodulatingmoods.Thematuringoftheprefrontal
cortexcausesteenagerstomakebetterjudgmentsandreasonbetterastheygetolder.
Synapticpruning,theprocessinwhichweaksynapsesarediscardedwhenweare
youngchildrenaroundtheageof3,occursagainduringteenageyears.Moresynapses
forminthefrontalcortexjustbeforeachildbecomesateenager.Synapticpruning
occursagainwhenthechildreachesadolescence.Myelinationoccursafterthesynapses
areprunedorconnected.Myelinwrapsaroundtheconnectedsynapses,therefore
stabilizingandstrengtheningthem.Dr.Gieldstatedthatifateenismoreinvolvedin
sportsoracademics,thosesynapticconnectionswillbehardwireandifateenis

constantlyprocrastinatingandlyingaroundinthecouldallday,thoseconnectionswill
survive.Thisprovesthatwhatwedoasateenagercanhaveahugeimpactinourfuture.
Ifateenprocrastinatesoftenandchoosestodonothingproductive,thebrainwillbe
accustomedtothoseactions;thereforethosetraitswillbemostlikelycarriedonforthe
restoftheteenslife.(pbs.org)
Sowhydoteenagersactonimpulseandmakeirrationaldecisions?Different
partsoftheteenagebraindevelopduringdifferenttimes.Scientistsfoundoutthatthe
specificpartofthebraincalledamygdala,whichisassociatedwithinstinctualreactions
andisresponsibleforaggressivebehaviordevelopsearly.Thefrontalcortex,which
controlsreasoning,developslaterandmatureslater.Ateensactionisguidedmoreby
theamygdalathanthefrontalcortexbecauseitismoredeveloped.Thisisthereason
whyadolescencesbrainfunctionsdifferentlycomparetoadults.Therefore,teenagers
aremorelikelytoactonimpulseandmakeirrationaldecisions.(aacap.org)

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