Smartbook 3 Notes

  • The neuroconstructivist view emphasizes the importance of interactions between biological processes and environmental experiences

  • The layer of fat cells that encases many axons is called the myelin sheath; it serves to insulate the axon and facilitate the efficient transmission of electrical impulses along the nerve fibers.

  • Infant brain activity mapping at the University of Washington is being conducted through the use of MEG (Magnetoencephalography) imaging

  • Myelination ends once infants complete their first year of life; this is a false statement

  • Neural connections in an infant’s brain are formed through repeated experiences

  • The brain is wired at birth, and cells in the brain that process information simply mature over time; this is not a premise of the neuroconstructivist view.

  • The process by which nerve cells are coated with insulation that enhances the speed and efficiency of the information traveling through the nervous system is known as myelination.

  • During the first two years of life, nearly twice as many synaptic connections are made as will ever be used

  • MEG brain mapping assesses vision, hearing, language, and memory.

  • Children raised in an unresponsive, unstimulating, and underfunded orphanage would have the most depression in brain activity; based on our understanding of the impact of environment on development

  • Two significant ways that neurons change during the first years of life:

    • Connectivity among neurons increases

    • Myelination for visual pathways occurs rapidly

  • Auditory myelination is not completed until 4 or 5 years of age

  • During early childhood, the brain and head grow more rapidly than any other parts of the body

  • What causes a neural connection to be “pruned”: It is not used

  • The increases in memory and rapid learning that characterize infants and young children are most attributed to myelination and synaptic growth

  • An entire hemisphere of the brain can be removed, and the other hemisphere will take over functions that the removed hemisphere previously performed

  • The bundle of axon fibers that connects the brain’s left and right hemisphere is the corpus callosum

  • In the development of the brain, the self-control brain linkage would be the last to mature

  • The following are true regarding brain development in childhood:

    • The brain and head grow more rapidly than any other parts of the body during early childhood

    • Myelination facilitates a number of abilities, including hand-eye coordination

    • During childhood, brain and nervous system development allows children to focus their attention, plan their actions, and develop language skills

  • Both contribute to children’s emerging cognitive abilities: Brain maturation and experience

  • Children who grow up in an unresponsive and unstimulating environment show considerably less brain activity than children with stimulating backgrounds

  • Some adolescent behavior may be due to the relatively immature prefrontal cortex being unable to adequately control the strong emotions produced by the amygdala

  • The corpus callosum thickens in adolescence, aiding the ability to process information

  • Compared to younger adults (20Y), researchers found that brain weight was 5-10 percent less in older adults (90Y)

  • Research indicated that demyelination of the brain occurs in aging adults. The myelin sheath is associated with information processing

  • The following are true of children and their developing brains:

    • Children make strides in language development

    • Children begin to attend to stimuli more effectively

    • Children’s brains experience rapid, distinct growth spurts

  • The generation of new neurons is called neurogenesis

  • Both poverty and parenting quality can affect the development of the brain during childhood

  • Theories about why we sleep:

    • Serves a restorative function

    • Is necessary for survival

    • Is critical for brain plasticity

  • Researchers hypothesize that adolescents’ extreme emotions and often irrational and risky behavior are partly the result of the relatively immature prefrontal cortex being unable to modulate strong emotions and motivations stemming from the mature amygdala

  • A typical newborn sleeps 16-17 hours a day

  • Neuron loss is the least attributable to the decrease in brain volume in healthy aging?

  • The general slowing of the brain and spinal cord function that occurs in middle and late adulthood affects both intellectual performance and physical coordination

  • These are associated with infant sleep problems:

    • Irregular bedtime routines

    • Too much screen time

    • Maternal depression

  • Researchers have documented neurogenesis in the hippocampus, which is involved in memory, and in the olfactory bulb, which involves smell

  • In infancy, REM sleep often begins an infant’s sleep cycle

  • Sleep is essential for these reasons:

    • Increase cell production

    • Increase synaptic connections

    • Improve memory

    • Remove waste in neural tissues

  • Sleep patterns in newborns:

    • Sleep totals for newborns are variable and can range from 10-21 hours per day

    • Infants vary in their preferred times for sleeping and their patterns of sleep

    • The typical newborn sleeps 16-17 hours per day

  • Children between the ages of 3-4 years need about 10-13 hours of good-quality sleep

  • Shrinkage in the prefrontal cortex is attributable to decreases in working memory and other cognitive abilities in older adults

  • Research has shown that on average, 25% of U.S. adolescents get 8 or more hours of sleep on a school night

  • The most common infant sleep-related problem is nighttime waking

  • In a study, the weekday bedtimes and rise times of first-year college students were approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes later than those of seniors in high school

  • If you were analyzing the results of a sleep study in which the participant began the sleep cycle with REM sleep and spent 50% of the time in REM sleep, you could determine that the subject is an infant

  • REM sleep may be important in promoting brain development in infancy

  • The recommended number of hours of sleep for young children is 10-13 a night

  • In a study of 13-19 year olds, these outcomes are linked to sleeping less than 7 hours on school nights:

    • Increased risk of being overweight

    • Having depressive symptoms

    • Being less motivated

    • Not being able to concentrate

    • Having a high level of anxiety

    • Engaging in self-harm/suicidal thoughts

  • The most frequent sleep issue reported by older adults is insomnia

  • A recent study found that approximately 70% of college students were characterized as inadequate sleepers

  • We do not know whether infants dream, because they do not have any way of reporting dreams

  • According to a long-term study, consistently sleeping only six hours a night in middle age was connected to a greater risk of dementia

  • Engaging in physical activity would most likely help an older person avoid having sleep issues