Brain development Flashcards
The McGurk effect
Hearing what you expect to hear despite what said
What does the brain take longer to process - vision or sound?
Vision
What happens to sound processing with eyes open?
It gets slowed down
e.g. you process quiz questions faster with your eyes closed
2 speech areas - where are production and understanding
Wernicke’s area is understanding speech - temporal lobe
Broca’s area is understanding of speech - frontal lobe
How many neurons a day are lost?
7000 or 9000 fact check it
What are the two types of synapses?
excitatory
inhibitory
Why is brain repair so difficult?
Genes used in brain development in the embryo get switched off
How can we perform periodic breathing?
Brainstem is myelinated
Where do neurones arise from in embryo?
From the germinal matrix
Migrate to cortical sub plate and wait
When does the brain stop being smooth?
Still smooth at 6 months, starts developing bumps at 7 months
How much of your brain is fat?
60%
How much of your blood supply and oxygen does the brain use?
about 20%
neo-cortx and language centres are 76% of the brain
What reflexes are normal develpment?
primitive reflexes - brain stem function only
if comes back in a brain damaged individual - cortex can no longer suppress them so bad sign
How does development work overall after birth?
cranial to caudal - head first
proximal to distal - shoulders before fingers
simple to complex
What does it mean by the brain is lateralised?
different hemispheres do different things
When does brain lateralisation occur?
When they stop being ambidextrous - around 3 yrs old it is complete
Why is folic acid important in pregnancies?
Builds nervous system - closure of neural tube
Red flags in developmental assessments?
history of skill loss
history of brain injury
visually not fixing or following an object
Hearing loss
Low or high muscle tone
squint after 3-4 months
can’t sit unsupported by 12 months
cant walk by boys -18 months, girls 2 years
When and how does the neural tube close?
Day 25-29
Closes from the middle - spreads to upper and lower