Chapter 4

Question 1

What is celiac disease?

Answer 1

A digestive problem where gluten triggers an immune responbse that leads to inflammation and damages the small intestine

Question 2

What is the pituitary gland?

Answer 2

An endocrine gland that is at the base of the brain that is directly controlled by the hypothalamus of the brain. It produces growth hormones as well as a multitude of other hormones .

Question 3

What is the role of the thyroid gland?

Answer 3

Its important for physical growth and development and the development of the nervous system. Thyroid deficiency can lead to intellectual problems and slow growth. It also helps the body to metabolise foods.

Question 4

What is an example of a critical role of the endocrine system?

Answer 4

A male wont develop male reproductive organs unless a gene on his Y chromosome triggers the development of the testes and the testes secrete testosterone.

Question 5

Male sexual development

Answer 5

The testes of a male secrete large quantities of testosterone during puberty as well as other androgens. They stimulate growth hormones, male sex organ development and sexual motivation.

Question 6

Female sexual development

Answer 6

Ovaries produce large quantities of progesterone and estrogen during puberty. This stimulates the production of the growth hormone, development of secondary sexual characteristics and menstrual cycles.

Question 7

What do adrenal glands do?

Answer 7

They secrete androgen-like hormones that contribute to the maturation of the bones and muscles in both sexes. They can also help the body cope with stress.

Question 8

When does myelination occur?

Answer 8

Begins prenatally but continues for many years after birth in different consecutive regions. This relates to certain developments, such as myelination occurring the language parts of the brain increasing the vocab of children.

Question 9

What are the 3 general principles that underly growth?

Answer 9

1. Cephalocaudal - growth occurs in a head-to-tail direction (children have larger heads in proportion to their body as they grow from the head down)
2. Proximodistal - Especially in the prenatal period, the chest and internal organs form first before limbs
3. Orthogenetic - development is first general and undifferentiated before moving to complex differentiation and hierarchical integration

Question 10

What is the biopsychosocialcultural model?

Answer 10

A model of health that incorporates a multitude of factors which shows the multifaceted nature of health and valuing the broader context of a person’s condition. health depends on your biological condition, your ‘self’ (personality, beliefs, coping skills etc.) social and cultural contexts all influence your health.

Question 11

What is infancy characterised by?

Answer 11

Continued brain development, rapid growth and impressive sensory and reflexive capabilities. Much of the brain development consists of forging more and more connections between neurons - with the dendrites extending from each neuron increasing over childhood.

Question 12

What are characteristic differences in neurons between young and teenage children?

Answer 12

Synaptogenesis occurs during childhood while synaptic pruning occurs at older ages. Often fine tuned by experiences the child has.

Question 13

What are the consequences of neuroplasticity?

Answer 13

While it can be vulnerable to damage from drugs/disease or through deprivation of sensory/motor experience, it is highly adaptable that can recover successfully from injuries as neurons that are not fully specialised can take over the functions of the damaged neurons. It is at its greatest early in development.

Question 14

Rapid Growth

Answer 14

Infants grow rapidly and by age 2 have already attained about half of their eventual adult height. Growth is not really continual, as there could be no growth for weeks but then suddent spurts in 24 hours.

Question 15

What are some newborn capabilities?

Answer 15

1. Reflexes
2. Behavioural states

Question 16

What relfexes are associated with infants?

Answer 16

Survival reflexes have an adaptive value including breathing, blinking etc. While primitive reflexes are not clearly useful but are remnants of evolution such as the Babinski reflex - but some can be in certain cultures and some are forerunners of useful voluntary behaviours that develop later such as stepping. Primitive reflexes usually disappear during the early months of infancy as they develop into voluntary actions. There may be issues if they prolong or are not present.

Question 17

What behavioural states are associated with infants?

Answer 17

• Deep sleep - still infant that is largely oblivious to sensory stimulation
• Active sleep - REM and easily awoken
• Quiet alert - little body movement, eyes focused on something
• Active alert - body is active, eyes less focused
• Drowsy - body is relaxed with few moments, easy to transition to sleep
• Crying - When the infant is overstimulated, hungry or uncomfortable

Question 18

REM and infants

Answer 18

Young infants sleep more in REM, which is likely due to the brain maturation and plasticity in the time period. This is beneficial for learning and memory processes. This is also why babies may need a lot more period in the day to just sleep instead of one long one.

Question 19

Nutrition in infancy

Answer 19

Children who have increased myelination in their brains are associated with stronger cognitive skills in early childhood - often caused by breastfeeding. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are associated with myelination.

Question 20

What are some causes of infant death?

Answer 20

1. Congenital abnormalities
2. LBW
3. Lack of vaccinations

Question 21

What is brain lateralisation?

Answer 21

When the brain becomes further organised to support the behaviours, both mental and physical, where the person is regularly engaged in. In lateralisation, the two hemispheres diverge in functions. It can occur as early as the fetus stage.

Question 22

What does the left hemisphere do?

Answer 22

It controls the right side of the body and it is good at sequential processing for analytic reasoning and language processing.

Question 23

What does the right hemisphere do?

Answer 23

It controls the left side of the body and it is good at simultaneous processing of information for spatial information and processing visual-motor
and emotional information

Question 24

Hand domination and experience

Answer 24

As people are young and develop a hand that is dominating, they experience different experiences than those with a different hand preference since they experience the world by using that dominant part.

Question 25

What three areas affect a child’s health and wellness?

Answer 25

1. Accidents - cause the most child deaths and injuries can lead to life long consequences
2. Nutrition - many children eat food high in sugar, fats and sodium and low in nutrients. Convenience, school and SES impact nutrition.
3. Physical activity levels - Depends on screentime, safety of the neighbourhood and genetics.

Question 26

What brain changes are there during adolescence for grey matter?

Answer 26

The gray matter of the brain, made up of primarily glial cells, cell bodies and dendrites undergoes change as it increases, peaks and decreases in late adolescence. It is likely associated with increased synaptogenesis just before puberty, followed by pruning.

Question 27

What brain changes are there during adolescence for white matter?

Answer 27

White matter, consisting of myelinated axons, increases in linear fashion - likely as steady progression of myelination of axons. White matter makes up a larger portion of the brain than grey and supports communication within and between areas of grey matter and other parts of the body.

Question 28

Why do adolescence take more risks than adults?

Answer 28

The limbic reward system in the brain matures earlier than the prefrontal control areas of the brain. This makes youngens drawn towards actions that are rewarding as well as risky without engaging in cognitive processing that can evaluate the system.

Question 29

Risk taking behaviours in individuals

Answer 29

Some are more prone to risk taking behaviours than others, such as those with strong working memory skills are less likely to take risks than their peers. teens tend to have more risk taking behaviours

Question 30

Sexual maturation and endocrine glands

Answer 30

Adrenal glands increase adrenal androgens in girls and boys at ages 6-8. It contributed to pubic and underarm hair and other physical characteristics. Gonadal hormones, during puberty (testosterone etc) lead to secondary sexual characteristics.

Question 31

What determines an adolescent’s rate of development?

Answer 31

Race is one, genes too. Sexual maturation is often triggered when the hypothalamus of the brain stimulates activity in the endocrine system.

Question 32

How does environment impact sexual maturation?

Answer 32

An example is the secular trend where maturation occurs earlier than previous years. This is likely caused by better nutrition, advances in medical care, higher obesity rates, and exposure to chemicals responsible for altered hormone production. Stress can affect maturation,

Question 33

What are the psychological effects associated with puberty?

Answer 33

Girls approaching puberty tend to become self-conscious about their appearance. It is individual whether a girl is self conscious of reaching puberty early or later and many have problems with the weight gain during menstruation. Boys have more positive body images and their changes. Smaller boys or ones with late puberty may

Question 34

Male and female differences in puberty and their perceptions

Answer 34

Boys who mature earlier are seen as more socially competent, attractive and self-assured. Therefore, they are more accepted than those who develop later. Girls are more likely to feel upset when maturing earlier and they are more likely to be seen as adults. Although, some evidence does show that teenagers may have adjustment problems before early puberty.

Question 35

Health and adolescence

Answer 35

Adolescents should be reaching their peak of physical health and fitness. However sedentary lifestyle of modern society can undermine these factors. Many kids have obesity and many are at risk of heart, kidney, liver disease, diabetes etc.

Question 36

How might obesity affect brain function?

Answer 36

Through metabolic syndrome (MeTS) a combination of risk factors typically associated with obesity such as HBP, high cholesterol levels and diabetes. Kids with MeTS have issues on attention, mental flexibility and other cognitive issues.

Question 37

Sleep in adolescence

Answer 37

Many kids seem to have insufficient sleep. This is likely caused by changes in melatonin production and circadian rhythms - shifting the “natural” time for falling asleep later. Another change is the earlier start time of high schools. This can all lead to sleepiness during the day, decreased motivation and higher levels of mental issues.

Question 38

When does the brain complete its development?

Answer 38

It never does - it is always responsive to experience and capable of neurogenesis. However adults do have more angiogenesis and less neuroplasticity. However it is inconsistent whether this is the case. In general, the brain displays plasticity early in life and signs of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis throughout life.

Question 39

What important experience influences brain organisation?

Answer 39

Culture we are raised in. Individualist and collectivist cultures share different perceptions of the same visual stimuli.

Question 40

What is associated with normal aging?

Answer 40

It is associated with gradual and relatively mild degeneration of the nervous system. Losing neurons, diminishing functioning of the remaining neurons and harmful changes in the tissues supporting the neurons. Brain volume also decreases, in gray and white matter, and theres a reduction in neurotransmitters and blood flow to the brain.

Question 41

What are the positives with normal aging?

Answer 41

The growth of dendrites continues contributing to learning and memory. The brain can also remain healthy with excercise - mental and physical.

Question 42

What are the three things that determines whether someone’s experience is more gains or losses?

Answer 42

1. Maintenance - the regular upkeep of the brain, the safeguard and repair of neurons.
2. Reserve - the stockpile of neural resources we save up over time. We draw upon these resources to offset declines. (brain reserve: hardware, cognitive reserve: software)
3. Compensation - the ability to quickly enlist the help of other neural resources when faced with a challenging task. Such as using other parts of the brain.

Question 43

Male hormones on adult men

Answer 43

Testosterone levels fluctuate across the day. With high levels in the morning and low levels in the evening. In men at age 40 and older, these levels are flat across the day. There are also higher levels in spring and lower in fall. Andropause is from slowly decreasing levels of testosterone - leading to low libido, fatigue, erection issues, memory problems and loss of pubic hair.

Question 44

Changes in the male sex organs with age

Answer 44

Testicular volume declines after age 60 - lowering testosterone. The prostate gland also enlarges which may cause Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) causing frequent urination and incomplete emptying of the bladder.

Question 45

Hormone changes in adult women

Answer 45

Premenstrual syndrome can lead to negative symptoms before menstruation. Severe cases have premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PDD) which can cause a disrupted life. Between 45-54, women can also go through menopause as levels of estrogen and other hormones drop. Anti-Mullerian hormones can sort of predict menopause as it decreases. Hot flashes and vaginal dryness come from menopause.

Question 46

Adults and health

Answer 46

Many adults do not really excercise and this can lead to chronic health conditions with age. Examples such as arthritis, obesity, cancer etc. Osteaoporosis which leads to the serious loss of minerals leaves the bones fragile which, if fractured, can cause death.

Question 47

Why are there health disparities in adults?

Answer 47

Social, economic and environmental disadvantages can lead to this. Race (with SES), sex, sexual identity, age, disability, SES, age and geographic location (with SES in urban and rural environments) all impact health disparities. This can be mitigated with culturally competent care.