Lecture 3 - Postnatal Development

Question 1

What is an example of Perservation?

Answer 1

If you put a toy in the same spot every time, a child will be able to find it, but if you move it a child will look for where they last found it even if they know it isn’t there

Question 1

What is Perserveration?

Answer 1

The failure to inhibit original, learned response which is now incorrect

Question 2

What is perservation as aspect of?

Answer 2

Cognitive Flexibility of the PFC

Question 3

What did they find in Diamond’s Primate studies of 7 - 12 mo infants?

Answer 3

They found that the infants made a lot of perseverative errors and that when the adult monkeys had lesions in their PFC they had the same level as perseverative as infants

Question 4

How did they test Error Perseveration in Adults?

Answer 4

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test which tested for frontal love function in adults

Question 5

What was the Wisconsin Sorting Test?

Answer 5

Participant draws one card at a time and sorts them (colour, shape)

The experimenter says whether they are correct or incorrect, but does not share the rule

Patient guesses the sorting rule (colour)

Experimenter changes the rule (shape)

Question 6

What are the results of the Wisconsin Sorting Test for individuals with frontal lobe damage?

Answer 6

Cannot adjust and perform more preservation errors (keep sorting according to old rule)

Question 7

What are the two Key Features of Experience?

Answer 7

1.) Type of Experience

2.) Timing of Experience

Question 8

What are the two Types of Experience?

Answer 8

1.) Permissive Experience

2.) Instructive Experience

Question 9

What is Permissive Experience?

Answer 9

Necessary in order to develop an ability (Hearing, Vision)

Question 10

What is Instructive Experience?

Answer 10

Abilities that you already have –> Enhanced or learning an entirely new ability

Ex: learning to play a musical instrument

Question 11

What are the Two Timings of Experience?

Answer 11

1.) Critical Period

2.) Sensitive Period

Question 12

What is Critical Experience?

Answer 12

An experience HAS to happen (RARE)

Ex: Songbirds need to hear a certain sound in order to have the ability to hear

Question 13

What is a Sensitive Period?

Answer 13

Something you can pick up best during a certain time period.

Ex: a child learning a new language is easier than an adult trying to learn a new language

Question 14

What happens to neurons and synapses that are not activated by experience?

Answer 14

They do not usually survive

Question 15

What happened to Animals that were reared in the dark?

Answer 15

Vision problems, had fewer synapses in visual cortex

Question 16

What happened to Rats that lived in an enriched environment?

Answer 16

Various effects on brain structure and function; thicker cortices more synapses, more dendritic spines

Question 17

What happens to babies with congenital bilateral cataracts?

Answer 17

Rapidly improved their vision post-removal but retain some deficits two years later.

Question 18

What did they find when they blindfolded both eyes?

Answer 18

Cortical degeneration

Question 19

What did they find when they blindfolded one eye?

Answer 19

Accelerated cortical degeneration
(blindfolded eye was even worse then if you blindfolded both)

Question 20

What happened with Ferrets that had visual input rerouted to auditory cortex?

Answer 20

Retinal Ganglion Axons —> Medial (auditory) geniculate nucleus

The Inputs from visual system turned into auditory cortex that became organized like the visual cortex

Question 21

What happened with Barn Owls that were raised with vision displacing (23 degrees) goggles on their eyes?

Answer 21

Both visual and auditory cortex developed with a 23 degree spatial shift

When they heard noise they moved to it but were 23 degrees off

Question 22

Will the Owls vision correct itself?

Answer 22

It will - but depends on how young they were and how long they had goggles on for

Question 23

What does a Ferrets visual system require?

Answer 23

Spontaneous firing

Question 24

What happens when a Ferrets neonatal optic nerve activity was disturbed before eye opening?

Answer 24

It caused a disruption of spontaneous firing which disrupted orientation and direction selectivity in visual cortex

Question 25

What did a MRI study in humans show?

Answer 25

Early music training expands the area of the auditory cortex for complex tones —> thicker cortex, development of absolute pitch

Question 26

What are the possible ways in which experience can impact neural development?

Answer 26

1.) Direct gene regulation

2.) Regulation of Neurotrophic Release

3.) Regulation of spontaneously active neural circuits

4.) Effects of specific neurotransmitters

Question 27

What does direct gene regulation consist of?

Answer 27

Cell adhesion molecules involved in cell adhesion and migration that can promote synapses and can cause active genes for regions to become more developed

Question 28

What is Regulation of Neurotrophin release?

Answer 28

Post-synaptic release can affect pre-synaptic survival

Question 29

What is regulation of spontaneous active neural circuits?

Answer 29

Random firing, stronger connections through experience

Question 30

What are the effects of specific neurotransmitters on development?

Answer 30

Certain neurotransmitters can act elsewhere on a cell to say “this synapse is good, keep it”

Question 31

What happens during adolescence to the brain?

Answer 31

It undergoes a massive reorganization (13-25)

Question 32

What does the reorganization of the adolescent brain involve?

Answer 32

Axon pruning and axon branching

Progressively increasing myelination (faster axonal transmission)

Dendritic pruning and dendritic branching

Strengthening the used synapses getting rid of the unused synapses

Question 33

What happens to grey matter as you go through adolescence?

Answer 33

Reduction of grey matter, and an increase in white matter

Question 34

What is the result of the massive reorganization?

Answer 34

Thinning of the cortex (more efficient)

Thickening of the corpus callosum (fibres connecting the left and right hemisphere)

Enhanced temporal-frontal lobe connections

Question 35

What is the direction of changes?

Answer 35

Posterior to Anterior
(Inside Out)

Question 36

How did G Stanley Hall understand adolescence?

Answer 36

We are not done developing (less civilized)

Question 37

How did Sigmund Freud understand adolescence?

Answer 37

Psychosexuality conflict

Question 38

How did Erik Erikson understand adolescence?

Answer 38

He said it was a stage of identity crisis

Question 39

What does novelty seeking mean?

Answer 39

New experiences and new learning

Question 40

What does adolescent risk taking look like?

Answer 40

• Over estimation of risk
• Differently weigh risk vs reward
  (adults value rewards more then adults)

Question 41

What does adolescent peer influence look like?

Answer 41

Development of social behaviour (more social skills and social bonds)

• Seek peer approval
• Distance from parents, leans more towards peers
• Enchanced peer competition

Question 42

What do adolescents have an increased sensitivity to?

Answer 42

Dopamine and Oxytocin

Question 43

What does increased sensitivity of dopamine and oxytocin do?

Answer 43

Cause these neurotransmitters to be more active in your brain which can cause you to be more aroused, curious, creative, energetic, and participate in risk taking events

Question 44

What does the Adolescent brain undergo from a neurobiological perspective?

Answer 44

High dendritic and synaptic remeodeling: greater plasticity when needed most

Question 45

What does High Myelination cause?

Answer 45

Reduce axonal branching and new synapses which causes a reduction in neural plasticity