Neurological Development

Question 1

What are the approaches in neurological development?

Answer 1

• Neuropsychological
  Comparing function among healthy individual and those with pathology
• Neuro-correlation
  Links cognitive performance with changes in brain structure or its function
• Activation imaging

Question 2

What are two growth spurts that happen in the brain during young adulthood?

Answer 2

1. PFC - dual representation and abstraction
2. Integration with limbic system, better self-regulation with inhibition

Question 3

What changes in the brain causes aging?

Answer 3

• Accumulation of neural firing rates
• Illnesses
• Complex biochemical processes
• Loss of dendrites , decreased amount of neurons and less possible connections
• Higher order of cognitive function
• Shrinkage of PFC

Question 4

What are two biochemical changes in the brain?

Answer 4

Dopamine
- Declines in production and receptor sites
- Connected to higher level of cognition and reward-system
- Leads to declines in different types of memory; episodic and working memory
- Less filter, harder to focus on the “right” information
Serotonin
- Connected to mood, memory, sleep and appetite
- Declines in receptors and transporters
- Risk for depression

Question 5

Why is the changes in the brain described as heterogenous?

Answer 5

Rates of decline
- Individual differences
When, how much and how quickly
- Environment
Accidents, SES (education), childhood and stress levels

Question 6

What is the P-fit model?

Answer 6

A theory that proposes that intelligence comes from a distributed and integrated network of neurons in the parietal and frontal areas of the brain
- Accounts for individual differences
- Fluid Intelligence, prediction
- Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory

Question 7

What evidence support P-Fit model?

Answer 7

• PFC with parietal lobe plays an important role in general intellectual abilities
• Theory proposed based on 37 studies using neuroimaging techniques
• Efficiency in processing and performance on certain tasks seems associated with certain brain structures
• Memory for emotional information; higher activity in older adults compared to younger

Question 8

What are two changes related to the physical structure of the brain?

Answer 8

Brain shrink or atrophies
- Selective
- PFC, HC and Cerebellum more
- Higher cognitive function
- Memory
- Primary
White Matter
- Thinner and shrink
- Impaired signal transfer
- Secondary
- TIA

Question 9

What are two age-related differences in the function of the brain?

Answer 9

Executive Functions
- Effortful processing
- Shrinkage of PFC, volume
- Reduced blood flow
Hippocampus and PFC
- Shrinkage
- Episodic memory and autobiographical
- Alzeheimers