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Developmental Psychology > Prenatal And Infant Brain Development > Flashcards

Prenatal And Infant Brain Development Flashcards

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1
Q

Outline the development of the brain during fertilisation

A

Germinal : 0-2 weeks (accumulation of little cells)

embryonic: 3-8 weeks
(fetus looks more human like, brain structure starts to come together)

Fetal stage: 9 weeks-birth
(Brain is full structure)

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2
Q

What are characteristics of an adult brains network?

A

-Laminar organization of the cortex: neurons are organised across different layers

Each layer is responsible for different functions and have different roles in the brain network

All areas communicate due to neural connections in the brain

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3
Q

When do aspects of the structure of an adult brain start to develop?
Is birth a big event for Brian development?

A

Aspects of the structure will be in place before birth, birth is not a big event for the Brain as a lot more maturation comes post birth

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4
Q

Describe prenatal brain structure?

A

The early brain is a tube, called the neural tube

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5
Q

Describe the structure of the brain during pre natal development. (4 weeks old)

A

At 4 weeks of prenatal development It will consist of Primary brain vesicles (the prosencephalon, mesencephalon, rombencephalon) then the neural tube

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6
Q

Describe the pre natal brain from a lateral view (4 weeks old)

A

The cephalic flexure which is at the mesencephalon and cervical flexure which is in between the rombencephalon and the neural tube

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7
Q

How does the neural tube rapidly evolve?

A

Differentiates by a series of thickenings and constrictions.

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8
Q

Describe micro development of the brain

A

The embryonic brain undergoes a series of massive cellular change

Before birth a series of genetically programmed events create a brain

However the brain is far from being mature at birth

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9
Q

Following what stages does the neural structure start to develop?

A
  • Cell proliferation
  • cell migration
  • cell differentiation
  • programmed cell death
  • synaptic rearrangement
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10
Q

Describe the stage of neural (cell) proliferation

A

Massive production of cells (both glial and neurons)occurs from approximately 2 to 4 months of gestation but continues until birth and after

Humans are more or less born with all the neurones they will possess during their life and can only crate new glial cells

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11
Q

describe cell migration

A

All neurons come from neural precursor cells.

These undifferentiated cells can become neurons or glia cells

Then the immature neurons migrate to colonise all parts of the embryonic brain

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12
Q

What does the migration of cells cause during prenatal development in the brain?

A
  • The migration of neurones creates the layers of the cortex
  • Immature neurones migrate to reach their target layer.
  • The first cells to arrive at their own layers are those that will be in deepest layer(layer)
  • Therefore the cortex is said to be assembled form inside out.
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13
Q

Describe cell differentiation?

A

The adult brain has different types of neurones

  • They come from precursor cells
  • When the cells migrate they start to differentiate and become the neural cells they will be throughout your life.
  • cells also specialise into glial cells
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14
Q

What is genesis of connection?

A

Neuron is formed of a cell body, a receiver part - dendrites - and an output - the axon. So neurons interconnect through their axons to form a network.

-connected neurons process the same information in chain

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15
Q

How are synapses created during cell differentiation?

A

-synapses are created by axons connecting when neurons differentiate and find their appropriate targets.

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16
Q

How is the axon when growing guided towards their target neuron?

A

The tip of axon is guided by special proteins and repulsed by others until it finds a proper target neruon to connect with.

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17
Q

Describe cell death (apoptosis)

A

A key step in brain development involves the loss of entire populations of neurons. (Programmed cell death or apoptosis)

-Neurons that did not connect to another neuron without a proper receiving neuron will disappear.

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18
Q

How many more synapses are there in an infants brain compared to an adult and what is the problem with that?

A

50% more synapses than in the adult brain due to the crazy wiring during synapse formation.-Not efficient

19
Q

What occurs during synaptic pruning?

A

Synapses enter competition called synaptic re-arrangement.

Synapses are eliminated that don’t receive a signal (survival of the most efficient)

-this arrangement is activity dependent.

20
Q

How does the environment influence the visual system?

A
  • before birth there is no visual stimuli therefore the neurons responsible for visual processing are not organised
  • when the child experiences vision the cells start to organise themselves and rearrange themselves (information received by the left is transmitted to the right visual cortex, while information received by the right eye is transmitted to the left visual cortex)
21
Q

What is the multimodal experience of the world?

A

We can perceive and locate things in the world using 2 senses and good localisation is achieved with both

22
Q

Describe the study that displays what occurs if we disturb either touch or sight senses?

A
  • chicks were given prism goggles.
  • they were supposed to find food in their cage using either a visual or auditory stimuli.
  • Before prism they could find it well with both stimuli, after prism those with auditory stimuli performed better
  • brain then rewires so both visual and auditory cells can find objects better in response to its environment.
23
Q

Outline how the plastic brain is influenced by both nature and nurture

A
  • Genes put in place the map of connections of the visual system, but experience can modify it.
  • Brain is shaped by the interaction of genes/experiences
24
Q

What is plasticity ?

A

The brains ability to modify or reorganise

25
Q

Is the brains structure fixed?

A

No it can learn

26
Q

Is plasticity good?

A

Not always

-forgetting, aging, injury, illness or even drugs can affect brain structure.

27
Q

Describe the first longitudinal studies investigating a specific learning paradigm?

A
  • investigating how the brain is modified during learning
  • they conducted brain scans on Particpants prior to the task
  • they then asked them to juggle everyday for three months and a brain scan was conducted after.
  • Jugglers modified their brain structure
28
Q

Describe the critical period for brain plasticity?

A

During critical period if there is no stimulation of certain neurons they may never fully recover and fully develop.
-some structures in the brain crystallise during this period

29
Q

What is the critical period for brain plasticity?

And when does it occur?

A

Period during which the development of a brain mechanism/organ can be influenced.

Learning and modifying the brain is easiest when young. (Infancy)

30
Q

How is plasticity being the highest during infancy displayed?

A
  • children younger than 5yo could reorganise language processing in the right hemisphere if they had lesions in the left hemisphere.
  • Highest during critical period
31
Q

What is grey matter?

A

Neurons

32
Q

What is white matter?

A

Axons

33
Q

What is the problem with brain network crystallising during infancy?

A

It can have consequences and cause permanent damage and behaviours to occur.

-it occurs during critical period

34
Q

Describe the study that investigates how brain plasticity, crystallisation can cause sociopathy.

A
  • Large study of genome of incarcerated people.
  • MAOA (gene that regulates impulse and manifestation of violent behaviour) genotype has been found to structurally affect the brain
  • Those with an MAOA-L gene have an abnormal sized amygdala (structure responsible for emotional processing)
  • people are more violent with this gene especially if they received severe maltreatment as a child (interaction isn’t perspective)
35
Q

Summarise the critical period and plasticity of the brain?

A

The brain is adaptive and its network is influenced by both genes and experience.

We now know that this phenomenon is on going through life (taxi driver) BUT some aspects of brain structure crystalizes during infancy (vision and the ODC)

36
Q

What is the function of plasticity?

A

-create a very efficient network

37
Q

Is the structure of the brain hardwired ?

A

No only some aspects but it is prewired

38
Q

Describe vision in infants

A
  • 6 months of age their perception is blurry.

- At birth infants do not have 3D perception so they see the world in 2D

39
Q

Describe face perception in infants?

A

14 weeks-3months : latency is a lot faster when face stimulus is presented.
7 weeks-1 month : latency of electrical responses is not as fast.

-this indicates older infants can process faces faster but the same electrical pattern when a face is presented is the same even in adulthood

40
Q

Describe sound perception in infants?

A

-30 weeks of gestation the auditory system of a foetus allows it to perceive external sounds.

  • New borns can discriminate their mother voices at birth or recognise songs.
  • Sounds are filtered
  • auditory perception follows some maturation
  • responses of the primary auditory system are slow in the first month of life then gradually get faster.
41
Q

Describe infants language

A

The same language network is activated in infants even though they cant process speech when listening to sentences. (Prewired)

-New borns can extract words from continuous speech.

42
Q

Is speech continuous?

A

Yes mainly it is.

43
Q

What does the rate of brain maturation depend on?

A

Exposure and age as if the child doesn’t have brain structures in place, exposure to the environment will not cause faster brain maturation.

44
Q

What research indicates that the rate of brain maturation depends on exposure?

A

-premature babies who have more exposure have faster brain maturation than term babies

Developmental Psychology (11 decks)

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