Neuromyths consist of a brain-based, or neurological, concept that has been taken out of disproportion and fed to the masses as food for thought. Many neuromyths find their inception in small research labs or in a published article that is not well founded. While most neuromyths are harmless, some of them can be blown so out of proportion that marketing industries prey on the vulnerability of individuals because today’s society flourishes on being the best an individual can possibly be. Dr. Usha Goswami explains a common neuromyth susceptible to such scrutiny that finds its foundation in “enriched environments” (Goswami, 2004). This neuromyth states that by having an ‘enriched environment’ such as increased educational programs or language immersion it helps to enhance the brain’s capacity …show more content…
This neuromyth that ‘enhanced environments’ improves the brain’s capacity to learn finds its routes in multiple neuromyths. Two of such neuromyths are: the concept that the brain is most receptive to learning things between the ages of birth to three and that of the concept of use it or lost it completely when it comes to neural pathways. While both of these underlying neuromyths do have scientific backing, the understanding of it has been misconstrued. But where did this concept of enhanced environments begin then? The groundwork for this myth was laid when psychologists conducted research on rats. What they found was that rats that had an upbringing in an enriched and stimulating environment had a greater capability to memorize complex maze problems and get through them (Goswami, 2004). The biggest issue with such research, as many psychologists have found, is that research conducted on the brain of rats and other rodents cannot be applied to human brains due to the
The Prefrontal Cortex makes me think of math, in the sense that whenever you think of a subject, it's most likely going to be math. Math is the CEO of subjects, just like the Prefrontal Cortex is the CEO of the brain. But, math is a challenging subject in which people have trouble in, which is another thing that the Prefrontal Cortex does, it's the last thing in the brain to mature. Meaning it can cause kids and teens to do the unexpected and get into trouble. Who knew?
The learning process in human beings is very natural, and we all want to learn from a very young age. Doctor Rita Smilkstein studied learning in humans for many years and has found this to be true. After reading this paper and learning about how the brain works during the learning process, you may be able to find a time in your life where you utilized the learning process, just as I began to think about how I have learned something using techniques similar to the NHLP. (“We're Born to Learn: Using the Brain's Natural Learning Process to Create Today’s Curriculum”)
Space is 92 billion light years in diameter and ever growing. Despite it’s size, there is more knowledge about this massive area, miles outside the atmosphere, than there is about the cluster of tissue and nerves that is called the brain. With the immensely complex structure of the human brain, it is not surprising that from conception to old age many things can become faulty or even just fail to develop correctly in the first place.
The presented evidence supports the claim that it is necessary for psychology, neurobiology, and neuroscience. The generation effect is an essential tool that scholars are advised to use in their learning
When humans are born, they are born to be completely dependent for survival on those who surround them being as people have the capacity to adapt and thrive in different environments in the world, primarily because of the brain’s fascinating ability to develop connections and shape itself from details of life’s experiences as they grow, but there are conditions which people may develop at any age which may affect the many functions, such as memory, emotion, and character, of the brain (Eagleman 5, 6).
Victoroff, Jeffrey Ivan. Saving Your Brain: The Revolutionary Plan to Boost Brain Power, Improve Memory, and Protect Yourself Against Aging and Alzheimer's. New York: Bantam, 2002.
The period in American psychology during 1930 through 1970 is described as being the period of neo-behaviorism (Behjamin, 2014). The psychologists during this time period were interested in theory and focused their research on learning and motivation, argued over the role of reinforcement in learning, and used animals as objects of their study (Behjamin, 2014). Edward Tolman’s contributions to the field of psychology during the neo-behaviorism period entailed the creation of the cognitive theory of learning, which had been in contrast to the theories of Thorndike and Hull that thought learning was a strict stimulus-response connection (VanderZwaag, 1998). In one of his known studies involved maze running and how reinforcement plays in the way rats learn their way through the maze which leads to the theory of latent learning (VanderZwaag, 1998). Tolman had made many
As the human body goes through different experiences, the brain grows, develops, and changes according to the environmental situations it has been exposed to. Some of these factors include drugs, stress, hormones, diets, and sensory stimuli. [1] Neuroplasticity can be defined as the ability of the nervous system to respond to natural and abnormal stimuli experienced by the human body. The nervous system then reorganizes the brain’s structure and changes some of its function to theoretically repair itself by forming new neurons. [2] Neuroplasticity can occur during and in response to many different situations that occur throughout life. Some examples of these situations are learning, diseases, and going through therapy after an injury.
The importance of this research is that it can help improve fear extinction training with humans and animals. Previous experiments have indicated that enriched environments have changed the way people and animals act in different situations and increases cognitive functions (NIthianantharajah & Hannan, 2006). Additionally, it has been found prior to this study that enriched environments tend to improve stimulus discrimination (Duffy, Craddock, Abel, & Nguyen, 2001).
Humans are unique species because we have the ability to adapt to any environments. This ability sets us apart from other animals because we have invented many tools that enable us to alter our way of living to any environment: clothing, medicine, agriculture, food and so on. Whether humans chose to engage in the environment is up to them. Even though we have the capability of adapting, how do humans assess the effectiveness of an environment for their creative output? An enriched environment excites brain cells, making them more active and allowing for the growth of new dendrites, which then increases the surface area of the brain cell, creating more space for brain cells to make new connections . Therefore, everyone has a unique collection of connections between brain cells and these personal experiences create individuality. It has been notice through brain functioning images that, “the front of the brain is associated with the highest, most deeply human abilities—what are sometimes called ‘‘controlling’’ and ‘‘executive’’ functions of the brain” involving the prefrontal cortex region which plays a prominent role in assessing ones ability to create. It has been implied that the prefrontal cortex is one of the main players when performing the computation that transforms the novelty into creative behavior . Therefore, one might agree that in order to generate novel creativity one must be in an enriched environment. This could be because there is more information and social interaction, which could influence one to make remote associations and have more possibility for solutions during problem solving. However, enriched environments can be stressful, which could limit the performance of ones creative ability an...
Bruer, John T. The Myth of the First Three Years: A New Understanding of Early Brain Development and Lifelong Learning. New York: The Free Press 1999.
Many countries around the world have their own traditions. They are an important trait of humanity as they dictate the actions of every person who live under a specific culture. More often than not, people all over the world follow traditional practices with little regard to how and why they were started. Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga is centered on colonial Rhodesia during the 1960s where British and traditional African culture is prominent. Women, like Nyasha, struggle to liberate themselves from their culture’s patriarchal society by rebelling against female oppression. Nyasha’s rebellion is achieved through a series of actions that are based on her Westernized mindset, ultimately leading her to develop a nervous condition.
Environmental enrichment by definition is the “stimulation of the brain by its physical and social surroundings” (Wiki, 2016). This process takes place during neurodevelopment in the brain. During neurodevelopment, the brain is exposed to a stimulating environment, which leads to higher rates of Synaptogenesis (the formation of synapses in the neurons of the nervous system), more dendrites arbours and leads to an increase in brain activity. environmenatl enrichment enhances the capillaries vascular, providing glial cells with extra energy. It is wise to note, this process occurs both in animals and humans. However, it is commonly known to have been accurately experimented on animals, for examples rats. As this essay continues, it will critically
Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga is the story of young Tambu. The book starts off with her living with her parents, Ma’Shingyai and Jeremiah, and her brother, Nhambo in post-colonial Zimbabwe. After facing the news that her brother died, she and her immediate family decided move Tambu to live with her aunt and uncle, Babamukuru and Maiguru, to go to the missionary school where her uncle is head of and to get a better life for herself from the homestead. While living with her aunt, uncle, and their daughter, Nyahsa, Tambu realizes the nervous conditions that are around her as she sees the issues between race and gender in modern day Zimbabwe through her family. Even though, she has lived the luxury life of her uncle’s house, she sees that all things
Tsitsi Dangarembga’s novel Nervous Conditions tells the story of Tambu’s life. In the story of her life you meet her cousin Nyasha and her aunt Lucia. All three of these characters being perfect examples of what it was like to be feminists in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Nyasha and Lucia are aware of the patriarchy world they live in, but face many challenges due to this throughout the novel.