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The documentary, “Amazing Secrets About the Human Brain” presented by the History Channel, explains how the brain works to people with little to no academic knowledge on the subject. The brain is “the most complicated device” humans have found, so it is certainly a topic of interest to many. In the past few years, knowledge of the brain has grown significantly. The documentary’s goal is to describe the complexity of the brain and how it influences various human behaviors, such as fear, sexual arousal, sports performance, and psychic mediums. With a minor shortcoming, the documentary does a sufficient job of introducing the complexity and workings of the brain to people with little knowledge of the topic.
The documentary includes many accurate
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One of the first examples used in the documentary describes how Navy Seals are trained to gain better control of their fear response. The documentary describes the activities the trainees undergo to handle fear better. However, this example applies to a limited number of people. The documentary also fails to discuss the importance of the fear response. The section on the Navy Seals only shows the negative aspect of the fear response. As Steven Johnson mentioned in his book Mind Wide Open, the fear response is necessary for survival. The Navy Seals example encourages the lack of fear, which is dangerous to humans.
The documentary is an excellent source of information for novices on the topic of brain science. The complexity of the brain is addressed while still allowing the viewer to learn the basic workings of the brain. A wide range of viewer’s interests are included, so most people will find something of interest within the film. Research experiments are important sources of evidence in the documentary and several are used to support the claims of the documentary. The main weak point was the failure to address the importance of the fear response after idolizing the lack of it in Navy Seal
Sian Beilock is the author of this novel, the information written by her would be considered credible due to the fact that she is a leading expert on brain science in the psychology department at the University of Chicago. This book was also published in the year 2015 which assures readers that the information it contains is up to date and accurate. The novel is easy to understand and the author uses examples of scientific discoveries to help make the arguments more relatable. Beilock goes into depth about how love, is something more than just an emotion, it derives from the body’s anticipation. “Volunteers reported feeling
In “The Brain on trial”, David Eagleman (2011) recounts the horrifying events which occurred on August 1, 1966. Charles Whitman entered the University of Texas with a rifle and secured himself in the bell tower. He then proceeded to shoot and kill 13 people and injure 32 more. Whitman was also shot and killed; however, during his autopsy it was discovered that a tumor was pressing against his amygdala. According to Eagleman, “The amygdala is involved in emotional regulation, especially of fear and aggression” (2011). Therefore, Whitman was possibly experiencing a fundamental change in his emotions and personality due to the tumor. Though Whitman did not survive, his case still poses questions as to whether or not he should be held accountable for his actions; moreover, should Whitman have received the maximum punishment for the murder he committed? Charles Whitman may not have had control over the feelings of “rage and irrational thoughts” (2011) he was experiencing; however, the precision of the attack indicates he was well aware of the actions he was committing.
In The article “Brainology” “Carol S Dweck, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, differentiates between having a fixed and growth mindset in addition how these mindsets have a deep effect on a student’s desire to learn. Individuals who have a fixed mindset believe they are smart without putting in effort and are afraid of obstacles, lack motivation, and their focus is to appear smart.. In contrast, students with a growth mindset learn by facing obstacles and are motivated to learn. Dwecks argues that students should develop a growth mindset.
In Carol Dweck’s “Brainology” the article explains how our brain is always being altered by our experiences and knowledge during our lifespan. For this Dweck conducted a research in what students believe about their own brain and their thoughts in their intelligence. They were questioned, if intelligence was something fixed or if it could grow and change; and how this affected their motivation, learning, and academic achievements. The response to it came with different points of views, beliefs, or mindset in which created different behavior and learning tendencies. These two mindsets are call fixed and growth mindsets. In a fixed mindset, the individual believes that intelligence is something already obtain and that is it. They worry if they
As far as I could remember I was never really any good at school. I couldn’t concentrate on things for no more than 5 minutes at a time I would either get discouraged or find it too easy and just give up. An author by the name of Carol Dweck wrote an article called “Brainology” in it Dweck describes that there are two types of mindsets fixed and growth. Those who are afraid to fail so they never try anything new are ones with a fixed mindset and the growth mindset are those who are not afraid to fail and find a new challenge an opportunity to learn something new. I guess you can say that I had a bit of a fixed mindset growing up I was always too scared to look stupid that I didn’t want to fail because I didn’t want to disappoint my siblings
Past, Present, and Promise 'Past, Present, and Promise'; is the first volume in the twenty-six volume set. The video begins by introducing the series and going over basic definitions such as the definition of psychology. The video continues on by giving an example of a disorder that psychologists may work with- multiple personality disorder. A woman who has an extreme case of this disorder is introduced. At times she believes she is a scared seven year old girl named Carol, and at other times she has a coarse personality of a man named Devan.
Fear motivates many people to act upon matters, right or wrong. This emotion has been important in many events in both works of literature, and in the real world. It has forced military geniuses into retreat, and influenced them to plan another method of attack. Fear can be both a positive and a negative acting force in one’s life, a quality that can motivate one to success as well as to downfall.
Ripley, Amanda. "Your Brain Under Fire. (Cover Story)." Time 181.3 (2013): 34-41. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 Mar. 2014.
The biological perspective examines how brain processes and other bodily functions regulate behaviour. It emphasizes that the brain and nervous system are central to understanding behaviour, thought, and emotion. It is believed that thoughts and emotions have a physical basis in the brain. Electrical impulses zoom throughout the brain’s cells, releasing chemical substances that enable us to think, feel, and behave. René Descartes (1596–1650) wrote an influential book (De Homine [On Man]) in which he tried to explain how the behaviour of animals, and to some extent the behaviour of humans, could be like t...
“The brain in the stand.” New York Times Magazine. 11 Mar. 2007 elibrary. Web. 02 apr. 2014.
Our brains weigh about three pounds and are divided into two similar looking but functionally different hemisphere, the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. Both of which are connected by a large bundle of nerves called the corpus collosum. In some people with severe seizure disorders such as epilepsy, it was found that if this bundle of nerves was severed their seizure would either cease or a the very least be better controlled. From this surgical procedure it was discovered that the two hemispheres had different methods of processing information, as well as controlling parts of the body. The left hemisphere controls the right have of the body and the right hemisphere controls the left side.
Just like every other scientist who has and will try to find an answer to the human brain and emotions, Joseph LeDoux also claims that we will never fully understand the neural foundation of emotion through humans. Yet, to soothe his curiosity of the many questions, he performs an experimental try towards animals and rats to unravel the brain’s emotional hidden secrets. He gives logical interpretation of what emotions are, how they operate in the brain, and why they have such important impacts on our lives. The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life written by Joseph LeDoux manages to blend psychology and biology in the neuroscience fields to portray the correlation among the brain and the emotion and allows readers to fairly define emotions in their own opinion and understand the complexity behind it through his well studied facts and quality themes t...
The human body is divided into many different parts called organs. All of the parts are controlled by an organ called the brain, which is located in the head. The brain weighs about 2. 75 pounds, and has a whitish-pink appearance. The brain is made up of many cells, and is the control centre of the body. The brain flashes messages out to all the other parts of the body.
One scientist, Damasio, provided an explanation how emotions can be felt in humans biologically. Damasio suggested, “Various brain structures map both the organism and external objects to create what he calls a second order representation. This mapping of the organism and the object most likely occurs in the thalamus and cingulate cortices. A sense of self in the act of knowing is created, and the individual knows “to whom this is happening.” The “seer” and the “seen,” the “thought” and the “thinker” are one in the same.” By mapping the brain scientists can have a better understandi...
When we watch an intense scene in a film our heart rate and blood pressure increase. This can and does lead to heart attacks, in people who have cardiovascular weaknesses. Even if you are young and healthy, watching horror movies can mess with you in ways you didn’t expect. When you get scared your adrenaline and cortisone levels spike. This in turn can dredge up repressed traumatic memories. The change in your brain chemistry reminds you of times when it was in a similar state, even if you had no idea you even had those memories. An example of a Horror movies that have influenced real life is Jaws. This blockbuster has a large shark terrorizing a small resort town, causing the local police chief to team with a marine biologist and shark hunter to take it down. Though shark attacks are hugely infrequent in real life, Spielberg’s film blew away that fact and struck fear deep into beach-loving folks’ hearts, causing widespread panic that a shark could strike at any time. The movie’s sheer terror factor was nothing like audiences had seen before, and the result was that, for a while, beach tourism took a notable hit from coast to coast as punters feared they would be munched to pieces. Every single person who saw