Everything we have learnt and discovered is because of the greatest organ we all possess: the brain. In the past 100 years the world has developed to an unimaginable extent and it is all ultimately down to the conceptualisation of ideas from this organ. The encephalon is so complexed it is limitless and my fascination for its importance and function has lead me to want to study neuroscience at university.
Ground breaking discoveries in neuroscience are being made each day that are new and fascinating. Whether it is something as extraordinary as a potential treatment for motor neurone disease to reduce the fatal symptoms, or something smaller like how research shows that when you finish other peoples sentences it is a result of the relay station
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This centre provides day care for adults aged 18-30 with disabilities such as autism and severe learning difficulties. I was thrown into an environment that I had personally never experienced, and it was truly unforgettable. Being surrounded by people limited by their disability made me intrigued as to how one organ, and the way it interacts with the body, can differ between individuals. It fascinated me how one small change in the brain- such as white matter damage or genetic changes- can cause such a large difference in a person. These encounters led me to further my knowledge of the subject by reading books by Oliver Sacks. In particular ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat’ showed me a variety of anecdotes from different people with neurological conditions. It opened my eyes to how something as simple as knowing the date can become distorted due to changes in the brain, and how there is no direct way of preventing or curing …show more content…
These opportunities have given me skills that will be vital for studying neuroscience- such as being able to meet deadlines, attend classes and value other members of the group. I can also work well independently, and I am currently completing my EPQ with the title ‘Why do we have different pain tolerances?’ which is a topic I enjoy researching about and is relevant to neurology. As well as this I have taken part in a 6 week course where I taught an elderly woman the basics of using technology, I gained from this experience understanding for other age groups and communication
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat is an informative book by Oliver Sacks which discusses a wide variety of neurological disorders of his patients. The book is divided into four sections which are Losses, Excesses, Transports, and The World of the Simple. Each section has its own theme and set of stories with different main character. There is no main character throughout the book except for the author who is Dr. Sacks sharing the stories and experiences of his patients. The theme of the section called Losses is the lack of function in the brain through a neurological disorder. Many people have neurologicasl diseases or disorders which causes them the inability of a function of the brain. Some examples which Sacks included were Aphonia,
Mark Haddon’s beautifully written and in-depth novel shows the ups and downs of being autistic, as well as a combination. Christopher is a very awkward person, who at the same time is somewhat of a virtuoso when it comes to numbers and math. He has a brilliant attention to detail, but he can’t understand the simplest forms of humour. These advantages and disadvantages can also cross paths occasionally, when what some would call an advanced ability turns out to have a negative impact, as well as a “disability” being rewarding. Haddon successfully shows how being autistic is both giving and taking in daily life, by dictating the life of the very diverse, Christopher John Francis Boone.
Have you ever felt isolated from the society because of something you are not responsible for? Mark Haddon in this story talks through the eyes of a fifteen year old autistic boy who is living in a troubled family due to his mother’s desires and his complications. Being autistic isn’t bad, it’s just the way people understand you. In this story the main character, Christopher, is facing problems facing the world due to autism and see’s the world in a remarkably different way. Through the mind of Christopher the story takes us through a journey that we would never experience. The story takes place in Swindon, United Kingdom and Haddon talks about many different ways to reveal the complexity of the story through character’s, conflicts and symbols,
Every individual's mind functions in a different and unique way. We all have idiosyncratic behaviours and functions. These distinctive characteristics are what make us who we are. But not all neurological differences help us in our day -to-day lives. Every individual also possess some psychological defects. These issues are clearly portrayed in the novel, The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon. In this story the protagonist is an autistic boy who faces many challenges in his life. Both his parents also face some complications in coping up with their son. Therefore the central theme in the novel, the curious incident of the dog in the night-time, delineated by Christopher (the autistic boy), the father, and the mother, is that everyone has psychological problems that they need to overcome.
Rowe, Peter. “Delving into the Mystery of Autism.” San Diego Union-Tribune 16 October 2001. 9 December 2001
The author illustrates the division existing between the disables and non-disables by showing the prejudice manifested by persons living at the Centre where Lou meets with his fellow autistics persons (46). Moon has the reader concerned by pointing out of how Emmy becomes disgusted after learning that Lou has developed some feeling for Marjory, a non-disabled person (46). Emmy sets Lou up thinking he is a freak and why Marjory would have any other interest in him other than diagnosis him (47). The author also challenges the discrimination showed against disabled persons by looking into the Lou’s dilemma and that of his workmates from how his autism condition affects each one of them differently, some positively others negatively. For instance, Moon shows us Lieutenant Stacy’s reaction, a detective, who offers a positive enforcement of Lou (73), which is not common. Lieutenant Stacy took a liking to Lou when he was protecting Lou from someone trying to cause harm to him. He was amazed of how Lou was able to calculate in his head and even came to Lou’s defense with Crenshaw after learning of the treatment they were being forced into. On the other hand, Crenshaw, Lou’s boss and the doctors have a negative attitude towards Lou condition where she says, “I found Lou’s medical doctors involved in his medical trial and boss, Crenshaw rather alarming in their willful pushing of undergoing the treatment, particularly with Lou’s boss who seems to act from a viewpoint of both financial benefit and narrowmindedness”
Griffin, Morgan. "What It’s Like to Have Autism." Web MD, 22 Apr 2009. Web. 19 Mar 2014. .
In Doctor Oliver Sacks’ book, “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales,” the reader follows Sacks’ recounting of odd mental health mysteries that he had encountered in his career and how he responded to them. Sorted into a great number of short-story-style recitations of abnormal maladies that Doctor Sacks’ patients were afflicted with, this novel explores a numerous amount of different cerebral sicknesses. These sicknesses vary massively from patient to patient in the symptoms and in how they manifest themselves. Throughout all of these, however, runs a strain of similarity: these are either unprecedented or very uncommon maladies that perplex the treatment teams helping the clients in the book, making it difficult
Somebody Somewhere offers a rear glimpse of the world of autism—from within. Australian born Donna Williams was diagnosed as psychotic at the tender age two, later as deaf, and ultimately as autistic; “Autism had had me in its cage for as long as I had ever known” (p. 5). In her book she describes her escape from “my” world, into “the” world. She talks about “picking up the pieces after a war” and “learning how to build somewhere out of nowhere and a somebody out of a nobody” (p. xi); yet she has something for everyone: “within each of us there is a stranger (or strangers) lurking in the shadows of our subconscious minds” (ibid). The author
“The word autism still conveys a fixed and dreadful meaning to most people—they visualize a child mute, rocking, screaming, inaccessible, cut off from human contact. And we almost always speak of autistic children, rarely of autistic adults, as if such children never grew up, or were somehow mysteriously spirited off the planet, out of society. Or else we think of an autistic “savant” a strange being with bizarre mannerisms and stereotypies, still cut off from normal life, but with uncanny powers of calculation, memory, drawing, whatever—like the savant portrayed in Rain Man. These pictures are not wholly false, but they fail to indicate that there are forms of autism which do not incapacitate in the same way, but may allow lives that are full of event and achievement, and a special sort of insight and courage too” (Grandin, 12).
...l awareness to the ability to process language and sensory experiences and integrate with ones own environment. Until research on autism and other developmental disabilities yields more information about how autism affects neurological function, children and adults who are affected will not be served to the fullest extent of our capabilities as providers of equal education and health care to all. It is only with more information about the neurological differences in the autistic brain that we will fully understand the best way to teach persons with autism so that they might participate to their fullest potential within their community. It is my personal belief that great progress will be made during my own lifetime and that a new level of outcome will be the normal expectation for parents when their child receives this shattering diagnosis during the next generation.
A couple of autistic children tend to excel in intelligence as about 40% have above average intellectual disabilities (“What is Autism,1”). Their talent is also impressive, “Many of the positively affected excel in visual skills, music, math and art” (“What is Autism,1”). ASD proves to be a disorder that may luckily impact a person’s life in a positive manner. Despite there being some positivity in autism, there is also a negative side. Autistic children may struggle in their daily lives as “ASD causes difficulties in motor coordination and attention and physical health issues” (“What is Autism,2”).The disorder causes abnormalities that create uncomfortability such as sleep and gastrointestinal disturbances (“What is Autism,2”). ASD also has the ability to antagonize life. ASD will either positively affect someone’s life, or make it an
The one instant I can pinpoint as the genesis of my interest in biomedical science was the winter of sixth grade, when I picked up a book on creativity and the brain. I found it fascinating, but what really struck me was that here was a several hundred page book that mostly talked about how little we knew about its topic. It made me think. This was supposed to be a book about how much we’ve learned, and what it’s saying is that the progress we’ve made is only in finding out how little we know. This didn’t upset me; it made me curious. Because, of all the things that we should know about, surely our own minds and our own bodies are paramount among them, and yet we still have so much to learn. I’ve since learned that this phenomenon is not restricted to the biological – gravity is one of the most important things in our lives, yet we do not know its cause. But the biomedical questions continue to fascinate me, perhaps because the answers are so vital. Sure, cosmology is intriguing, but what about a cure for cancer, or even the common cold? What about a way of repairing or bypass...
Overcoming Challenges With Love and Support Parents of children with special needs are faced with many difficult challenges, both emotionally and physically. Christy Brown is a successful author who was born in 1932 with a severe case of cerebral palsy, a neurological disorders that disabled him from using any other part of his body other than his left foot. In the essay “The Letter ‘A,’” written by Christy Brown, he wrote, “almost every doctor who saw and examined me labeled me a very interesting but also a hopeless case” (74), but he proved them wrong. Despite the almost impossible odds, his family’s determination and relentless hope in him helped him develop and become a successful writer and painter.
Mastering fine motor skills is a very important process needed for physical and cognitive development. It is during early childhood that most children develop these skills, however there are many children that do not. A young child’s fine motor skills are developed through a vast array of activities that aide the child in doing little things such as grasping a toy as an infant, and buttoning buttons as a toddler or tying shoes when they are a preschooler. Fine motor development is the development of the small muscles in the hands and fingers. Many crucial daily activities depend on strong motor skills, such as writing, using eating utensils and getting dressed, among other things. Without fine motor skills a child will have difficulties preforming