Basal ganglia

Imagine living in a world where there was a cure for cancer and genetic diseases. Although it may sound impossible, it has already been done. With gene therapy, which is a technique where a gene that is either defective or missing is replaced with healthy ones through genetic engineering, doctors are able to treat people with cancer and immunodeficiencies. Immunodeficiencies are, “Rare but life-threatening genetic diseases that severely compromise the integrity and function of the immune…

Understanding the Symptoms and Treatments of Parkinson’s Disease In this day and age, many people are affected with a wide range of diseases that can potentially last for a few months to a lifetime. However, there are a few factors that can alter the outcome of a disease depending on an individual’s environment and wellbeing. Some of the factors involved includes: age, gender, and genetics. It is commonly known that as we age throughout life, we have a higher risk to be prone to more than one…

around neural responses to rewards have implicated neural circuits associated with dopamine (DA). The ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the midbrain contains DA; which contributes to reward evaluation. The neural linked to reward consists of the basal ganglia, the amygdala, and the hippocampus, as well as to cortical regions like the medial frontal lobe (Textbook). Costa, Tran, Turchi and Averbeck (2014) concluded that monkeys prefer a novel choice option to a familiar one when their DA…

INTER LINGUAL HOMOPHONE RETRIEVAL IN YOUNGER ADULTS Abstract: INTRODUCTION: Homophones are one group of words which pronounced in the same way but differing in meaning or spelling or both. Interlingual homophones are words that have identical phonology across languages but different meanings. An example is /more/ which means “peacock” in Hindi and pronounced as “more” in English. Bilingualism is commonly defined as the use of at least two languages by an individual (ASHA,…

Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological condition that was named after a French neurologist in 1885. George Gilles described children with symptoms that include onset of jerky movements of the body called tics. The tics were associated with uncontrollable noises or obscene utterances. The neurologist noticed that some of the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, poor control of impulses and other cognitive behavioral problems. Tourette is a common biological, genetic disorder that manifests…

the hippocampus, the neocortex, and the amygdala. Their jobs are to help you remember events that happened to you (episodic), as well as general facts and information. Our second kind of memories are called implicit memories. They rely on the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. Last but not least, our short-term working memory relies most heavily on the prefrontal cortex. The brain is divided into three main parts: the brainstem, the cerebellum, and the cerebrum. The cerebrum is then divided…

muscle, and it eventually comes to the point where the person must relieve this tic in order to prevent further discomfort. The cause for Tourette’s is unknown, however research has pointed towards abnormalities in certain brain parts including basal ganglia, frontal lobes, cortex, and neurotransmitters which are responsible for nerve cell communication. Associated behaviors of those affected can involve symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and depression. Treatment usually…

In the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, he claims people can understand and change personal habits. Duhigg provides a description of the so-called habit loop composed of a cue, routine, and reward, pointing out the cues start habits and rewards signal the brain to remember routines. In fact, the author's purpose is to inform the reader about habit loops so they can see how habits work and thus remake them. With Duhigg’s insight about habits, students can stop the bad habit of…

The near death experience was first defined to be a spur of consciousness leading to an altered-reality experience on random individuals who reach the state of clinical death by a lack of oxygen to the brain that implies complete unconsciousness on those individuals (Khanna & Greyson, 2014, p. 1605). Near death experience recounts highlight similarities among those who experience them. Characteristics such as out of body experiences, diving into darkness to then transport into a light-filled…

As one ages, new and more difficult physical and mental health problems arise. Among those issues are diseases such as arthritis, dementia, and osteoporosis. In particular, Dementia is a syndrome that results in the loss of memory and other intellectual capabilities occurring most often as one ages, “affecting 1.4 million people and their families” (LBD Association). Lewy Body Dementia is the second most common type of dementia following Alzheimer's. The disease causes degeneration of the brain…