Striatum

What were they Thinking? The Adolescent Brain Teenagers in the 21st century. A girl whose parents always told her that hot, popular boys aren’t so ‘hot’ in the inside, becomes pregnant by a boy she barely even knew. The shy boy who always knew never to take drugs or alcohol from anyone, goes to a party and comes home, drunk. An extremely gifted kid who excelled all throughout high school, drops out of college and now lives in their parent’s attic, with barely any money in the bank or even a job…

Teens should view risky behavior as dangerous and should be cautious when choosing a risk because the effect could be perilous. In the article, “The Teenage Brain,” it talks about the ventral striatum, often referred to as the ‘reward center’ of the brain by stating that the region can drive us to repeat behaviors that provide a reward, such as money and treats.” The ventral system can be dangerous because a teen could be taking a risk that they know is unacceptable, but the ventral system will…

put a warning before the game can be played, in hopes that the number of game induced seizures will decrease over time. One difference that is possible between some gamers and non-gamers, is that “gamers tend to have a larger striatum” (Thomas np). By having a larger striatum, the size of the hippocampus is reduced, which can affect the memories of the user. By the hippocampus being less active, the user is more likely to develop disorders such as Alzheimer 's. Though aggression is not a common…

“Learning to choose is hard. Learning to choose well is harder. And learning to choose well in a world of unlimited possibilities is harder still, perhaps too hard.” (Barry Schwartz) Every day, consumers have to make decisions on which brand to choose, which product to buy and what advertisement sounds credible. Unfortunately, the decision making process has become so complicated due to the amount of choices and information available. The question then becomes: what (why) influences consumers…

Music has been a major factor in the world for centuries. In an article written by Perham and Withey in 2002 it is said that music has been identified as a popular pastime for thousands of people around the world. In an article written by Hanser and Mark, it is said that, “It was recently established that newborn infants already possess the ability to recognize the beat in music” (Hanser and Mark). So, this means that people must be hard wired from birth to utilize music. People have been known…

various ways to scan subject’s brains while they were actively multitasking and studying. He found that instead of the information traveling directly to the hippocampus, the region dedicated to storing and recalling information, it goes towards the striatum, the region where new skills are learned and developed. This is particularly…

Computed tomography (CT) scanning technology was discovered in 1972 and revolutionized the world of neuroimaging (Sadock, Sadock, & Ruiz, 2014). The CT scan was the first technique to allow the imaging of brain tissue in living patients (Sadock, Sadock, & Ruiz, 2014). During a CT scan, a patient lies on a flat surface, which incrementally moves through what is referred to as a gantry (Sadock, Sadock, & Ruiz, 2014). A gantry is a round shaped structure that contains a motorized x-ray source…

Some stimulant drugs contain properties that allow the pathway to be activated in the ventral tegmental and striatum area. Dopamine factors are involved in reward mechanisms due to drugs. The activation of the dopamine mechanism is due to euphoria created from the drug. (Breiter HC et al.) Experiencing stress involving high release of glucocorticoids caused an…

Imaging studies have identified structural changes associated with early onset depression in the hippocampus, amygdala, striatum, and frontal cortex (Carek, Laibstain, & Carek, 2011). Depressed patients have decreased hippocampal volume and antidepressant medications promote hippocampal neurogenesis (Carek, Laibstain, & carek, 2011). It has been hypothesized that exercise…

again after nine months. Their results showed that there was no differences between short and protracted abstinence in the cerebellum, caudate or putamen of meth abusers who were evaluated twice. However, binding of [11C] d-threo-methylphenidate in striatum showed a significant increase…