...extent can cognitive development be understood in terms of specialisation of function in specific structures of the brain? INTRODUCTION In relation to what extent cognitive development can be understood in terms of specialisation of specific structures of the brain, this assignment will observe and use developmental cognitive neuropsychology which explains and seeks to understand a functional relationship between the human brain and its function. In this assignment I will produce two contrasting theories within regards to the functional specialisation, I will accomplish this with study and analysis while debating which brain functions contest and develop by exploring specific key concepts of brain development such as contesting influences that the environment may have upon a maturing brain. Throughout this essay not only will I be discussing concepts of brain development but I will also briefly present the function of language and that it is reliant upon specific structures “Cortical” and whether a pre-specified “particular region” of the brain may have a role in supporting cognitive functions and finally in-turn by using evidence based research within relation to the pre-frontal cortex I will conclude this assignment. In order to explain specialisation of function development of the brain, I will now associate functional specialisation and structural differentiation. There are particular cognitive functions and specific cortical areas in a typical “adult” brain, yet a developing...
Words: 1586 - Pages: 7
...Phineas Gage and the Cognitive Function The introduction of this paper includes Phineas Gage and the position of cognitive brain functions. The narrative of Phineas Gage can be and will be examined and the clarification of cognitive functioning in regard to his condition is vital and is part the main topic of this paper. The cognitive brain functions are examined in this paper as well. Cognitive function is when a person uses his or her mental processes to educate, find purpose, find solutions, find choices, and comprehend to then understand. When you can bring your attention to remembering events you’re more likely to focus. In lacking cognitive processing we, as humans would not be able to properly function. We use these daily processes to tackle life events, work, home, and all other task that tie into cognitive process but we must first scrutinize what the brain is made of, its structures, and the ability to see the brain create a variety of cognitions. The brain has created a set of structures named the limbic system. The structure is made up of the cerebrum, hippocampus, diencephalon, midbrain, anterior thalamic nuclei, amygdalae, septum, limbic cortex, and the fornix. This structure or system assists in the functions of behavior, inspiration, and memory. The brain’s cognitive function is tied to four lobes of the brain, which are very vital. The cognitive processing remains in the cortex of the brain. In order to understand the correlation of the brain and its functionality...
Words: 1017 - Pages: 5
...decline in cognitive capacity as time progresses. Data indicates that deterioration of the biological framework that underlies the ability to think and reason begins as early as the mid twenties and includes a drop in regional brain volume, loss of myelin integrity, cortical thinning, impaired serotonin, acetylcholine, and dopamine receptor binding and signaling, accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles, and altered concentrations of various brain metabolites. Cumulatively, these changes give rise to a variety of symptoms associated with aging, such as forgetfulness, decreased ability to maintain focus, and decreased problem solving capability. If left unchecked, symptoms oftentimes progress into more serious conditions, such as dementia and depression, or even Alzheimer’s disease. Cognitive decline does not affect all individuals equally; clear associations exist between the rate and severity of cognitive decline and a variety of factors, including oxidative stress and free radical damage, chronic low-level inflammation, declining hormone levels, endothelial dysfunction, excess body weight, suboptimal nutrition, lifestyle, social network, other medical conditions, and various biomarkers. Fortunately, many of these factors are modifiable to a significant extent, and proactive lifestyle changes, cognitive training, and nutritional interventions have been shown to decrease the rate of intellectual decay and potentially reverse age-related cognitive decline. The Aging Brain The aging...
Words: 1017 - Pages: 5
...Terry Lee PSY/360 April 15, 2012 Stacy Page Introduction The human brain has numerous functions that include coordination of body functions, reasoning ability, and cognition. In order for human beings to carry out their day to day activities, it is critically essential that the brain functions normally. Cognition is one of the most important aspects of psychology and it refers to the various mental processes. Prior to Phineas Gage’s famous accident in 1848, neuroscientists strongly believed that the brain’s role in cognitive functioning was minimal. (Scheffer, 2005)However, after the extensive research that was inspired by his accident, this perception changed and presently, the role of brain in cognitive functions cannot be underrated. Overview of Phineas Gage Accident Working for a big construction company in the year 1848, Phineas Gage was skilled in performing numerous tasks in any construction site. He had even been entrusted by his employees as a foreman in the construction site as a result of his experience and illustrious character. On that fateful day while working on a construction project in Vermont, Phineas Gage sustained a horrific injury to his brain when a huge metallic rod accidentally penetrated through his skull. (Fleischman, 2004) The magnitude of the damage caused by this injury was there for all to see; the metallic rod had left a gaping hole in Gage’s skull. Amazingly, Phineas Gage survived the accident. However, this injury completed changed his...
Words: 942 - Pages: 4
...Cognitive Functions and Phineas Gage The discussion of this paper is the role of cognitive brain functions and Phineas Gage. The amazing story of Phineas Gage will be analyzed and the explanation of cognitive functioning in regard to his situation is very interesting and is also a major topic in this paper. Cognitive brain functions will be thoroughly examined in this paper as well. Cognitive functioning is when an individual has the ability to use mental processes to learn, reason, problem solve, make decisions, and comprehend. It also helps in focusing your attention and remembering events. Without cognitive processing humans would not be able to function properly. We use these processes to eat, sleep, work, go to school, plan events, and teach. Our daily functions such as cooking, eating, completing hygiene, cleaning, washing clothes, and other life skills heavily depend on cognitive functioning. What are the cognitive functions of the brain? To answer this question we must first examine what the brain is made of and what structures in the brain create a variety of cognitions. The brain has a set of structures called the limbic system. This system is made up of the cerebrum, diencephalon, midbrain, hippocampus, amygdalae, anterior thalamic nuclei, septum, limbic cortex, and the fornix. This system helps with the functions of emotion, behavior, motivation, and long term memory. The four lobes of the brain are important for the brain’s cognitive functioning. The four lobes...
Words: 984 - Pages: 4
...Patricia Adesso Phineas Gage The brain is most complex of all of the organs in the body. The brain is the place where emotions, perception, planning, memory, action, thinking, learning and language, among other things, all take place. Cognitive functioning takes place in the cerebrum, the largest part of the brain and is carried out by neurons. The brain is made up of thousands of neurons that are responsible for carrying messages from the brain and into the body. These neurons interact with one another by releasing a neurotransmitter that fits on to the receptor of a neighboring neuron. When the receptor is triggered in the brain it causes the body to react, act, think, feel, learn and so forth. But how does this actually work? Brain imaging has given us some insight to answer this question. Brain imaging like MRI’s, CAT, and PET scans all help in discovering the brains role in cognitive functioning. Advances in imaging technology have helped researchers pin point which areas of the brain are responsible for thinking, learning and memory. By recording activity of the brain in action, researchers can examine the systems of brain regions that participate in different cognitive functions, ranging from basic sensory and motor functions to complex functions like reasoning and language understanding. According to the Center for Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC) at the University of Pittsburg “To discover how brain cells actually support cognitive processes, CNBC investigators use...
Words: 827 - Pages: 4
...our cognitive abilities slowly deteriorate.Some changes to an extend is a normal part of ageing But in some people,it may exceed the limit and leads to dementia.Where people find it difficult to cope up with day to day tasks completing. People vary greatly in the level to which their brains, and the rest of their bodies, decline with age. The basic cognitive functions most affected by age,also are attention and memory. Neither of these are unitary functions.‘Normal cognitive ageing’ is crude average; it hides the fact that there are more or less successful studies of cognitive change as people become older....
Words: 529 - Pages: 3
...Cognitive Psychology Tonya Hill PSY/360 June 17, 2013 Eric Tomlinson The Definition of Cognitive Psychology Cognitive Psychology is a psychological perspective that addresses mental processes such as thinking, problem solving, remembering, believing, and speaking, and seeks to identify behavior by characteristics other than its obvious properties (Defining Cognitive Psychology 2011). It includes mental representation and the use of abstract constructs to find relationships between brain structure and their functions (Willingham, 2007).This area of psychology is important in order to acquire knowledge and gain an understanding on how a person’s mental process works. Four Key Milestones in Cognitive Psychology There are at least four key milestones in the development of cognitive psychology as a discipline and they are as follows: the failure of behaviorism, the computer metaphor and information processing, abstract constructs of artificial intelligence and neuroscience. Behaviorism was similar to cognitive psychology but it failed to identify mental processes. Freud’s psychoanalysis required that mental processes be identified in the study of cognitive psychology but behaviorism failed to meet this need. All aspects of the human psyche needed to be accommodated especially in the area of language and memory. This lead psychologists to really rethink behaviorism and gave support for the development of another area of science that would focus attention on...
Words: 815 - Pages: 4
...The Role of the Brain in Cognitive Functions Science unrolls and unravels the many functions of the brain through research, inference, experiments and actual real life occurrences. Such was the case of Phineas Gage (1823 – 1860), a young foreman on the railroad in the mid 1800’s who survived a blasting accident which destroyed a part of his brain. Documentation on Mr. Gage’s health and personality before and after the accident opened the door to the role of the brain in cognitive functions. Phineas Gage’s accident and apparent recovery precipitated the idea that there was a connection between the human brain and the personality. First, prior to Mr. Gage’s phenomenal recovery from the loss of a substantial part of his brain, scientists believed that the brain was an entire “organ”, and that all of it was needed to function at all. The incidence with Phineas’ recovery and his continual capability to function altered scientific thinking substantially. Secondly, the adaptation that he made in his personality opened further doors for studying the cognitive adaptability of the brain. According to friends and collegues, Gage was no longer Gage. Once a friendly and affable, easy to get along with individual, he became stubborn, argumentative and forgetful, unable to organize his life in a reasonable manner. He could no longer hold down a job. Phineas Gage died 12 years after a rod pierced his skull and permanently damaged his frontal cortex. The scientific studies that...
Words: 619 - Pages: 3
...“The Wisdom Paradox” (Goldberg, 2005) is a fascinating book about the biology of cognitive wisdom, including its unique costs and benefits. This book provides a thorough explanation of how people in later stages of life successfully undertake major cognitive tasks, as well as how this aptitude can be maximized. With vigorous and life-long mental activity in novel tasks learning new information, an aging person can gain wisdom and minimize clinical brain injury. Wisdom has intellectual, practical, moral, and spiritual facets. It can be defined as extensive pattern recognition of new information or situations as accurately being in some way similar to familiar information or situations, thus leading to successful problem-solving and reasoning abilities. There are many types of wisdom, including genetic, phylum wisdom, species or cultural wisdom, group wisdom, and individual wisdom. The wisdom of the phylum, which is contained in the amygdala, includes genetically-programmed, innate fears and survival mechanisms that have existed in all species for millions of years through evolution. This type of wisdom uses sensory and motor regions of the cortex, as well as subcortical regions of the brain. Cultural wisdom is expressed as language and other symbolic systems passed down through the generations for thousands of years. Language is made up of a self-organizing, complex neural network widely spread throughout various regions of the cortex that are not pre-wired. Group wisdom includes...
Words: 3619 - Pages: 15
...Neuropsychology is the branch of psychology which investigates the function and structure of the brain as it relates to processes of cognition such as; memory, perception, thinking, recognition and the human ability to solve problems, ( Jansari, 2010 p.60). Since the second half of the nineteenth century neurologist began studying brain damage in patients, more specifically their research has examined the effect of brain damage and its implication for normal cognitive functions. It has therefore being argued that in order to understand a working system, one must understand how it can fail, (Jansari, 2010 p. 59). This can refine and possibly constrain existing theories, as well as inspire the formulation of future concepts with regards to the structure of normal cognition. Evidence is based on case studies of individual brain damaged patients who show deficits in particular areas of the brain, from such studies researchers infer that different areas of the brain are highly specialized. Furthermore the development of more accurate techniques, aided by more effective research paradigms has increased our understanding of cognitive functions, in areas such as disassociation, plasticity, memory, localization and face processing, which would be explored later in the essay. Cognitive neuropsychology has however shown that there are limitations in understanding cognition where questions regarding methodology may arise, for instance studying single patient symptoms may pose problem for...
Words: 2361 - Pages: 10
...Cognitive psychology is a scientific subset of psychology that studies mental processes including thinking, memory, perception and learning. This discipline focuses on cognition and acquiring information. Cognitive psychology studies how an individual distinguishes, learns and retains information; thinks, rationalizes and responds. Cognitive psychology, according to the text, focuses on how a person feels on the inside. (Willingham, 2007). 1.2 Identify key milestones in the development of cognitive psychology as a discipline. Cognitive psychology developed as a deeper analysis of mental processes associated with behavioral psychology (behaviorism). The development of cognitive psychology is largely attributed to Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis. Its development includes several milestones and key approaches which make cognitive psychology one of the most important disciplines of psychology. The basic foundation of cognitive psychology is Alderian psychology. The evolution of cognitive psychology is evident in several main approaches which are presently influential: Ellis’s “Rationale Emotive Therapy” Beck’s works in cognitive therapy Computational cognitive approach Cognitive neuropsychology 1.3 Discuss the importance of behavioral observation in cognitive psychology. Observation must be made in order to understand and explain behavior. Cognition, in the mental and inner sense, can only be measured by observing behavior patterns; inner states are not visible. 1.4 Explain...
Words: 407 - Pages: 2
...Effects of Aging on Cognitive Development Daphney Walker PSYCH/640 May 5, 2014 Holly Berry Effects of Aging on Cognitive Development Aging is a natural process of life however, studies show that there are some age-related decline in cognitive development. As a person grows older some brain cell dies, shrink, or weaken and cause some decline in brain functions. Some cognitive processes include attention, working memory, long-term memory, perception, and executive control. The material will explain the effect of aging on cognitive development by providing scholarly research proof. Cognitive Development Cognition is the process by which human beings learn about the world and the objects in it and also understand the relationship between themselves, the objects, and themselves. It is the ability of a person to learn and understand from his or her experiences, to acquire and retain knowledge to use in new situations, and solve problems. Cognitive development refers to the process of growth to the intellectual or mental abilities such as thinking, reasoning, and understanding. Cognitive development includes acquiring and condensing of knowledge. Social-emotional, language, perceptual, motor and environment experiences aid in cognitive development in infant. Piaget’s development theory gives an understanding of cognitive development from birth to adulthood. He postulated that when a child enters the world he or she lacks the cognitive competencies that an adult has. However...
Words: 889 - Pages: 4
...of the human brain support cognitive function. I will also discuss the characteristics of primary memory, the process of memory from perception and retrieval and the unreliability of memory retrieval. Phineas Gage Phineas gage is known as one of the most famous documented cases of brain injury. This brain injury occurred on September 13th, 1848 while Gage was working on the railroad excavating rocks with a tampering rod in the State of Vermont. An explosion occurred on the job-site that caused a tampering rod propelled at an extremely high speed to enter and penetrate Gage’s skull. This tampering rod entered his skull under his left cheek bone and exited through the top of his head; it was later recovered with bits of brain matter and blood on it. The amazing thing is that throughout this horrific accident, Mr. Gage never lost consciousness, in fact, by January of the following year; he had started to live a normal life. However, it was noted that around this time, Mr. Gage was considered to be suffering from some major changes in his personality. What Phineas Gage’s Accident Reveals about Cognitive Functions “Cognition refers to the higher order functions that are needed for learning and interacting with a person's environment. Each human brain is capable of multiple cognitive functions, such as memory, attention, executive functions and language. Each of the cognitive brain functions is highly interconnected, with an exchange of information between functions” (Stannard...
Words: 1718 - Pages: 7
...the human brain is an aspect that many have tried to fathom as well as study in a bid to understand how it works. Many have been taken aback by what they have been able to figure out about the brain and its functions. The brain has over time been regarded as one of the most important organs in the body, and that can be tied to the fact that most bodily functions can be controlled by the single organ. The destruction or the dysfunction of the brain could mean death or even other problems such as mental disorders. The field of memory, cognition and thought are unique areas when it comes to understanding the functioning of the brain. Cognitive psychologists are concerned with being able to study how the brain works as well as why people act as they do. Some areas are involved in the field of neuropsychology with each of them being a crucial pillar. Cognitive neurology deals with studying the mental process such as memory, creativity, thinking and perception (Mohn & Rund, 2016). That means being able to understand the inner workings of the brain and its relation to the mind. Clinical psychology deals with the management as well as the rehabilitation of individuals who have suffered from illnesses as well as injuries that cause neurocognitive problems. That may include post-traumatic stress disorder patients or bipolar disorder patients. The field also covers behavioral neurology which deals with memory, behavior and cognition as well as how that impacts the functions of the brain...
Words: 3097 - Pages: 13
