Sleeping and Dreaming

 Dreams appear when we are sleeping. Dreaming is not as simple as "ohh we sleep and we immediately dream" it is far more complicated than kid's basics. Sleeping is composed of various stages that are continuously repeated various times as soon as we go to sleep. Scientists have developed many ingenious ways to test dreams, such as removing a cat's part of the brain that makes them be paralyzed during their state of sleep, and it resulted in the cat reenacting their dreams. This is a radical treatment that scientists refuse to try with humans. Also their is a scientist that proved that if woken during any other sleep state other than rem or rapid eye movement, the person will have positive thoughts or emotions and if woken in rem then they will have dark thoughts and emotions. Also they have tried to harness dreams. A scientist will flash a light to someone sleeping but this won't wake them but will simply make them aware of them being asleep. So the persons will be able to control their dreams. To conclude dreams are fascinating but are still a mystery to u and we must wait till their secrets are revealed.

Sleep Problems

Narcolepsy can instantly shoot rapid stages of  sleep at any time. So you will fall asleep in almost any place this disease strikes. It is a sleep disorder and comes in a variety of stages or how harsh it is. Some are so harsh that in a day you can fall asleep 60 times. This is dead serious because without help or assistance then it can be fatal in case you fall asleep in the wrong place. We saw a video on this poor man who has a severe case of narcolepsy. He also has a disease where all his muscles just sleep too, and combined with narcolepsy it is highly dangerous. This man can fall asleep on an interview and even when walking on the sidewalk, you might laugh at him or what he does, but what if he fell asleep while crossing the street alone, or when cooking with a sharp knife? You should think more considerately and not be childish about this. This man is a fighter because without his will to continue his life with this rare and harsh abnormality then he would not be alive yet. So think about this and do something for a change. 

Sensory Deprivation and It's Affect on the Brain

This week in class we watched a video describing the effects of social isolation, and mental isolation, which is basically when someone is left totally alone and complelty with out an activity to entertain themselves, so without mental stimulation. This controversial test is simply to test the effects on the brain, and the theory was that the brain’s abilities would be slowed after prolonged periods of no stimulation. This was due to the study which showed that the brain can lose unused connections in order to run more effectively and spend less energy, by narrowing the pathways. Six ordinary people were choosen to particate in this experiment in which they are taken to an underground nuclear bunker where they are depreived of mental stimulation, locked in a dark room with nothing to do for two days a full forty eight hours. They were tested before hand to see their memory, information processing, and succesptiably, which is basically their ability to resist the urge to change their minds from their own view points. After the experiment they were tested again to shocking results: the women were unaffected in succesptiably while the men were much more succesptiable. This helps prove that it was a successful torture tool, due to it being able to cause men to change opions much easier. It also showed that the effects of isolation can be really bad for our brain and mental abilities.     


                                                                                                       

1. Explain in detail what "savant syndrome" means.
A condition in which a person with substandard intelligence is gifted in a particular area.

2. What does genius mean?  Explain the difference between genius and savant.
A genius is a person with a strong rational supremacy. The difference between a genius and a savant is that unlike a savant, a genius does not just exceed in one area but in multiple areas. Geniuses don’t lack the ability to do essential things.

3. What is a stroke and how could it affect your mental functioning?
A stroke is a “sudden impairment of brain function”; this is due either to low blood circulation in the brain or “intracranial bleeding”. 
A stroke may kill some brain tissues that enable you to due everyday activities; such as movement (body gets paralyzed), or the ability to speak. Your brain will not work the same way it used to before the stroke ever again.
4. What is a functional MRI and how does it help us understand brain activity?
 “FMRI is a technique used in biomedical research and diagnosis that detects changes in blood flow in the brain”. It helps understand brain activities because it creates a map of the brain and because it enables scientists to see how different parts of your brain work when “new blood” is going into the brain.
5. What is the corpus callosum and what role does it play in your brain's activity?
The corpus callosum is a group of nerves inside the brain that allow the right and left hemispheres to communicate. This facilitates the function of the nervous system due to the connection that it creates between the hemispheres.

6. What is epilepsy and how might it affect your brain's abilities?
Epilepsy is a medical condition that produces seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions”. When someone suffers from epilepsy they have difficulties when it comes to learning.

7. What is autism?
Autism is a “developmental disorder”. It affects your speech, and your social and physical abilities.


8. What is Asperger's Syndrome?
“Asperger syndrome  is a neurobiological disorder that is part of a group of conditions called autism spectrum disorders”.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/282018/savant-syndrome

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/229159/genius

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/569347/stroke     

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1128872/functional-magnetic-resonance-imaging-fMRI

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/corpus-callosum-function.html

http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001714/

Savants

In my opinion the most interesting video on genius was on savants. Savants, as defined in the video, are people with extremely gifted abilities in specific fields, but who lack basic abilities in everything else, especially social skills (they suffer from autism). Before I begin explaining the incredible talents and awkwardness of savants, it is important to note that every savant is different, and they should not be judged the same way. George Widener is a prodigious savant, one in about one hundred in the entire world. He can perform amazing mathematical calculations, which enables him to predict and retell what day fell on any specific date. Can anyone else in the world do such a thing? I do not believe so. Another one is Tommy, whom after having a brain hemorrhage, was able to perform amazing works of art. A peculiar thing about these savants, is that they have the urge/need to continue exploiting their skill. Tommy, for example, paints on objects all around his house, the walls, the ceilings, the floor, even on top of other finished works. However, both these people are considered socially awkward and are not active players in society like everyone else. Some savants are born, others are created by misfortunes like strokes, brain hemorrhages

MADE GENIUS

Even though many genius who excel tremendously in an area are born this way, it doesn’t mean that one can’t be created. For example, in the video we saw the story of this woman called Susan who is extraordinary playing chess. Her father began teacher her how to play since she was just a little girl and with so much practice, she became the first female chess master at a very young age; beating even men. In a test made to understand how Susan’s brain functioned while playing chess, scientists realized Susan could recognize a chess game in almost as little time as one recognizes a familiar face. In my opinion the crucial thing for one to be made into a genius at something is to love the thing you are doing. If you do, time stops to exist and everything comes easily.

Born Genius

The kids in the world, no one can accurately say some are the same as others because all of them are different in their own way. Even though, some kids might be even more different than the others, having remarkable traits that no other person has demonstrated. For example, a kid might be born with skills that have never been taught to him before such as knowing how to play the piano by only hearing the melody of a song. In my opinion these are gifts with which some kids are born with and eventually learn to love. The part of their brains which they use while exercising these traits grow bigger than usual. I believe having a kid with a genius mind like the Chinese kid in the video is a blessing, but at the same time it may be hard for the kid to fit in with the rest of the children of his same age since others’ brains may not be as developed or their interests will probably be completely different.