brain and behavior :)

Isn't it crazy how our brain works?! Like how do we form thoughts and such emotions and how do some people not have that ability... God really outdid himself on the brain. If you think about it, we barely know close to everything about the brain. It is still a mystery, but to realize how far we have come in research and studies is just breath-taking. Just to think to myself that that is what I want to learn and embellish my whole life with. So I decided to watch TEDx Talk with Dr. Laura Boyd and the Brooke and Nico story because when I read all the excerpts on the rest of the resources, neuroplasticity was one topic that really stood out to me because it has to do with how the brain can change its physical structure based on the skills or memories you make and how your neurological pathways shape themselves.

Now most people would think that you can't live without half your brain, but that's actually false. In the video over Nico and Brooke, each of them only have half of their brain due to a severe case of epilepsy as a child. You are probably wondering how the heck these guys are still alive and functioning like any other normal human being so here's the catch. Their neurological pathways shaped their brain to work in a way that helps them comprehend and speak. Which this just shocks me considering that Brooke does not have the left side of his brain which controls all auditory functions and Nico does not have his right hemisphere which controls his emotions and picks up on social cues and sarcasm, but yet he understands them all and can use that emotion and sarcasm too. An example from this video that really took me for surprise would be the pitch test where Dr. Immordino-Yang had each boy listen to two different sentences in two different pitches. She then made a blank syllable one that represented one of the two pitches and then try to match the blank with the correct pitched sentence. Now when Brooke performed this test, his performance should have been either normal or above average because this skill is based on the right side of your brain, but he did not. I find this ironic since when Nico performed the same test, he was above and beyond his peers when he doesn't have the motor skills from the right side. This really makes me question how is the brain doing this and how is God this miraculous.

After watching Dr. Laura Boyd on the TEDx Talk, the one thing that really stood out was how she explained short and long term affects on the brain. The example she used was for instance juggling. You could start to learn how to juggle and see improvements the first day but once you come back the next, you don't see those same skills. This is the effect of long term changes because in order to keep getting better, your brain has to constantly practice those skills to recognize the physical change to your brain. Now if you juggled everyday for the next couple of weeks, you could probably go a couple days without juggling and come back and still have those neuro pathways still there. Though, if you just try to learn in one day, it won't work because long term takes time. Overall, this research she has put in just fascinates me.

Learning about the neuroplasticity from these two different videos and experiences is truly amazing. Knowing that our brain is so complex and constantly changing is just crazy. To think every time I learn something new and seriously pursue it, my brain changes its structure, though if I do not put the time and effort into really learning something, it'll just fade away... Our brain is pretty mysterious and full of surprises.

xoxo, court ;)




TEDx Talks, director. TEDxVancouver with Laura Boyd. TEDxVancouver, Youtube, 15 Dec. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNHBMFCzznE.

“Tale of Brooke and Nico.” Annenberg Learner, June 2008, www.learner.org/vod/vod_window.html?pid=2380.