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Temple Grandin on Visual Thinking and Animal Behavior

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wxewRynV3g In the video “Visual Thinking and Animal Behavior,” Temple Grandin details the different types of minds and why she thinks it’s important for them to all work together. Temple is an Autistic Savant who has done extensive work bettering the lives of both Autistic people and Animals through creating a deeper sense of understanding of how they think. Temple details all the way her photorealistic mind works, including how she has a seemingly infinite database of images that she can recall and also manipulate, making “movies.” It was this ability that allowed her to visualize cattle chutes in her mind and design one that efficiently uses the animals natural behavior in order to maintain movement through the chute. Temple details how the animal mind and the autistic mind process similarly, both being visual thinkers and thus increasingly sensitive to how things look. Temple then outlines the other types of minds, including
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Where is the Origin of Chronic Pain?

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190319112206.htm Chronic pain has been an ongoing battle for many individuals, which seems to have no permanent cure. Chronic pain is classified as neuropathic; because there is impairment to the nerve cells. Examples of chronic pain include Rheumatoid Arthritis, Phantom Limb Syndrome, and side effects resulting from a stroke. There has been a new study that has been done by researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT Health Science Center at Houston and Baylor College of Medicine that have found new evidence as to where chronic pain originates from, as well as multiple target points for treating chronic pain. The research study looks at concentrated nerve cells that are found near the base of the spinal cord. This grouping of concentrated nerve cells, called the dorsal root ganglia, gave the researchers a once in a life time chance to study them due to them being removed by surgery from cance
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Behavioral disorders in kids with autism linked to reduced brain connectivity https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190418164340.htm In this article, Yale researchers have found a biological cause that regulates emotional functions differently in children with autism who also have disruptive behavior disorder. Very little was known about what causes such aggressive behaviors in these children before this study, and it is one of the main reasons children with autism seek psychiatric treatment and hospitalization. This study used fMRI scan to conduct an emotional perception task and compare it to children with autism who do not have disruptive behavior.  The children were asked to view pictures of human faces that showed calm or scared expressions. Researchers found that there was reduced connectivity between the amygdala and ventrolateral cortex. This pathway is very critical to the regulation of emotion. This reduced connectivity is uniquely associated with disruptive be
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Light, Physical Activity Reduces Brain Aging

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https://neurosciencenews.com/brain-aging-physical-activity-12018/ In our everyday lives, we are constantly taught as people that exercising is extremely important for our over all well being. In this article, the researcher provides evidence that when engaging in constant physical activity, individuals that do so may be able to prevent declination of cognitive abilities, and dementia. Whether it being a full on early morning workout five days a week, or simply twenty minutes of walking here or there, evidence suggests that "Active individuals have lower metabolic and vascular risk factors and these risk factors may explain their propensity for healthy brain aging." For substantial health benefits, it is important for people to engage in 150 minutes or more of "moderate-to-vigorous" activity throughout the week to see substantial results. Scientists provide data that led to researchers concluding that with each hour of time spent doing some sort of physical activit
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What we can do to prevent Alzheimer’s

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https://www.ted.com/talks/lisa_genova_what_you_can_do_to_prevent_alzheimer_s?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare Blog assignment Lisa Genova explains that DNA or old  age doesn't doom us to Alzheimer's and how we can prevent the effects of the disease. According to Statistics 1 in 3 people either have alzheimer's or in some way affected by it. This disease can be terrifying because it can not be treated or cured. Alzheimer's happens in the synapses of the brain.when neurons are communicating  they release amyloid beta along with other neurotransmitters, this is peptide is cleared from the synapse, they are usually cleared away by microglia “cleaners”. Scientist believe that the buildup of amyloid beta , makes plaques . After 20-30 years of build up of the plaques, there is a threshold. Ones the threshold is passed out microglia “ cleaner cells go on overdrive and may even clear the whole synapse, which can result in cell death.
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Sniffing pleasant odors may decrease cigarette craving

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https://neurosciencenews.com/olfaction-cigarette-craving-11085/ In this article, research conducted by Michael Sayette, PhD and published by the American Psychological Association evaluates the role of pleasant smells in helping adults who are trying to quit smoking curb their craving to smoke a cigarette. In the research study, 232 adult smokers that were not interested in quitting were recruited. Before coming to the study, these adults were asked to refrain from smoking. At the beginning of the study, the participants were all asked to smell a pleasant odor, tobacco from their preferred type of cigarette, and no odor. During the study, participants lit their cigarettes, but did not smoke it and then once they extinguished the lit, unsmoked cigarette they were given a container that had one of the odors that they had been exposed to earlier in the study. Each participant had to rate how tempted they were to smoke every 60 seconds for five minutes from the time that they extinguishe
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What Happens In The Brain of A Schizophrenic

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https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-brain-food/201106/hearing-voices-what-s-happening-in-the-brain-schizophrenics In the article “Hearing Voices: What’s Happening In The Brain of Schizophrenics” written for Psychology Today, Gary L. Wenk explains how this disorder truly works in the brain of an individual suffering with it. Wenk begins his article by explaining how the body senses work together with the brain, sending signals when needed, he explains that it is not possible for an individual to tickle themselves because their body is sending signals to their brain, letting the brain know where their fingers are going, and what they plan on doing, so the individual would not be surprised by the action. But if someone else where to tickle them, it would come as a shock causing them to laugh and jerk their body, because the brain is not receiving signals informing the brain/individual of what is going to happen. Wenk compares this process to speech and explains how an in
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