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Dr. Stan Kutcher
Katie Radchuck
Jillian Soh
Sun Life Financial Chair in
Adolescent Mental Health
Dalhousie University
IWK Health Centre
A Primer on the Brainand its Functions
The Human Brain: A Brief Tour
The brain is a remarkable organ,
controlling everything from heart rate to
digestion to sexual functioning, and
everything in-between! It produces our
thoughts and speech, and allows us to
create works of art – complex activities
which help define our humanity.
The Human Brain: A Brief Tour
The human brain weighs approximately
1100-1200 grams, or around 2.5 pounds.
Your body and organs are made up of
cells, and the brain is no different.
Neurons are a type of nerve cell which form networks in your
brain to relay information. Glial cells tend to provide support to the
brain (nourishment, mechanical support, immune response, etc.).
DID YOU KNOW?
The brain contains an estimated 100 BILLION nerve
cells, more cells than there are stars in the Milky Way
galaxy. That’s not all, glial cells are thought to outnumber
the nerve cells by as many as 10 to 50 times!
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica. Astronomy. 2000
The Human Brain: A Brief Tour
Neurons are cells specialized to send and receive information.
Generally, a neuron is made up of three basic parts:
Dendrites: consisting of many branches, this is
the area where the cell receives information
Soma (Cell Body): contains the cell nucleus,
which acts like a blueprint for the production of
proteins and other materials that keeps the cell
running smoothly
Axon: carries information received by the
dendrites, sometimes over long distances, to other
cells. The axon is sometimes covered in myelin
sheaths, another type of cell that speeds up the
signal.
What’s This “Information” Anyway?
In the same way humans use sounds to talk to one another and
share information, neurons use both electricity and chemicals to
talk to each other. These chemical messengers are called
neurotransmitters.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Anselm Hook
Just a few examples of neurotransmitters:
(Glutamate)
(Acetylcholine)
(Dopamine)
(Serotonin)
(Epinephrine/
Adrenaline)
What’s This “Information” Anyway?
These neurotransmitters play a major role in the brain and heavily
influence consciousness, emotions, and behavior. In a group of
people, if someone is whispering their ideas may not be heard. In
the same way, too little of a neurotransmitter may cause
communication failures between brain areas, affecting how we
think, feel, and act.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Anselm Hook
What’s This “Information” Anyway?
You can see then, how important
communication is in the brain. If it is
disrupted, either through chemical
imbalances or problems with the
neurons themselves, this may
contribute to brain dysfunction and
mental illness.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Anselm Hook
The Human Brain: A Brief Tour
Two basic layers of the brain can be
seen with the naked eye. There is the
outer layer, known as grey matter, as
well as the inner layer, known as white
matter.
The gray matter is made up of densely packed neuronal bodies,
whose long axons make up the white matter. Remember how axons
are sometimes covered in myelin sheaths? This myelin is quite fatty,
giving the tissue a white-ish color.
White matter, containing those long axons, are like a super highway. They transport information to different parts of your brain.
Grey matter, containing the cell bodies, is where all the thinking
happens. This is your brain’s processing centre.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): facemepls, MSVG
The Central and Peripheral Nervous System
The brain, along with your spinal
cord, makes up your body’s
Central Nervous System (CNS).
From the spinal cord extend nerve
cells that receive sensory
information (such as the roughness
and heat of the beach) and transmit
that to the brain. These outside
nerves make up the Peripheral
Nervous System (PNS). It’s a two-
way street, The brain can also
send signals through the spinal
cord and PNS to control the
movement of your limbs and trunk.
The CNS and PNS
It takes around11.5 milliseconds to transmit a signal from the tip
of your toe to your brain. This may seem pretty fast but in some
cases – like when accidentally putting your hand on a hot stovetop
– this delay is too long and would cause your hand to burn.
Instead of sending a signal all the way to the brain and waiting for
a return signal to move your hand away, a network of cells within
the spinal cord receive the sensory information, then pass it on to
motor neurons, which are cells that control your muscles.
Bypassing the brain like this is called a reflex. Your muscle will
contract causing you to pull away from the hot stovetop – it is only
after a short delay that your brain catches up and realizes your
hand hurts!
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Ndecam
The CNS and PNS
Speaking of signal transmission speeds, some nerve fibers
transmit signals faster than others. Usually it depends on
whether they are myelinated or not (remember that myelin
speeds up transmission!).
Think about when you stub your toe. You definitely feel it
right away since the touch signals reach your brain almost
instantaneously. However it’ll take a few seconds before the
pain signal will reach your brain, and when it does –
YEOWCH!
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Ndecam
So now we know what the brain is
made of. We know that different
parts of the brain communicate
with one another using
neurotransmitters, and this
communication can extend
down the spinal cord to the rest
of your body.
But what does the brain actually DO
and HOW does it do it?Photo credit (CC 2.0): perpetualplum
There are 6 functions of the Brain
2. Emotion & Feeling
3. Signaling (being responsive and reacting to the environment)
4. Perception & Sensing
5. Physical Functions
6. Behavior
1. Thinking & Cognition
Thinking & Cognition
Communicating
Arithmetic
Insight
Planning
Judgement
Comprehension
Processing
Reading
Focusing
Attending
Memory
Contemplation
Thinking and Cognition includes all of our internal
mental processes and functions
Higher Cognitive Functions
Thinking & CognitionFACT SHEET
Location: Frontal Lobes
Neural Pathways: 2-way
connection between
cortical and limbic areas
Main Neurotransmitters:
Dopamine, serotonin, and
adrenaline
Your frontal lobes are responsible
for the majority of your conscious
thought. This area works closely with
the limbic system, a section deep
within the brain responsible for mood,
emotion, and storage of memories.
Overview
Thinking & Cognition
The limbic system includes several
brain structures: the amygdala,
hippocampus, anterior thalamic
nuclei, and limbic cortex.
The hippocampus, responsible
mainly for the storage of long-term
memory, is one of the first places
affected by Alzheimer’s Disease.
The Limbic System
Thinking & Cognition
Your frontal lobes also include an
area called the prefrontal cortex,
which controls many of your cognitive
abilities, such as attention.
However, this area of the brain changes drastically during
adolescence, and is one of the last brain areas to mature
completely!
Attention
Thinking & Cognition
Is your attention drifting right now? Don’t worry! Scientists
have measured attention in adolescents, and have discovered
that performance increases with age.
Attention
So that means…Yes, attentional
capacity might
improve as you
and your brain
matures!
Anderson et al. (2001)
Thinking & Cognition
We know that some parts of
the brain are specialized for
certain tasks. An injury to
specific, limited parts of the
brain can help scientists know
for sure what that part of the
brain is responsible for. Take
for example the case of poor
Phineas Gage.
Photo credit: From the collection of Jack and Beverly Wilgus.
Phineas Gage
Thinking & Cognition
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Kevin Dooley
In 1848, Phineas was a young man working
on clearing out some rock for the construction of a
railroad. An explosive was set off accidentally, thrusting
a large iron rod under Phineas’ left cheek bone and out
the top of his head. The force of the explosion was so
severe that the rod completely left Phineas to land 90
feet away, taking with it most of the left frontal lobe.
Thinking & Cognition
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Kevin Dooley
His recovery was long and at some points
bleak, but he eventually regained his memory and
physical strength. He suffered no motor or speech
impairments, however a startling change had occurred
with his personality and behavior.
Thinking & Cognition
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Kevin Dooley
“Once a polite and
caring person, Gage
became prone to
selfish behavior and
bursts of profanity.”
He became rash,
where before he was mellow.
He used to be a good worker,
but now his colleagues could
not handle his temper. He had
trouble forming and executing
plans, didn’t think before he
acted, and often made choices
against his best interests.
- Dr. John Harlow, 1848
Thinking & Cognition
Although the front left portion
of his brain was destroyed,
Phineas was still able to
function well. He could walk
and talk, since the brain areas
responsible for that wasn’t
affected.
However, the frontal lobes
are responsible for judgment,
planning, and defining your
personality. All of these
changed after his brain injury.
Photo credit: From the collection of Jack and Beverly Wilgus.
Phineas Gage
Thinking & Cognition
Your brain also has specific
areas dedicated to speech and
language comprehension.
Speech and Comprehension
Broca’s Area
Mainly responsible for language
production. People who have
damage to this area are still able to understand language, and know
what they want to say, they just can’t ‘get it out’.
Wernicke’s Area
Mainly responsible for language comprehension. People who
have damage to this area can still produce speech but it tends to
have no meaning. This is known as ‘word salad’:
Example: “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.”
Emotion is the ability to experience feelings and to express those feelings
to others.
We can also call our emotions and feelings “MOODS”
Happy Excited Calm Peaceful Content Serene Joyful Pleased Carefree
Sad Depressed Guilty Ashamed Angry Irritated Annoyed Resentful Frustrated
Anxious Worried Fearful Nervous Panicky Inferior Inadequate Lonely Discouraged
Emotion & FeelingsFACT SHEET
Location: Prefrontal
cortex, amygdala
Main Neurotransmitters:
Serotonin and dopamine
Regulating your emotions is yet
another complex thing your brain has
to do. Your prefrontal cortex
produces cognitive emotions
(“thinking with you head”) while the
amygdala produces instinctive
emotions (“thinking with your heart”).
Serotonin and dopamine and two
very important neurotransmitters
needed to regulate your emotional
state.
Overview
Emotion & Feelings
Different parts of your brain are
active depending on what type of
emotion you are feeling.
For example, the top brain scan
shows which areas of our brain are
active when we feel sadness. The
bottom brain scan shows which areas
of our brain are active when we feel
happiness.
The brain really does create all of
our emotions.
Neural Correlates
Emotions & Feelings
Since the brain produces much of
what we feel, when something goes
wrong with the brain our
emotions can get messed up.
Clinical depression is
characterized by a persistent,
intense negative mood,
which affects a person’s
normal life.Photo credit (CC 2.0): Alejandro Cordon
Serotonin and Mood
Emotions & Feelings
Research has found that
serotonin is important for
communication between the
prefrontal cortex and
amygdala areas of
the brain. Remember how
those two areas are
important for regulating
emotions?Photo credit (CC 2.0): Alejandro Cordon
Serotonin and Mood
Emotions & Feelings
Some people with major depression don’t
have a good connection between the
prefrontal cortex and amygdala.
By increasing the amount of
serotonin in the brain with drugs,
this connection can be
strengthened and help people
regain a better mood.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Alejandro Cordon
Serotonin and Mood
Signaling is the brain’s way of responding to a perceived threat, danger, or stress from
the environment.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): GE Healthcare
SignalingFACT SHEET
Location: Cortex,
thalamus, amygdala,
hippocampus
Main Neurotransmitters:
Adrenalin, serotonin
Your brain is constantly alert, taking
note of your surroundings. When it
perceives a danger, such as an
oncoming car, the brain begins a
physiologic cascade with the help of
neurotransmitters like adrenalin and
serotonin. Your heart rate and
alertness go up, more blood is
pumped to your muscles, and your
senses become sharper. Your brain
then makes a decision whether to run
from the danger, or stay and fight it.
Overview
SignalingFight or Flight
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Mangpages, Phillipe Put
Sensory Perception
(Ears, eyes, smell, taste, touch)
InternalSignals+
When faced with DANGER, your 5 senses perceive it and sends a signal to the BRAIN
Your brain initiates a Physiologic
Cascade
Heart Rate
Tension
Alertness
PerceptionNow you are ready to
FIGHT or FLEE for your safety and protection
SignalingAnxiety
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Mangpages, flequi
Sensory Perception
(Ears, eyes, smell, taste, touch)
InternalSignals+
Anxiety happens when the brain believes there is danger, but there isn’t any
Your brain initiates a Physiologic
Cascade
Heart Rate
Tension
Alertness
Perception
This produces feelings of ANXIETY
Signaling
Normal anxiety happens to all of us.
Anxiety
A situation
can trigger it:
First date
Preparing for an exam
Performing at a concert
Giving a speech
Moving from home
Climbing a tall ladder
Etc.
Which causes
feelings of
anxiety:
Apprehension
Nervousness
Tension
Edginess
Nausea
Sweating
Trembling
SignalingAnxiety
Normal anxiety:
Is transient, which means that it will go away after a while
Does not significantly interfere with a person’s well-being
Does not prevent a person from achieving their goals
Signaling
Some people suffer from pathologic anxiety.
Anxiety
A situation, or nothing
can trigger it:
First date
Preparing for an exam
Performing at a concert
Giving a speech
Moving from home
Climbing a tall ladder
NOTHING!
Which causes
intense anxiety:
Feels like a heart attack
Feels like you’re dying
Feels like you’re going
crazy or having a
nervous breakdown
This happens when there
is a dysfunction in the
signaling mechanisms.
SignalingAnxiety
Pathological anxiety:
Is persistent, meaning symptoms stay around for a lot longer
than they should
Is excessive, intense, and inappropriate to the situation –
feeling like you are having a heart attack before giving a
speech is not how the brain should react
Leads to impairment in a person’s everyday life, where they
may avoid people and act withdrawn in an attempt to avoid
trigger situations
Perception is the way your five senses work with your brain to take in your surroundings.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Mohamed Malik
Perception & SensingOverview
We have five senses that work together to give awareness of
our environment:
See Hear Smell Taste Touch
Perception & SensingVision
For us to see, light must enter into our
pupils and hit the retina lining the back
of the eye.
Cones are cells in the retina that give
us our color vision, while rods are cells
that give us black and white (night)
vision.
The optic nerve carries the signal
through the lateral geniculate nucleus to
the back of the brain, the primary
visual cortex.
Perception & SensingVision
The primary visual cortex transmits the
signal to two different areas of the brain:
Temporal lobes
Responsible for object recognition,
“what” the object is
Conscious processing
Parietal Lobes
Responsible for object location,
“where” the object is
Unconscious processing of the relationship
between the object and your body
Perception & SensingVision: Blindsight
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Jim Simonson
Since the temporal lobes are responsible for the conscious
processing of vision, they would not be able to ‘see’ normally, and
would be considered legally blind. However, their unconscious,
spatial processing has not been damaged, so even though they
may not be able to identify objects in a room they can walk
around tables and chairs without bumping into them. They can
follow objects with their fingers and may even be able to catch a
ball thrown at them.
People who sustain damage to their temporal lobes may develop a condition known as blindsight.
Perception & SensingHearing
Many tiny hairs in your inner
ear vibrate to sounds in the
environment. Those vibrations
are felt by cells in the ear and the
signal is transferred along the
brain to eventually reach the
primary auditory cortex.
DID YOU KNOW?
As people age, their ability to hear very low and high
frequency noises diminishes. An anti-loitering alarm was
developed that plays a high-pitched, annoying noise that
only teenagers can hear. Talk about discrimination!
Perception & SensingSmell
Smell exists as tiny
molecular odorants that travel
up your nose to be detected
by cells in the olfactory
epithelium. This signal travels
through the olfactory nerve to
your brain, where the signal
Photo credit (CC 2.0): DrJimiGlide
is processed by the olfactory cortex. Some of the signal makes it to
the limbic system, where long-term, emotional memories are stored.
This is why smells can sometimes help you remember strong
memories, maybe of your home or childhood!
Perception & SensingTaste
Taste buds which cover the surface
of the tongue allows us to distinguish
different flavors in our food. There are
five basic tastes:
Sweet
Sour
Salty
Bitter
Umami (savoury)
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Zoe Shuttleworth
Perception & SensingTaste
Information from the taste buds travel up cranial nerves to reach
the brain stem, where the signal is passed onwards to the primary
gustatory cortex.
Tepper et al. 2009; Photo credit: Zoe Shuttleworth
DID YOU KNOW?
Not everyone perceives food the same way! Some
people have a lot more taste buds than average, and
are known as ‘super tasters’. Your genes determine
whether you are a ‘super taster’, ‘taster’, or even a
‘non-taster’. Super tasters tend to be very sensitive to
different foods, especially bitter things like broccoli
and coffee, and may be picky eaters.
Perception & SensingTouch
Photo credit (CC 3.0): btarski
Your body is full of touch
receptor cells near the surface of
the skin. When activated, they
send a signal up to your brain to
let it know. Some areas of your
body have many more touch
receptors than others, and thus
have a larger representation in
the brain, in a place called the
somatosensory cortex.
Perception & SensingTouch
A homunculus is a
representation of what a human
would look like if made in the same
proportions as the brain area
assigned to it. The hands and facial
areas, especially the lips and
tongue, are highly sensitive!
Dr. Penfield, the famous Canadian
neuroscientist (yes, the ‘burnt toast’
guy!) came up with the homunculus
by mapping limb locations to different
areas of the brain.
Signaling is the brain’s way of responding to a perceived threat, danger, or stress from
the environment.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): GE Healthcare
Your brain takes care of many
different physical functions, such as
digestion, breathing, controlling your
muscles, etc.
Physical FunctionsVoluntary Movement
In the same way that
different brain regions
are assigned for
sensing different areas
of your body, different
brain regions control
different areas of your
body. Places where fine
motor control isneeded, such as your hands and mouth (for producing speech and
eating), take up a larger area in the brain! This place is called the
motor cortex.
Physical FunctionsVoluntary Movement
Your prefrontal cortex – which if you
remember is where all your thinking
happens – sends a signal to the motor
cortex area assigned to a body part.
This signal travels down the spinal
cord to alpha motor neurons, which
tell muscles to contract. This whole
process allows us to produce thought-
directed, voluntary movements.
This entire complex arrangement is known as the somatic
nervous system.
Physical FunctionsInvoluntary Movement
What about involuntary movement?
Stuff you can’t control consciously?
Your heart needs to keep beating and
your stomach needs to keep churning
for you to stay alive. If you had to
consciously think about every breath
you took you probably would be too
distracted to think about much else.
This is where the autonomic (from
‘automatic’) nervous system comes
in.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): David DeHetre
Physical FunctionsInvoluntary Movement
Your autonomic system is basically in
charge of all your internal organs, and
controls what they do unconsciously
(although some things, like your breathing,
can be taken over by the conscious mind).
It is divided into two parts: the
Sympathetic Nervous System, and the
Parasympathetic Nervous System.
Physical FunctionsInvoluntary Movement
Sympathetic Nervous System
Remember how signaling and anxiety works?
Your sympathetic nervous system controls that
‘fight or flight’ mechanism (makes the heart pump
faster, inhibits digestion, raises blood pressure,
etc.). It also maintains equilibrium, or homeostasis.
Stuff like making sure your body temperature
is just right, and balancing your
blood sugar levels.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Mark Robinson
Physical FunctionsInvoluntary Movement
Parasympathetic Nervous System
While the sympathetic nervous
system is most active when you’re
stressed, the parasympathetic
nervous system works when you are
resting, so it’s known as the ‘rest
and digest’ system. Think of it
working in the opposite direction,
instead of speeding up your heart
rate it slows it down. It lowers your
blood pressure. Since, at rest, your
body can expend energy to relax and
eat, much more saliva is produced.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Jamie Davis
Behavior is simply the way we act, usually in response to our environment. It includes everything from running to joking, from reading to working.
BehaviorOverview
Teens don’t ‘get’ their parents.
What’s with all the rules and
restrictions? And parents don’t like the
things teens do – they always seem to
be experimenting and taking
unnecessary risks.
This seeming rift between teens and
adults has a lot to do with behavior,
and behavior has a lot to do with the
brain.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Ollie Crafoord
BehaviorMotivation
One example of a behavioral difference is
motivation. Motivation is your drive to do
stuff – like studying hard to do well on a test,
or finishing a marathon, or beating one more
level of a video game.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): shirokazin
BehaviorMotivation
Motivation is influenced heavily by
the reward pathway in the brain. A
reward doesn’t have to be
something physical, it can be getting
a good mark or a positive feeling.
Drug addiction causes your brain to
constantly seek out that positive
‘feeling’, and your brain becomes
dependant on it as a reward. The
danger comes when that feeling can
only be achieved by drugs!
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Ollie Crafoord
BehaviorMotivation
In teens, the reward pathway of the
brain is stronger than in adults. Also,
the cognitive parts of the brain that
think about things logically and weighs
the pros and cons are not as
developed in teens. This means teens
may be motivated to try riskier
behaviors and be more impulsive than
adults would be, and are more prone
to push beyond their limits and
boundaries without weighing
consequences (Smith et al., 2011).
BehaviorMotivation
This isn’t always a bad thing.
Since the brain matures in this way,
young people can be extremely
passionate about the things they
care about, they work hard to
achieve things that are important to
them. They open their eyes to the
world and have new experiences,
and become better people for it.
It’s all about the choices you
make.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): James Tosh
So now we know the
six basic functions of the
brain, but how does such
a complex organ develop?
NewScientist (2009)
suggests that there are 5
different ‘ages’ of the brain:
1. Gestation
2. Childhood
3. Adolescence
4. Adulthood
5. Old Age
Photo credit (CC 2.0): Neil Conway
GestationOverview
Gestation is the stage of development
where you are still in your mom’s womb.
It is this time where your brain undergoes
initial development, and your cells
differentiate to create your first neurons
(this process is called neurogenesis).
Neurogenesis is a hot topic right now,
because while people are really good at making new neurons when
they are fetuses, it gets much harder when they are adults. If we learn
how to create new neurons where we want them, we may be able to
help people with brain diseases and spinal cord injuries.
ChildhoodOverview
Childhood is the stage where our
brains probably undergo the biggest
changes. It is this time where we
learn language, how to store
memories, and how to think.
Timeline:2-3 months:
cortex develops
6-12 months:frontal lobe develops
18 months:develop a sense of self
3-4 years:sense that other people
have minds too
6 years:apply logic and trust, understands
personal thought process
AdolescenceOverview
Adolescence is the teenage
years. It is around this time that your
brain areas start to fully mature and
develop. Your sensory and motor
areas are the first to mature, which is why teens can be ‘sensation
seekers’. Your prefrontal cortex matures last, which helps in decision
making, emotional control, and temper.
Most teens pass through these years without severe or prolonged
difficulties, but 15% of teens will experience significant mental health
problems during their adolescent years.
AdolescenceOverview
Adolescence is the time where
your brain gets rid of neural
pathways that it doesn’t need.
When you’re young, you have
a high volume of gray matter in
your brain. During adolescence,
this gray matter is pruned away.
This is thought to make the brain more efficient. What gets removed
depends a lot on usage. It’s really ‘use it or lose it!’ It is important to
keep your brain active and healthy during these years.
AdulthoodOverview
You’ve finally made it to your adult
years! People’s brains peak around
the age of 22. This is when they can
process things the fastest and learn
new things easier. When you hit 27
years, your brain will progressively
start to decline. However, adults are excellent at crystallized
intelligence, or wisdom, which is the ability to use and apply
everything you’ve learned up till now.
You can keep your brain sharp and slow down that decline by being
mentally and physically active.
Old AgeOverview
In your golden years, you brain is in the
most danger of deteriorating. Death of brain
cells in the hippocampus area can lead to
memory loss. Again, by keeping fit and
eating healthy, you can stimulate brain
cell growth and slow this decline.
The elderly are more prone to diseases
such as Alzheimer’s – plaques and tangles are seen in the brain
wrapped around cells responsible for memory and retrieval.
Parkinson’s is another disease which mainly affects the elderly, and is
caused by the death of cells responsible for movement.
Old AgeOverview
The chance of experiencing a stroke also increases
when you’re older. A stroke occurs when the blood
supply to the brain has been disturbed. A portion of
your brain may lose its functioning (causing paralysis
on one side of the body, loss of speech, etc.).
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to rearrange
neural pathways and repair itself. It used to be thought
that this could only occur in very young people, but
recent research has shown that neuroplasticity can still
occur in older adults, even in the elderly. There’s a lot of
science being done now to see if we can enhance
neuroplasticity to help treat stroke patients and speed
up their recovery.
Photo credit (CC 2.0): TheArches
Photo credit (CC 2.0): dierk schaefer
Think upon this…
the BrainWe’re using
to study
the BrainAnd there’s still a lot to learn! What
you’ve read here is just the tip of our current knowledge, and our current knowledge is just the tip of what is going on in that spongy mass of tissue. As science advances, the brain will come to better understand itself. So keep learning!
Sun Life Financial ChairIn Adolescent Mental Health
For more information visit
WWW.TEENMENTALHEALTH.ORG
References
Daftarya, S.S., Pankseppb, J., Dongb, Y., and Saal, D.B. 2009. Stress-induced, glucocorticoid-dependent strengthening of glutamatergic synaptic transmission in midbrain dopamine neurons. Neuroscience Letters 452, 3: 273-276.
Lenroot, R.K., Giedd, J.N. 2006. Brain development in children and adolescents: Insights from anatomical magnetic resonance imaging. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 30: 718-729.
Sowell, E.R., Thompson, P.M., Holmes, C.J., Jernigan, T.L., Toga, A.W. 1999. In vivo evidence for post-adolescent brain maturation in frontal and striatal regions. Nature Neuroscience. 2: 859-861.
Sowell, E.R., Thompson, P.M., Toga, A.W. 2001. Mapping continued brain growth and gray matter density reduction in dorsal frontal cortex: Inverse relationships during postadolescent brain maturation. The Journal of Neuroscience. 21: 8819-8829.
Grant, J.E., Correia, S., Brennan-Krohn, T., Malloy, P.F., Laidlaw, D.H., Schulz, S.C. 2007. Frontal White Matter Integrity in Borderline Personality Disorder With Self-Injurious Behavior. Journal of Neuropsychiatry Clinical Neuroscience 19:383-390.
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