Aging differences in the brain infant to teenager - Research Paper Example

Aging differences in the brain infant to teenager:Human brain undergoes a lot of changes from infancy to teenage.This paper tends to study the developmental pattern of human brain from childhood to the teenage.According to a team of researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis,the regions of brain used in performing word tasks are different between infants and teenagers.Results of their study suggest that the integrity of white matter microstructure affects the cognitive changes that take place with the process of aging.

The study also estimated the sensitivity of DTI towards the microstructural changes in the brain which are distinct from the volumetric changes.The link between the white matter microstructure and the age was found to be more prolonged as compared to the link between the white matter microstructure,executive function and the memory.The processing speed’s link with the white matter microstructure was found to be the largest in extent in the cognitive domains.One study determined alike levels of activation in some regions of the brain like frontal lobe regions in both infants and teenagers as they performed the tasks.

Paradoxically,the research conducted on the development of human brain has conventionally shown a slow pattern of maturity of the frontal lobe (Schlaggar cited in Physorg, 2005).The perception of experts about the under-use of frontal lobes in children as compared to adults is a result of the very protracted development. Nonetheless, the recent research has determined like functionality of the frontal lobes in children as well as adults. We were surprised by the locations of many of the similarities and differences.

We found that a few brain regions 'grow up', that is are used more frequently as we mature. Other regions 'grow down', or become less active, and some appear to stay the same across these ages. (Tim Brown cited in Physorg, 2005). Another surprising result that Brown found in the research was earlier maturity of the frontal brain regions than the regions at the back which was in contrast to the information derived from the earlier structural data. The results were obtained with the help of recent development in the fMRI scanning.

Previously, the fMRI scanner images were taken over a long time period. That way, the brain activity could be studied by the researchers, but they were not able to discern the brain’s reaction to a particular stimulus. The research conducted by Brown and his colleagues, the event-related fMRI method was employed in which snapshots at a distance of three seconds from one another were taken. Using them, the researchers were able to see the activated parts of the brain upon stimulation by the tasks of word generation.

According to Bergen (2000), there is a consensus of most researchers upon the facts about the development of brain in infants and toddlers some of which are discussed here. As much as 60 per cent of the human genes before birth is used up in the development of brain. Human brain at the time of birth is completed only up to 25 per cent. The working of brain is integrative and interactive. Human brain is like a jungle, all of whose parts are richly interconnected. Well developed structures in the brain show sensitivity to the language comprehension and production and various emotional and social responses.

75 per cent of development in the brain occurs after the birth. The structure and performance of brain in the adulthood depends, to much an extent, upon the experiences gained in the early years of life. The first structures which develop in the brain