Brain Anatomy, Development, and Plasticity

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome   

   According to Lewis Wolpert in the text, Gastrulation is one of the early stages of embryological development. Wolpert’s point was that if you mess up in early development, you will have problems from

then on. It is a known fact that early stages of brain development are critical. A developing brain is vulnerable to malnutrition, toxic chemicals, and infections that will produce problems in later stages of life.

   An infant brain is highly vulnerable to the damage of alcohol. When a mother drinks heavily during pregnancy the child is likely to be born with what is known as fetal alcohol syndrome. The way this develops is by alcohol passing across the placenta to the fetus. There is no "safe" amount of alcohol that can be ingested and not have affect on the fetus. Alcohol use has shown to be most harmful during the first 3 months of pregnancy, but drinking at all during a pregnancy can have serious consequences. A child with fetal alcohol syndrome can develop/have: hyperactivity, impulsiveness, difficulty maintaining attention, varying degrees of mental retardation, motor problems, heart defects, and facial abnormalities.

   Studies show that when a child with fetal alcohol syndrome reaches adulthood they are more likely to develop an increase risk of alcoholism, drug dependency issues, depression, and other psychiatric problems. 

The book mentions that the mechanism of fetal alcohol syndrome probably relates to apoptosis. 

This is a sad disorder that is occurring in infants, when in all honesty can be easily prevented. I wish that the moms to be, who put their children at risk really knew all the consequences of drinking through their pregnancy...or maybe they don't even care? 

Here is a video of one family and how they deal with fetal alcohol syndrome:

Fetal alcohol syndrome is 100% preventable. I hope more people can be aware of the consequences and take a second thought before they drink while being pregnant!

Synapses, Drugs, and Addiction

  The most common used drug is considered to be marijuana. Although, marijuana is illegal it's effects appear to be promising. Marijuana leaves contain the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabinoids.
As mentioned in the book, cannabinoids have been medically used to ease pain and nausea, help with glaucoma and also increase appetite. Marijuana can intensify a persons sensory experience and was also proven to slow down ones perception of time  As of now, purified THC has been approved for medical use in the United States, however marijuana itself is still illegal.
  The way marijuana works is that cannabinoid receptors are known to be located on the presynaptic neuron. When certain neurons are depolarized, they release anandamide or 2-AG as retrograde transmitters, which travel back to incoming axons which allow further transmitter release. Cannabinoids release dopamine indirectly.
   As we all know there are negative effects of the drug. For example, a study found that a heavy user of the drug could impair ones memory. However, users recover their normal memory back within four weeks of sustaining from the drug.
  In my personal opinion, marijuana seems to be the drug that least affects a persons mind.  If you think about it how many accidents are actually on record because someone was "high?" Now, if you compare whatever number comes to mind to those accidents that have occurred due to someone drinking and driving...you can see what I'm trying to get at.
   Here is a video I found that explains how marijuana works on the brain and how it affects the body...

Schwann Cells to potentially cure paralysis

   First let me start by explaining what Schwann cells are. Schwann cells are a type of cell that is found throughout the entire peripheral nervous system. Schwann cells are a type of "support" cell in the peripheral nervous system. They insulate individual nerve fibers (which are called axons), that are necessary for sending appropriate electrical signals throughout the nervous system.

   This explanation can be a bit confusing so I went ahead and researched the word, Schwann cells by itself. I stumbled upon the Miami Project Cure Paralysis. It turns out that Schwann cells are linked to paralysis and the FDA has approved a clinical trial to safely transplant human Schwann cells into patients with paralysis. Researchers believe since Schwann cells are responsible for sending electrical signals that it could possibly lead to the discovery of curing Paralysis. What researchers hope that will occur is that the Schwann cells will potentially act like stem cells. A research study has already been done at the University of Miami, on lab animals where they repaired central nervous system injuries using their own Schwann cells and the procedure helped the animals significantly.
    If in fact the researchers are correct and Schwann cells possibly react like Stem cells they can help find a cure for people with paralysis. They will be using actual human subjects for this research so I hope no one gets hurt more from the process.

I will include an interesting video that I found regarding the Miami Project Cure Paralysis just to give you a better understanding...

Spinal Cord Therapy Approved by FDA | Video - ABC News

The Use of Animals in Research

     There is a huge controversial issue on whether or not animals should be used for scientific research. Many people would agree that animal research would be considered okay if it were to be for the greater good of the human society as a whole.

     At first, I would agree with that statement, but after watching youtube videos on what really goes on behind the scenes during animal research it kind of made me alter my opinion a bit. It is a known fact that laboratory animals do go through painful procedures that do not benefit them in any way. Reasons why humans conduct research on animals are because we are interested in animal behavior itself,  evolution of behavior and because the experiments that are conducted on animals cannot be done on humans. I would say logically speaking if we did not have animal research we would not be as advanced in findings that help understand certain diseases. 

    In some cases, animal subjects are treated horribly, but a new legal standard has developed to help protect the rights of animals. I will include a video that briefly describes the "The three R's".

Although, this standard cannot stop all researchers from treating their subjects badly, but it is a closer step to ensuring that animal subjects are treated better.

    Another issue that does not settle well with people is the fact that if it is observed an animal is undergoing too much pain throughout an experiment they are put to sleep to end the pain. I believe that is a better alternative, rather than allowing the animal to suffer. A person might argue who is the researcher to take another animals life, but I believe it is an ethical decision. I would rather the animal be put out of its misery than to continue suffering.