The Counter Reformation

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The Counter Reformation
Times occur in history when mortal dangers are clearly perceived but nothing is done to avoid or minimize them. The Reformation was such a time for the Roman Catholic Church. One cannot but wonder why no shift was made to meet the heresy spreading like wildfire across the North. Past experience had not fitted the Renaissance Papacy to meet the challenge. Its concerns were local. Rome badly needed beautification and Italian politics were all-absorbing; the civil arm could extirpate the heretics.

Such confidence was misplace, for while the Emperor was a devoted Catholic, in the last resort he would rather close and bar the doors of Milan to the French than disperse the Lutherans. Politics, to the politician, came first; the semblance of power was holier than holy faith.

Confidence in the powers that be was also misplaced because any political counter-thrust to the Reformation needed to be girded with righteousness. Troops alone could never conquer; they needed the reinforcement of a thorough reexamination of doctrine and church administration. This need was deeply felt by some pious souls, if not by the popes.

I. Savonarola of Florence
Even before Luther had attacked the sale of indulgences, a mystical and moral revival was beginning to develop in the south. Savonarola of Florence is a striking example. He came as a notable Dominican preacher to St. Mark Cathedral in 1491 and quickly established himself as a visionary, a prophet of deaths and destructions, and also as a dedicated defender of the liberties of the citizens against the Medici. After the defeat of Pietro de Medici by Charles VIII and that French king’s withdrawal from the city, in 1494, Savonarola became the lawgiver and virtual dictator of Florence. His doctrines, his unbending rigidity and strictness, and his bold denunciations of Rome.s and the Pope’s corruptions brought down a bull of excommunication upon his head. Yet he continued to organize the youth and to encourage the citizenry in various religious austerities and celebrations.

On one occasion, in 1497, under the influence of his intense charisma, the townspeople disgorged their ”vanities”–dice, trinkets, ornaments, cosmetics, false hair, and lewd literature–for public burning. This carnival was repeated just before his fall in 1498. Although the Medici faction desired and the Pope contrived his destruction, it was the fickle mob who stormed his convent and carried him off from the church to an intimidated and hostile signory. Fearfully tortured, subjected to a mockery of a trial by commissioners who had been ordered by the Pope to sentence him to death, ”even were he a second John the Baptist,” he was ceremonially degraded then hung on a cross between two disciples. Crosses and bodies were then burned to the delight of the crowd. Tired of purity and moral earnestness the populace had found that Savonarola too, like a vanity, was expendable. Meanwhile, in a Parthian shot just before his death the monk prophesied the calamities that would befall the city under Pope Clement. To this day, flowers are strewn on the day and on the spot that he died.

II. Oratory of Divine Love
However, Florence had but a brief flurry of piety under Savonarola. His movement did not rekindle the zeal of the Dominican order, nor, indeed, make any lasting impact outside the city. More lasting and more effective was the forming of a non-monastic devotional group called the Oratory of Divine Love (founded in 1497). It included laymen as well as priests, and from its numbers in Rome came a clutch of outstanding cardinals. The Oratory spread spontaneously throughout the length and breadth of Italy, taking hold amongst the cultured, and weaning them away from cynicism. Paul III, himself a nepotist, had the vision to ask members of this group to prepare for him a report of the state of the Church in 1538. The report did not mince words; it lashed the papacy by naming every vice and scandal, even to the prostitutes who milled about st. Peter’s attended by clerics–presumably not for the care of their souls. Protestants made great sport of it.

One outgrowth of the Oratory was a new order that lived under a rule though not in a monastery. In 1524 the Pope sanctioned the Order of the Theatines who were dedicated to maintaining high standards among ordinary clergy. Another new group–the Capuchins–tried to recapture the pure idealism and evangelistic fervor of St. Francis of Assisi. By 1619 they numbered 1500 houses.

These and lesser orders were responses to the Renaissance and not counters to the Reformation. Similarly, the rise of mysticism in Spain was an indigenous development owing nothing to the growth of Protestantism elsewhere. Many of the more enthusiastic mystics, alight and afire with their dreams, fell under the suspicion of the Inquisition. The most famous of them was st. Theresa of Avila (1515-1582), a shrewd organizer whose deep religious experiences were so affecting that they made her ill. She founded a number of monasteries and nunneries in obedience to her visions, and her young disciple, St. John of the Cross (1542-1591), reformed others. His poetry expressed the quintessence of the mystic spirit in lofty cadence and sublime imagery. These saints belong to the long tradition of those who have heightened the spirituality of the Church, and owe little or nothing of their drive to the pressure of Protestantism.

III. Ignatius Loyola
The counter reformation developed during the mystic revival in Spain and was led by Ignatius Loyola, a soldier before he was a mystic. His chances of a life-long military career were ruined by a bullet wound in the hip, and as he recuperated his enforced idleness and his new-found reading matter–lives of the saints and of Christ–redirected his mind and talents toward the service of the Church. He spiritualized his earlier experience as a knight, the Virgin became his lady; and he envisioned the Christian progress as a continuing military campaign. His Christianity was medieval and chivalric.

But first he became a hermit (1522) and saw a vision that confirmed his faith. He began to write the Spiritual Exercises at this time, though they were not published until 1548. A source of inspiration to which Jesuits return again and again to this day, they begin with a contemplation of man.s sinfulness move to consideration of Christ’s struggle against evil, then to the Passion and finally to the joy of the believer joining God. To participate .n the Exercises is an agonizing, compelling, cleansing, and spiritually renewing experience.

After a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Ignatius decided that he needed education to increase his influence; first he attended grammar school with young boys, then went on to the University of Toledo. After a time his enthusiasm earned him the suspicion of the Inquisition and he thought it prudent to continue his studies in Paris. By strange coincidence he arrived at the college that Calvin had attended just months after Calvin,s departure. Already he had five Spanish disciples and now he attracted four Frenchmen to him. Returning to Spain for theology, the band decided on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but war and politics preventing them, they met in Rome to beg for Papal approval for a new order. They won it in 1540.

IV. The Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus was organized on quasi-military lines. Its ranks, in ascending order, were novices, Scholastics, and the Professed of the Four vows, who elected the General of the Order for life. To the usual vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, Loyola added a fourth vow of absolute obedience to the Pope. By the Bull of 1540 Jesuits were charged to hear confession, to teach, and to preach. Thus was formed a clerical body more disciplined than the Calvinists, more flexible, and more highly centralized. Like the Calvinists, the Jesuits did not shun the world, but embraced it in order to lead it to higher truth and sanctity.

What success did they have? At first their education was restricted to their own novices and scholastics, but they soon offered schooling to the laity, and it was so effective that it became their enemy’s chief ground against them. Their preaching raised standards in pulpits throughout the Church, and their catechisms instructed millions of youngsters in the doctrines of Trent.

The reclamation of Poland from Protestantism was their signal achievement. They had three advantages over the divided and leaderless Protestants. Their leader, St. Peter Canisius, was in every way remarkable. He had the ear and the heart of the king. And the Jesuits’ educational system was better than its rival’s. Although Poland’s backward social structure may not have been conducive to the growth of Calvinism, Lutheranism might have succeeded with royal support. But it was unthinkable that Ferdinand, Charles brother and later Emperor, would turn his back on his family’s traditional policies–the twin goals of regaining souls for the Church and land for the Hapsburgs.

Finally Jesuit missions, led by St. Francis Xavier, revitalized the Church’s missionary endeavor. Jesuits were not the only missionaries, of course. Carmelites pushed into Persia, and Franciscans into California, but at this early stage the Jesuits stood in the van. Xavier died in Japan. Others penetrated into India, China, and Peru. By the time of Loyola’s death in 1556, there were 1500 members of the Society and they had studded the globe with enclaves of missionaries.

Yet the church’s spiritual and evangelical revival would have lacked force without theological and administrative reform. Although the need was obvious enough, the obstacles in the way of calling a reforming Council were immense. Not only were clergy of laxer habits opposed to it, but even purer souls, members of the Oratory of Divine Love, felt that reform should come from below and from the heart, rather than be legislated from above. Political dissension was the prime obstacle’ a Council was called in 1536 but the war between France and Spain kept it from meeting until 1545. By then it was too late to nip Protestantism in the bud. Secular political rivalries were compounded by ecclesiastical politics. Since the attempted Counciliar revolution of the 15th century the popes’ dread of Councils had not abated. So the Council was ordered in such a fashion that papal power would not be lessened. The votes in the Councils of the 15th century had been by national delegation; but at Trent the abbots and theologians were excluded from power. The vote was given to bishops and heads of orders, and their majority was to be binding. Needless to say, there were many more Italian than non-Italian bishops and the Italians could be counted on to maintain papal supremacy.

V. Council of Trent
The choice of Trent, too, was a political compromise between France and the Empire. Also it was sufficiently close to Italy to attract a full turnout of Italian bishops. Even so, the Pope would have liked the Council to deliberate closer to home, and he took advantage of an outbreak of plague in Trent to suggest removing it to Bologna–in papal territory. Charles v, however ordered his b!shops to remain in Trent and the first session of the Council ended in deadlock. A new pope allowed the calling of another session early in 1547, and a third session in 1562 and 1563 was called by a pope wholeheartedly dedicated to reform. Pius IV (1559-1565) had been a member of the Oratory of Divine Love. But he was not above politics. He hated the Spanish in general and Charles V in particular, and was not prepared to concede to the far-reaching reforms advocated by the Spanish bishops. Among other things, they would have liked the authority of Councils declared superior to that of popes.

Bitter controversies and intrigue permeated every session. The political outcome, however, was assured by the predominance of the Italians–of the 255 prelates who signed the official Acts of the Council, 189 were Italians. Thus any revolutionary counciliar stirrings were beaten before they had begun. The immediate result of the Council was a tremendous boost to papal prestige. Ultimately the outcome of Trent was the dogma of Papal Infallibility, defined in 1870.

Theologically speaking, the Council ended all possibility of union with Protestants and it closed the door to much of the rich theological speculation of centuries past. While !t may be true that the Council drew upon the best of its tradition, drawing heavily on St. Thomas Aquinas, it !s also true that the breadth and flexibility of medieval Catholicism were summarily abandoned. The Church became more intolerant theologically as it grew more authoritarian politically. This, perhaps, is in the nature of powerful institutions beset by powerful challengers.

A. The Index and the Inquisition
The Index was drafted and the Inquisition came into its own. The Index (1558) was a list of books prohibited in whole or in part to the ordinary Roman Catholic. At first, all of Erasmus’ works were among those condemned, but later this indiscriminate sentence was modified. It is a tribute to the power of the printed word that books should seem such dangerous emissaries of heresy that they merited repression. Both the Index and the office of Inquisitor were abolished by Vatican II in 1966.

Once the instrument of medieval Spanish rulers, the Inquisition was also constituted in Italy as the Roman Inquisition in 1542. That it was pathologically afraid of heresy, that it was sinister and occasionally cruel, that its procedures were unfair, and that it was drastically effective, none deny. It literally Italy. No one except the Pope was free from suspicion: the Archbishop of Toledo was swallowed up for a 17-year trial and forced to abjure certain errors. Even St. Ignatius Loyola and St. Theresa of Avila fell under suspicion. The Inquisition proved more powerful in Spain than in Italy because it had firmer support from above, from the king, and perhaps from below as well. In Italy it long continued to function, arresting Galileo in the l7th century and the great lover, Casanova, in the 18th century but, by then, its main work had been accomplished.

Harsh as it may seem, the Inquisition was the Roman Catholic equivalent to the purges of their lands by Lutheran princes, and to the unbending discipline of Geneva Consistory and Little Council. When heresy was considered damnable, death at the stake, or by drowning or strangling seemed a kindness. Fire, sword, water, rope, torture, and terror were not too drastic to root out the virus of sin. From this point of view the Inquisitors were being cruel to incorrigible sinners, only to be kind to the Catholic majority. In cases of hallucination, witchcraft, and sexual perversion they showed a good deal of restraint and common sense.

If the Index and the Inquisition were alien to the spirit of the Renaissance, the theological settlements of the Council of Trent, in part at least, enshrined the Renaissance philosophy of man. On the questions of justification by faith and predestination the council emphasized the freedom of man and his potential for divine endeavor. He could prepare himself for faith and cooperate with it, while being insufficient without grace for salvation. Man lived neither in absolute freedom nor in total bondage. Thus the Council managed to preserve human integrity and responsibility as well as the might and mystery of grace.

B. The Importance of Trent
The Council was equally unconciliatory to Protestantism in other matters. Whereas Protestants revered tradition only insofar as it conformed with scriptures, the Council distinguished scripture and tradition and placed both on an equal footing as sources of authority. Transubstantiation was judged to be the only permissible doctrine of the Eucharist: no quarter was given to Protestant views. The seven sacraments were reaffirmed, indulgences were declared effective and a proper adjunct ha the Pope’s power to redistribute merit. Although Protestants ever so stoutly denied it, Trent threw the weight of its authority in favor of the existence of purgatory, and claimed that intercession and the sacrifice of the mass helped those souls detained there. Finally, in the Tridentine Profession of Faith of 1546, to this day recited by all bishops and beneficed clergy and imposed on all converts, there was a vow of obedience to the Roman Pontiff.

The dogmas of Trent reflect the wisdom that the 16th century Roman Church found most acceptable in its past–wisdom sharpened by the witness of what seemed to be the errors of the Protestants. Catholics are hound to accept what this Council defined–to reject any Tridentine dogma is heresy. so thorough and exhaustive was its doctrinal analysis that even the recently promulgated dogmas of the Immaculate Conception (1854) and of the bodily Assumption of the Virgin (1954) were foreshadowed in all decree of Trent that exempted Mary from the otherwise universal taint of original sin. Trent, then, was all consolidation and codification of Roman faith, expressing the conscience of the upper hierarchy of that time and remaining all touchstone and repository of Roman Catholic truth down to the present age.

The policies of both Import-Substitution Industrialization and Neoliberalism strongly influenced the urban geography of Latin America, but in profoundly different ways

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The policies of both Import-Substitution Industrialization and Neoliberalism strongly influenced the urban geography of Latin America, but in profoundly different ways. First, differentiate between the two policies and then compare and contrast their effects on urban areas, including the distribution of cities as well as what is occurring within cities. Be sure to include ALL of the following terms/concepts in your answer: urban growth, overurbanization, urban primacy, informal sector (housing and employment), squatter settlements/favelas, privatization, gender and secondary cities. When using these terms, be sure they are put in bold. If not, points will be deducted.
Sustainable Development has become a universal goal in recent years. Discuss what is meant by sustainable development, both culturally and environmentally, followed by a discussion of how that goal is threatened or enabled by various activities within the region such as an expanding export economy, tourism in its various forms (be sure you incorporate at least 3 forms of tourism in this discussion), and drug production. Lastly, do you feel that the gradual transition away from neoliberalism would improve or deter the region’s sustainability efforts? Why (be as specific as possible)?

Subject English Topic Phoenix in Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path.”

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Paper details

Imagine that you are a reporter who is writing a biographical article about Phoenix in Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path.” You are writing about Phoenix when she is a young woman raising her children. Write a 600 word (two-page) account, or biography, of Phoenix’s life of a young woman. What experiences did she have? What events shaped her? What is she doing? What kind person is she? Using the information in Eudora Welty’s story as a basis, create the character of Phoenix as a young woman. As you think about this project, you may want to consider Phoenix’s beliefs, family, and way of speaking. Be creative!

Should people wear real fur?

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Paper details

-first line of the paper should be the answer to the question ” No people shouldn’t be allowed to wear real fur” define important terms first two paragraphs should be arguments that agree with the answer (make each paragraph its own independent argument for believing what you believe about your thesis) the third paragraph should object my view (it has to be a strong argument) the fourth paragraph rebut this objection (show why it does not apply to what you say or why it is untrue or why this is not a problem for your view) paragraph five: offer another objection paragraph six: rebut this objection paragraph seven: conclude what is being argued without introducing anything new 12pt font/ cambria font (or something similar), normal margins, double spaced, ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Key Dates and Landmarks in United States Immigration History

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1789 The Constitution of the United States of America takes effect, succeeding the Articles of Confederation that had governed the union of states since the conclusion of the Revolutionary War (March 4, 1789).
1790 The Naturalization Act of 1790 establishes a uniform rule of naturalization and a two-year residency requirement for aliens who are “free white persons” of “good moral character” (March 26, 1790).
1798 Considered one of the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Naturalization Act of 1798 permits Federalist President John Adams to deport foreigners deemed to be dangerous and increases the residency requirements to 14 years to prevent immigrants, who predominantly voted for the Republican Party, from becoming citizens (June 25, 1798).
1802 The Jefferson Administration revises the Naturalization Act of 1798 by reducing the residency requirement from 14 to five years.
1808 Importation of slaves into the United States is officially banned, though it continues illegally long after the ban.
1819 Congress passes an act requiring shipmasters to deliver a manifest enumerating all aliens transported for immigration. The Secretary of State is required to report annually to Congress the number of immigrants admitted.
1821–1830 143,439 immigrants arrive
1831–1840 599,125 immigrants arrive
1840s Crop failures in Germany, social turbulence triggered by the rapid industrialization of European society, political unrest in Europe, and the Irish Potato Famine (1845–1851) lead to a new period of mass immigration to the United States.
1841–1850 1,713,251 immigrants arrive
1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War and extends citizenship to the approximately 80,000 Mexicans living in Texas, California, and the American Southwest.
1848 Gold is discovered in the American River, near Sacramento, California.
1849 The California gold rush spurs immigration from China and extensive internal migration.
1850 For the first time, the United States Census surveys the “nativity” of citizens (born inside or outside the US).
1851–1860 2,598,214 immigrants arrive
1854 The Know-Nothings, a nativist political party seeking to increase restrictions on immigration, win significant victories in Congress, a sign of popular dissatisfaction with growing immigration from Catholic Ireland. Protestant Americans feared that growing Catholic immigration would place American society under control of the Pope.
1855 Castle Garden is established as New York’s principal point of entry.
1861–1870 2,314,825 immigrants arrive
1861 Outbreak of the American Civil War (April 12, 1861).
1862 The Homestead Act provides free plots of up to 160 acres of western land to settlers who agree to develop and live on it for at least five years, thereby spurring an influx of immigrants from overpopulated countries in Europe seeking land of their own.
1862 The “Anti-Coolie” Act discourages Chinese immigration to California and institutes special taxes on employers who hire Chinese workers.
1863 Riots against the draft in New York City involve many immigrants opposed to compulsory military service (July 13–16, 1863).
1863 The Central Pacific hires Chinese laborers and the Union Pacific hires Irish laborers to construct the first transcontinental railroad, which would stretch from San Francisco to Omaha, allowing continuous travel by rail from coast to coast.
1869 The First Transcontinental Railroad is completed when the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines meet at Promontory Summit, Utah (May 10, 1869).
1870 The Naturalization Act of 1870 expands citizenship to both whites and African-Americans, though Asians are still excluded.
1870 The Fifteenth Amendment is ratified, granting voting rights to citizens, regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
1870 Jacob Riis, who later pioneered photojournalism and authored How the Other Half Lives, emigrates from Denmark to the United States.
1871–1880 2,812,191 immigrants arrive
1881–1890 5,246,613 immigrants arrive
1881–1885 1 million Germans arrive in the peak of German immigration
1881–1920 2 million Eastern European Jews immigrate to the United States
1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act restricts all Chinese immigration to the United States for a period of ten years.
1882 The Immigration Act of 1882 levies a tax of 50 cents on all immigrants landing at US ports and makes several categories of immigrants ineligible for citizenship, including “lunatics” and people likely to become public charges.
1885 The Alien Contract Labor Law prohibits any company or individual from bringing foreigners into the United States under contract to perform labor. The only exceptions are those immigrants brought to perform domestic service and skilled workmen needed to help establish a new trade or industry in the US.
1886 The Statue of Liberty is dedicated in New York Harbor.
1886 Emma Goldman, Lithuanian-born feminist, immigrates to the United States, where over the next 30 years she will become a prominent American anarchist. During the First World War, in 1917, she is deported to Russia for conspiring to obstruct the draft.
1889 Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr found Hull-House in Chicago.
1890 The demographic trends in immigration to the United States shift as immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe substantially increases, while the relative proportion of immigration from Northern and Western Europe begins to decrease.
1891–1900 3,687,564 immigrants arrive.
1891 Congress makes “persons suffering from a loathsome or a dangerous contagious disease,” those convicted of a “misdemeanor involving moral turpitude,” and polygamists ineligible for immigration. Congress also establishes the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration within the Treasury Department.
1892 The Geary Act extends the Chinese Exclusion Act for ten more years, and adds the requirement that all Chinese residents carry permits, as well as excluding them from serving as witnesses in court and from bail in habeus corpus proceedings.
1892 Ellis Island, the location at which more than 16 million immigrants would be processed, opens in New York City.
1901–1910 8,795,386 immigrants arrive
1901 After President William McKinley is shot by a Polish anarchist (September 6, 1901) and dies a week later (September 14, 1901), Congress enacts the Anarchist Exclusion Act, which prohibits the entry into the US of people judged to be anarchists and political extremists.
1902 The Chinese Exclusion Act is again renewed, with no ending date.
1906 The Naturalization Act of 1906 standardizes naturalization procedures, makes some knowledge of the English language a requirement for citizenship, and establishes the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization in the Commerce Department to oversee national immigration policy.
1907 The Expatriation Act declares that an American woman who marries a foreign national loses her citizenship.
1907 Under an informal “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” the United States agrees not to restrict Japanese immigration in exchange for Japan’s promise to voluntarily restrict Japanese emigration to the United States by not issuing passports to Japanese laborers. In return, the US promises to crack down on discrimination against Japanese-Americans, most of whom live in California.
1907 The Dillingham Commission is established by Congress to investigate the effects of immigration on the United States.
1911–1920 2 million Italians arrive in the peak of Italian immigration
1911–1920 5,735,811 immigrants arrive
1911 The Dillingham Commission, established in 1907, publishes a 42-volume report warning that the “new” immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe threatens to subvert American society. The Dillingham Commission’s recommendations lay the foundation for the Quota Acts of the 1920s.
1913 California’s Alien Land Law prohibits “aliens ineligible for citizenship” (Chinese and Japanese) from owning property in the state, providing a model for similar anti-Asian laws in other states.
1917 Congress enacts a literacy requirement for immigrants by overriding President Woodrow Wilson’s veto. The law requires immigrants to be able to read 40 words in some language and bans immigration from Asia, except for Japan and the Philippines.
1917 The US enters the First World War.
1917 The Immigration Act of 1917 restricts immigration from Asia by creating an “Asiatic Barred Zone.”
1917 The Jones-Shafroth Act grants US citizenship to Puerto Ricans, provided that they can be recruited by the US military.
1919 The First Red Scare leads to an outbreak of fear and violence against people deemed to be political radicals and foreigners considered to be susceptible to communist propaganda and more likely to be involved in the Bolshevik Revolution.
1921–1930 4,107,209 immigrants arrive.
1921 The Emergency Quota Act restricts immigration from a given country to 3% of the number of people from that country living in the US in 1910.
1922 The Cable Act partially repeals the Expatriation Act, but declares that an American woman who marries an Asian still loses her citizenship.
1923 In the landmark case of United States v. Bhaghat Singh Thind, the Supreme Court rules that Indians from the Asian subcontinent cannot become US citizens.
1924 The Immigration Act of 1924 limits annual European immigration to 2% of the number of people from that country living in the United States in 1890. The Act greatly reduces immigration from Southern and Eastern European nationalities that had only small populations in the US in 1890.
1924 The Oriental Exclusion Act prohibits most immigration from Asia, including foreign-born wives and the children of American citizens of Chinese ancestry.
1924 The Border Patrol is created to combat smuggling and illegal immigration.
1929 The National Origins Formula institutes a quota that caps national immigration at 150,000 and completely bars Asian immigration, though immigration from the Western Hemisphere is still permitted.
1931–1940 532,431 immigrants arrive.
1933 To escape persecution by the Nazis, Albert Einstein, the greatest theoretical physicist of the century, immigrates to the United States from Germany.
1934 The Tydings-McDuffe Act grants the Philippines independence from the United States on July 4, 1946, but strips Filipinos of US citizenship and severely restricts Filipino immigration to the United States.
1940 The Alien Registration Act requires the registration and fingerprinting of all aliens in the United States over the age of 14.

 

How is biology related to psychology, behavior, and cognition

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Question 1 of 10 Cost 15.0 Points each answer Discuss the literature on split-brain and lateralization of function. What does the research tell us about each hemispheres ability to function independently (e.g., cognitively, creatively, etc.) and in unison? What are the implications for the cognitive neuroscientist in terms of research?

Question 2 of 10
15.0 Points Discuss one of the psychiatric disorders presented in chapter 11 of your text. Please be sure to address both the physiological and behavioral aspects of the disorder (signs and symptoms, biochemical or genetic theories, etc.), and pharmacological and behavioral treatments for the disorder. What is the role of the biopsychologist or neuroscientist in this type of research?

Question 3 of 10
15.0 Points Discuss sleep in terms of the normal sleep cycle. Please be sure to address the stages of sleep and physiological correlates associated with each stage. How does dreaming fit into our conception of a normal sleep cycle? Address theories of dreaming. What are the consequences of disruption of sleep? Question 4 of 10 15.0 Points Critically evaluate the means theories that have been used to explain e motion. Which do you think is the best theory and why?

Question 5 of 10
15.0 Points What brain regions and neurochemical systems are known to be involved in the regulation of sleep? What is known about the neurobiology and endocrinology of circadian rhythms?

Question 6 of 10
15.0 Points What brain structures and circuits are known to be particularly important for human memory? Please discuss the evidence linking the hippocampus with an involvement in cognitive mapping and spatial memory.

Question 7 of 10
15.0 Points Compare and contrast Broca’s aphasia with Wernicke’s aphasia. What cortical regions need to be damaged to produce these types of aphasia, and what do they tell us about the brain mechanisms underlying language?

Question 8 of 10
15.0 Points What are the differences and similarities in the action of cocaine and heroin on the brains reward systems? Do all addictive drugs work by causing the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens? In what ways have learning and conditioning been shown to be important determinants of drug tolerance?

Question 9 of 10
15.0 Points “Brain scanning technology is providing new insights into our understanding of the brain.” Explain how CAT, MRI, PET and fMRI scanning works, and some of the ways in which this technology has been used to justify the above statement. Please provide an example to support your answer.

Question 10 of 10
15.0 Points In what ways has the abnormal formation and deposition of amyloid been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease? How can cognitive reserve be built up? What evidence shows that this can have beneficial effects for maintaining mental functioning later in life?

Here are the answers of each Question Above (10 questions)
1. Answer The discovery of the brain having two hemispheres with different functions was first discovered in the 1960s from patients who underwent a surgical procedure called commissurotomy. The procedure involved completely severing the corpus callosum. Early studies performed by Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga, soon found different functions were responsible in each hemisphere, and the ground breaking phenomena of the left and right brain was called lateralization. The left hemisphere was found to be responsible for forming language and speech. It is also responsible for sequential and analytical thought processes such as problem solving, analyzing data, and statistics. The right hemisphere helps with visuospatial tasks such as jigsaw puzzles and sorting blocks, focusing, as well as synthetic analysis and perceptions. The right side is more superior to the left in processing emotions and tones used in speech. The left side is more rational. It is because of these differences the left is often referred to as the analytical side with the right being coined the creative side. When they work together in unison, studies showed visual information was processed individually to each cortex with the left visual field going to the right hemisphere and the right visual field projecting to the left hemisphere. A second experiment was conducted with touch, and it was discovered like in the visual experiment, the somesthetic pathways worked by crossing from the right side of the body to the left hemisphere, and vice versa. The difference between the visual and touch was with the visual both hemispheres worked together simultaneously, while in touch if the right hand was holding something only the left hemisphere would show activity while the right remained inactive. Even though the right hemisphere is not responsible for speech and language, it is not completely ignorant to linguistic abilities. An example would be a person hearing a verbal description of an object could feel a number of objects with their left hand, and successfully pick out the correct one. The same was shown when a word describing an object was flashed to the right hemisphere the left hand could select the object behind a screen (Wickens, 2009, p. 387). The most significant difference for language was shown when people could think and process the information on the right side, but were unable to verbalize the information without the left side. The advantage of having what Gazzaniga and Sperry termed dual systems or dual consciousness, is how well the two systems balance each other, allowing for an individual to process information without losing veracity.

When working independently if a person is asked to perform a right sided brain function with the right hand, their left hand would constantly try to take over the task because the task would be very difficult to achieve with the right hand. If the left hand is holding a book while a person is trying to read, they will often find themselves placing the book down, because the right side of the brain does not process words that well, thus processing holding the book as pointless. This caused Sperry to theorize the brain had two separate minds. He proposed each hemisphere had its own awareness levels as well as conscious levels with its own memories, ideas, perceptions, and sensations. Gazzaniga believed the left hemisphere acts as an interpreter, rationalizing the totality of everything a person is encountering trying to bring order and understanding to our conscious lives. For example a person had an image of a winter landscape with snow placed in the right hemisphere, and a chicken claw in the left. When shown other pictures which could go with the first one’s shown, the patient pointed to the appropriate pictures with the left hand pointing to the shovel, and the right hand pointed to the chicken (Wickens, 2009, p. 387). This experiment showed even though the patients pointed to the correct pictures they did not fully know why they chose the picture. They would oftentimes create stories to attempt to rationalize their choice. It’s this latest finding from Gazzaniga which implies further research is needed, to see why the left brain works to try to find meaning even if there is no meaning there. A second implication of further research is the cerebral dominance of language or a mixed dominance. This is a rare instance where a person’s language is localized in the right hemisphere of the brain or equally spread across both sides, instead of on the left like majority of human beings. Also further research is implied in terms of consciousness. In a normal brain, the brain has a number of circuits that connect and activate certain parts of the brain which enable millions of conscious thoughts or moments. Researchers are attempting to find answers behind what makes a human being unique in their conscious states.

References:

Wickens, A. (2009). Introduction to Biopsychology (3rd edition). Pearson Edition.
2. Answer The psychiatric disorder I chose to discuss is bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a psychological disorder which causes a person to alternate between feelings of extreme happiness with excessive energy (also known as mania), and low bouts of depression. A period of normalcy is reached somewhere in between, but the severity of the other two types of moods are disruptive for normal activities in a person who suffers from this disorder. The often mood changes between mania and depression is why it is sometimes called manic-depression. Manic or hypomanic phrases can cause the person to exhibit reckless behaviors engaging in high risk activities, having poor judgment, aggressive behavior, easily distracted, decreased need for sleep, exude inflated self-esteems, and disregarding any danger in terms of their life. They will often be sexually promiscuous, substance abusers, poor performers at work or at school, as well as making unwise financial choices such as going on spending sprees and gambling (Mayo Clinic, 2013, p. 2). When the mania is in full force the person will eventually begin to hallucinate and become delusional. Then the body slows down causing disinterest in things and the person becomes withdrawn. They may continue to feel they are normal, but eventually the low state ends with them becoming severely depressed. The depressive phase includes feelings of sadness, hopelessness, anxiety, fatigue, problems concentrating, chronic pain with no known cause, and poor performance at work or school. The depression often leads to people becoming suicidal if they suffer from this disorder. Other signs and symptoms include the rapid cycling (occurring four or more times a year), seasonal changes in mood called seasonal affective disorder (SAD) where the moods depend on the season, and psychosis, a detachment from reality (Mayo Clinic, 2013, p. 2). The length of time spent in each episode (mania and depression) is dependent upon each individual person. Some people suffer from the cycle of mania and depression only a couple of times a year or even in a lifetime, while others go through rapid cycling, and their whole life is disruptive. The severity of the cycles is how doctors separate people into different classes of bipolar disorder which are bipolar I, bipolar II, and cyclothymic disorder. Each subtype is different with its own symptoms and patterns. Bipolar I disorder is the most severe type which causes the most life disruption with the person experiencing difficulty in their job, school, or personal relationships. Bipolar II is less severe, and is characterized by people having hypomania (mania without the lapses in judgment) verses full-blown mania, and major depression. They tend to lead a normal daily routine, but when they get depressed at this stage it usually lasts longer than their hypomania stages. Cyclothymic disorder is what is considered a mild form of the disorder, with the high and low stages of hypomania and depression not being as severe as the other types.

The cause for this disorder is currently unknown with some people suffering more from problems with mania, while depression is the main concern for others with bipolar disorder. There are also people who have an equal amount of issues with both where they occur all together called mixed episodes. The signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder usually begin in adolescents with the child exhibiting reckless behavior, explosive tempers, aggression, and rapid mood changes (Mayo Clinic, 2013, p. 2). Even though the cause is unknown, many doctors believe the disorder is highly genetic, with evidence that people with the disorder have biological differences in their brains. The changes are not significant enough to be pinpointed in helping to find a cause. There are several factors which can trigger a bipolar episode which are stressors from the environment, hormone imbalance, or an imbalance with neurotransmitters in the brain.

Treatment for bipolar disorder includes psychotherapy, support groups, and medications, and is considered a lifelong ordeal. Even if the person feels better they should continue to take their medications because it is not something that will go away on its own. Medications such as anticonvulsants (Depakene, Stavzor, Depakote, and Lamictal), Symbyax, Benzodiazepines (Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, Librium, Niravam, and Xanax), antidepressants, antipsychotics (Abilify, Zyprexa, Risperdal, and Seroquel), and the most common Lithium. Researchers or neuroscientists believe if they can discover the biochemical processes on how lithium works in the brain, along with the physical differences in the brain, they could discover a cause for manic depression. The problem is lithium works on almost every neurochemical system in the brain, and the molecular changes or cellular changes in the systems which cause the different behaviors are still unknown.

References:

Mayo Clinic. (2013). Bipolar disorder. Retrieved on December 24, 2013, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bipolar-disorder/DS00356

Wickens, A. (2009). Introduction to Biopsychology (3rd edition). Pearson Edition.

3. Answer
Sleep is a very important and necessary function in which we need in order to live a healthy life. We need to sleep for body restoration and evolutionary adaptation. In fact, one-third of our lives are spent sleeping. During our normal sleep cycle or slow wave sleep (SWS) our brain waves gets slower and become synchronized as we go through four different stages of sleep. The first stage of sleep is the when a person first begins to feel sleepy (the onset of sleep). It is often described as the transition between waking and sleeping. Most people say they are just feeling drowsy in this stage. Stage 2 is when a person is actually asleep. During this stage, brain waves called theta waves (waves ranging between 4-7 Hz) are interrupted for half a second with bursts of activity known as sleep spindles (waves between 12-15 Hz). In Stage 3 these spindles slow down and the brain waves move into the delta wave area (1-4 Hz). The last stage, Stage 4 is when we are in our deepest sleep state. It is difficult to wake a person who has reached this stage of sleeping. 50% of the brain is dominated by delta waves, making for very little brain activity. During the SWS cycle the brain and body undergoes a number of changes. Blood flow to the brain decreases to approximately 25% of the amount used when we are awake, to appear more restful. The body appears more relaxed as well, and our breathing, heart-rate, blood pressure, and body temperature all decrease. Following the four stages of sleep is the rapid eye movement sleep (REM). This is where dreaming occurs, and usually happens for the first time after 90 minutes of SWS. The brains electrical activity begins to pick up, and moves faster with the waves being smaller. The waves are very similar to beta waves which occur when we are awake. The body appears to be paralyzed due to a loss of muscle tone, but the brain activity causes twitching of the face and eyes as well as toe and finger movement. The different activity stages of the body and the brain is described as a form of sleep called paradoxical. Blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, as well as blood flow to the genital areas are all increase during REM sleep. So, even though it appears the body is resting, in fact the internal body is experiencing a lot of activity. The body will continue to go through a cycle of SWS and REM sleep four to five times a night, with the REM sleep occurring at 90 minute intervals. With each cycle REM sleep will increase going from 20 minutes the first time to 40 minutes the last time. Eventually stages three and four no longer occur, and the last sleep cycle is mostly considered stage 2 SWS.

As mentioned before dreaming occurs in REM sleep, and it is hypothesized the reason behind the body being paralyzed during this phase is to keep people from acting out what they are doing in their dreams. Nathaniel Kleitman and William Dement found sleep occurred in two forms and were associated with different kinds of dreams. They believed 80% of people dreamed during REM sleep while 20% dreamed during SWS. REM dreams they theorized followed a story line, and included intense and vivid situations which may seem illogical to the person when they are wakened. SWS dreams were just a repetition of ideas which had no point or real purpose behind them. It is believed every person dreams during their sleep cycle, most tend not to remember them, therefore they do not think they dream.

Sleep deprivation impairs a persons’ performance for difficult or complex mental/ physiological tasks because continuous concentration is required to accomplish those tasks, while simple tasks are not seriously affected at all. Some of the consequences of being sleep deprived are: slow reaction times, memory and sensory responsiveness as well as a decline in body temperature. Other effects are lapses of concentration, extreme irritation, and short periods of disorientation with hallucinations (Wickens, 2009, p. 260). Some researchers believe if a person experiences to much sleep deprivation, it can result in death, due to infections and a weakened immune system. A study conducted to examine what effects selective sleep deprivation could cause, concluded with results varying between some people exhibiting signs of sleep deprivation, while others experienced none at all. One interesting find from the study was how people will usually make up for any lost sleep they encountered.

References:

Wickens, A. (2009). Introduction to Biopsychology (3rd edition). Pearson Edition.
4. Answer Emotions are a very important part of our survival as a human race, and have sparked several different theories on what causes them. Emotion is a word which means to move or to disturb, causing one to prepare or prompt one into action signaling something important is happening (Wickens, 2009, p. 210). Emotions create every feeling we have from love to hate, and from joy to sadness. The physical changes we experience from our autonomic nervous system (ANS) such as increased heart rate and breathing, or having a sense of butterflies in the pit of the stomach are all signs of emotional arousal. The ANS is comprised of two parts the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). SNS is responsible for our fight or flight response preparing us for danger, while the PNS stimulates relaxation, signaling to the body to conserve its energy. The first is theory discussed was the James-Lange theory. Philosophers Williams James and Carl Lange proposed autonomic changes and the reaction resulting from an experience, comes before an emotion is attached to the experience. “Put another way, the conscious sensation of an emotion occurs only after we received feedback about the changes taking place in our body” (Wickens, 2009, p. 211). James and Lange believed a stimulus processed either visually or from the auditory cortex, would assess the emotional significance of the stimulus, passing it through the ANS. This would set our bodies into motion to respond with either a “fight or flight” response (produced by SNS). The bodies’ arousal levels will be detected by the conscious brain, which would in turn interpret the emotional nature of the physiological state (Wickens, 2009, p. 212). The emotion is only conscious after it is created first in the visual or auditory cortex, and then the reaction to the stimulus is associated with the experience. In essence, running away from a spider (frightening stimulus), causes the heart rate to increase, which will cause the person to feel afraid. One of the main problems with this theory is emotions such as love and hate ‘feel’ different (Wickens, 2009, p. 213). James and Lange believed each emotion had its own unique set of physiological responses to certain stimulus. These visceral and somatic changes tell the brain what emotion it is experiencing. To further support their theory the men argued it was not possible for a person to feel an emotion without the body’s response accompanying it. James and Lange tested their theory using paraplegic men. It was hypothesized reduced sensations of the body would decrease the emotion felt. The results proved the men who just had damage to their lumbar area experienced no changes in how they perceived emotions. On the other hand, people who suffered from severe spinal damage reported changes in how they perceived emotions. An example of this was how one man described anger as not having the “heat” that it used to, and that it was more mental than physical. A second theory for emotion is the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion. Physiologist, Walter Bradford Cannon, set out to prove The James-Lange theory wrong. Cannon found during an experiment emotions were experienced mentally before any physical signs began, unlike how James-Lange theory stated SNS had to be sent to the brain before the person experienced the emotion. Cannon concluded emotion was not dependent on the body’s physical response to stimulus; instead the stimulation of the ANS induces the arousal state preparing the body for a threat, while the emotion is perceived in the cerebral cortex. They both occur at the same time and independently. He believed the autonomic arousal and the interpreted cognitive response occurred at two different pathways with the routes connecting at the thalamus. The thalamus was believed to send the information to the cerebral cortex and the spinal cord to initiate visceral changes associated with the emotions. Cannon also disputed James and Lange’s stance on emotions having their own set of physical reactions; instead he believed the ANS responded the same way for all emotions. Philip Bard helped to further support and contributed to the Cannon-Bard theory when he discovered the hypothalamus (which receives input from the thalamus and the cerebral cortex sensory areas) controlled the ANS, and the physical states associated with emotions. In essence, Cannon and Bard believed emotional behavior depended on the hypothalamus, and no feedback was required from the PNS in order to produce an emotion. Using the spider example from before, if we see the spider, we will run because of the mental fear associated with the spider, which causes the body to respond with sensations of fear, both together and independently. Another alternative theory for emotion is Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer’s, cognitive-arousal theory. This theory proposed once a person becomes aware of the changes in arousal levels the body is experiencing, the mind attempts to understand cognitively why it is happening. It was believed we associate our emotions to our environment. The placebo effect is an example of this theory. A person is told they would feel a certain way with pill, and because they were told they would experience certain psychological effects, they would exhibit the effect. This study further supported the notion that general states of arousal motivate different emotions, as Cannon and Bard proposed. But it also supported the James-Lange theory in that the autonomic arousal such as increased heartbeats sends an important signal to the individual to interpret the emotion. The separation of the latter piece of evidence was the evidence of one type of physiological arousal causing several different types of emotions instead of one being assigned its own unique set. Schachter and Singer believed the signaled emotion was left up to the individual person to decide which emotion they would believe they experienced. In my opinion the Cannon-Bard theory. Using my spider example, I believe increased heartbeats and breathing are associated with fear. Seeing a spider would cause me to run, because I am fearful of spiders. The running away along with the fear of the spider would cause the increased heart rate and heavy breathing. I believe a person has to have a certain amount of emotion for a situation already in order to comprehend what is happening. Like in my case, I already know I fear spiders, so seeing one would cause me to immediately feel fear while also running away. A person can be surprised by a spider and the surprise factor could give them the increased heart rate and breathing, but once they see it is something they do not fear, they can move on. In this case, the person did not run first, and respond with the body reaction and then process the information (like in the James-Lange theory). Neither did the individual see the spider, noticed the increased heart beat and increased breathing, then mentally processed this reaction is caused by fear, therefore I am afraid (cognitive-arousal theory). Instead everything happened all at once. References:

Wickens, A. (2009). Introduction to Biopsychology (3rd edition). Pearson Edition.
5. Answer The process behind what happens in the brain which causes us to sleep was first discovered by Frederic Bremer, a Belguim neurophysiologist. He discovered sleep was not a passive “winding down” process as previously thought; instead it was actively produced by a mechanism located between the cerveau and encephala isolé transections of the brainstem. Further research was conducted and lesions were placed along the inner core of the brainstem (which contains the medulla oblongata, pons, and midbrain) on the reticular formation (neurons and axons implanted between numerous functionally nuclei) severing the connection to the brainstem from the forebrain, but leaving the sensory connections intact. This caused a deep sleep pattern to form on an EEG, and revealed the importance of the reticular formation site for controlling sleep. The reticular formation controls sleep by controlling the levels of arousal in the brain including the cerebral cortex. Being able to control levels of arousal is how the reticular formation regulates when we sleep, when we awaken, as well as our consciousness. The reticular formation projects to the thalamus hypothalamus as well as the cerebral cortex forming the ascending reticular activation systems, and contains a number of neurotransmitters, including noradrenaline, serotonin and acetylcholine (Wickens, 2009, p. 264). This system regulates sleep and wakefulness. Michel Jouvet discovered another important part of the reticular formation in terms of REM sleep, and that was the pontine region. The pontine region can be found in the upper brainstem. Neurochemicals found in this pathway were noradrenaline and serotonin. The site of noradrenaline located in the pontine region is the locus coeruleus, which is the REM sleep executive, while the serotonin site is called the raphe nuclei, which promotes SWS. Another important region for REM sleep is called the gigantocellular tegmental field (GTF) which is another name for large neurons located in the medial pontine reticular formation. The GTF neurons are controlled by the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (LTN) and pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PTN) (together they are called the peribrachial area), which release acetylcholine in the forebrain. GTF neurons are not very active in SWS or periods when a person is awake, but become very active just before a person reaches REM sleep. The LTN and PTN receive projections from the locus coeruleus, and the raphe nuclei, they in turn project to the GTF, forebrain, thalamus, hypothalamus, and basal forebrain (Wickens, 2009, p. 268). Circadian rhythms are like timing mechanisms (internal clocks) which control when a person sleeps or is awake. The clock is a cycle which operates on a 24- hour timetable with different biological and physiological processes which peak at certain times of the day, and drop really low at other times. Hormones like melatonin (the key factor in modulation of circadian rhythms), growth hormone, cortisol, adrenaline, and testosterone are used to regulate and orchestrate circadian rhythms. Melatonin is released in the evening (under the direct control of light), with the growth hormone peaking in the middle of the night. Cortisol and testosterone are at its highest levels in the morning, with adrenaline reaching its peak in the afternoon. The system itself consists of pacemakers, and pacemaker output to effector systems which are controlled by the circadian. The discovery of the circadian clock was found when two independent research groups discovered a small cluster of neurons located in the front of the hypothalamus. These neurons were called suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). SCNs output primarily to the hypothalamus, basil forebrain, and the midline thalamus, and if damaged, could affect or disrupt circadian rhythms as well as affecting the release of corticosterone. The SCN has a pathway to the retinohypothalamic tract, were it terminates in the circadian pacemakers. The retinohypothalamic tract branch off from the optic nerve close to the optic chiasm. Vision is not affected by damage to the retinohypothalamic tract, but “they nevertheless abolished the ability of the internal circadian clock to be synchronized to external light-dark cycles” (Wickens, 2009, p. 276). SNC also sends information to a pathway called the superior cervical ganglion. This pathway inhibits light on the pineal gland which is responsible for secreting melatonin. As mentioned before, melatonin is very important to circadian rhythms. It helps inhibit electrical activity in the SNC resetting its circadian clock. This is important not only in the regulation of the sleep-wake cycle, but also with the synchronization of the other hormones in the sleep-wake cycle. The SNC also extends to the subparaventricular zone of the hypothalamus (SPZ) which is responsible for generating sleep-wake and activity rhythms. Damage to the SPZ can result in the disruption of circadian rhythms, “including-sleep-waking, feeding, locomotor activity, cortisol secretion and neural activity in the locus coeruleus” (Wickens, 2009, p. 281). Two types of abnormal circadian rhythms are jet lag and shift work. References:

Wickens, A. (2009). Introduction to Biopsychology (3rd edition). Pearson Edition.

6. Answer
Memory is basically stored records of experiences in the brain, with memories being characterized as both short-term or long-term, unique or accrued knowledge, and whether they are expressed explicitly or implicitly. The parts of the brain structure which are important to memory are the prefrontal cortex (responsible for working memory), striatum (responsible for procedural memory), cerebral cortex (responsible for perceptual memory, semantic memory, and priming), the hippocampus (declarative memory), and amygdala (emotional memory). The hippocampus and amygdala are two parts of the limbic system located under the hypothalamus, and near the thalamus, with each being necessary in the memory processes, and both having primary functions which relate to reactions to emotions and memories. The hippocampus controls and regulates how the mind processes new or novel information, and is actively involved in how a person can form associations between newly introduced items, as well as encoding memories. The hippocampal system helps to make associations with the encoded memories which are essential for learning and understanding. “In addition to encoding new information, the hippocampus is also involved in the retrieval of old memories” (Wickens, 2009, p. 347), which in turn assists with successful recall of memory representations. The part of the hippocampus responsible for retrieving learned information is the anterior parts, while the posterior parts encode the information into memory. The amygdala and the hippocampus depend on each other for their individual functions. Reactions to stimuli are controlled by the amygdala, and those responses are used by the hippocampus to form short and long-term memories. “The amygdala and hippocampus co-modulate each other such that the amygdala can influence hippocampally-mediated memory formation and the hippocampus influences amygdala response when emotional stimuli are encountered” (Tottenham & Sheridan, 2010, p. 7). There are also two circuits associated with memory in the brain. The Papez circuit, which is associated with human amnesia, is connected to the hippocampus. Cingulate gyrus projects to the hippocampus, which projects to the mammillary bodies along the fornix pathway, up to the anterior thalamus, which completes the circuit by projecting to the cingulate cortex (Wickens, 2009, p. 352). The second circuit, the Yakovlev circuit is centered on the amygdala. The amygdala sends fibers to the dorsomedial thalamus which has also been associated with amnesia. The dorsomedial thalamus projects to the prefrontal cortex and back to the amygdala which completes the circuit (Wickens, 2009, p. 353).
The hippocampus has also been linked to spatial memory and cognitive mapping. Evidence of this was discovered by John O’Keefe during an experiment where he was recording electrical activity of individual cells in the hippocampus while his test subjects (rats) moved about in their environment. His main findings were identifying certain neurons firing when the rats when to a certain location. He noticed the neurons would remain inactive until the rats went to that certain location and then the cells would fire rapidly. The further away the rat went from that location the less the neurons fired until the firing stopped. When the rat returned the same thing would occur. These neurons became known as place cells. The hippocampal place cells were discovered to be dependent upon cues, and the cells would only fire once the rats reached the certain location they related to a specific cue. Spatial configuration of the cues was vitally important to whether the hippocampal place cells were shown to fire or not. This proved the hippocampus forms a cognitive map of its surroundings. “In other words, when an animal negotiates its environment, it is using a map, continuously formed and updated by the hippocampus, to guide direction and goal location (Wickens, 2009, p. 357).

Another experiment was conducted using a spatial memory task with rats as well. This experiment involved the rats being able to locate a platform in a circular tank of water made cloudy so they could not see in the water. The rats would swim around until they found the platform and climb out of the water. The rats were essentially forced to learn exactly where the platform was by determining its position to the spatial configuration of external cues around the water (Wickens, 2009, p. 358-359). Lesions were placed on the hippocampus of some of the rats and they proved to be unable to locate the platform even after months of testing. This test proved the rats had formed a spatial map of their environment in order to reach the platform, thus showing the importance of the hippocampus in spatial memory.

References:

Tottenham, N. & Sheridan, M. (2010). A Review of Adversity, The Amygdala and the Hippocampus: A Consideration of Developmental Timing. Retrieved on December 2, 2013, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2813726/

Wickens, A. (2009). Introduction to Biopsychology (3rd edition). Pearson Edition.

7. Answer
Language is one of the most unique characteristics human beings have. It is this capability to produce language which separates us from any other animal in the world. Our linguistic capabilities are found in the left hemisphere of the brain in the Broca’s area (found in the frontal lobe) and Wernicke’s area (found in the temporal lobe). Damage to either of these areas can cause aphasia which means to have a complete loss of speech or language, or a disturbance in the production or comprehension of speech following brain damage of specific areas (Wickens, 2009, p. 368). Broca’s aphasia, also known as motor aphasia, or non-fluent aphasia, is characterized by specific language disruption. The language is slow with long pauses in between the words lacking rhythm, intonation and inflection (also known as dysprosody), labored which could lead to frustration, and lacking in grammar (agrammatism) which makes them difficult to understand. Even if the person has an excellent vocabulary, they are reduced to using simple nouns, verbs, and adjectives. They will also find difficulty when searching for the ‘right word’ (anomia) to use in a sentence. The sound of their speech changes as well. Some motor functions affected by this disorder are the inability to stick out the tongue (oral apraxia) if asked to by command, although they are able to lick their lips if something is on them. They also have problems with correct motor movements of the mouth for articulation of speech. This is largely due to the Broca’s area being located adjacent to the motor cortex, close to the area responsible for mouth, tongue, and vocal cord movements. It is expected damage to the Broca’s area would cause destruction of neural circuits needed for movements required for speech production. Although Broca’s aphasics have their cognitive and mental functions unbroken, complex language is difficult for them to process. They are able to understand verbal speech just as long as it remains simple. Reading and writing are also affected with this condition.

Wernicke’s area is located adjacent to the auditory cortex, meaning the information being received from the ears is translated in this area. It translates sounds into codes the brain recognizes as language. It is because of this Wernicke’s aphasia is sometimes referred to as sensory aphasia or receptive aphasia. Wernicke’s aphasia unlike Broca’s aphasia does not inhibit or restrict rhythm and grammar of speech because they recognize speech sounds and have full mobility and function of their motor cortex; instead people who suffer from this condition will often babble or speak in a way in which the words have no meaning. They are able to speak words fluently and can articulate words quickly, and usually respond with words which sound normal and are grammatically correct, yet they are absent of sensible content. They will also use words in which they made up called neologisms, or they will substitute a word for another inappropriate word called paraphasias. The combination of verbal confusion with paraphasias produces a speech called jargon aphasia. One really big difference between Broca’s patients and Wernicke’s patients is the awareness levels of the disorder. Broca’s patients experience the frustration behind knowing what they want to say and not being capable of saying it, and Wernicke’s patients are completely oblivious to their condition. Both conditions are alike in how each of the patients has issues with comprehending complex language, reading and writing. Again simple forms of speech are understood.

The underlying mechanisms of language discovered from these two conditions have become known as the Wernicke-Geschwind model. This model explains first we have to be able to hear spoken language; secondly these words have to be processed by the auditory cortex, proceed to the Wernicke’s area where the information is decoded and comprehended and translated into words. The Wernicke’s area also turns verbal information and translates it into a thought or action. This is where it communicates with surrounding cortex where words are stored with their meanings. The Wernicke’s area then sends information along the arcuate fasciculus to the Broca’s area where movements for speech are located. This pathway was important in terms of language acquisition, particularly in association of words with its meanings and sounds (Wickens, 2009, p. 372).

References:

Wickens, A. (2009). Introduction to Biopsychology (3rd edition). Pearson Edition.

8. Answer
One of the things all drugs have in common is the direct affect they have on the reward circuit of the brain. The reward or pleasure circuit is activated when the cortex receives information and processes it as stimulus signaling a reward. The signal is sent to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) where the dopaminergic cell activity increases. The dopamine is released to the mesolimbic pathway which projects from the VTA into the nucleus accumbens, septum, amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. All of these components are part of what is known as the reward bundle located in the medial forebrain bundle (MFB). The circuit starts in the MFB influencing dopaminergic activity in the nucleus accumbens by descending pathways to the VTA (Wickens, 2009, p. 454). The nucleus accumbens is the site which holds the most important value for producing rewarding affects in the neural substrate for drugs, it may not be the only area responsible for producing these rewards. For example some opiates do not require dopamine for their rewarding affects, along with alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, and lysergic acid diethylamides. Studies have shown even if the pathways of the VTA are severed the nucleus accumbens the brain can still produce rewarding affects, and it is possible it is receiving information from other pathways. Continued research is being conducted.

Dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter responsible for the pleasure feeling one receives in the rewards system, is the most important neurotransmitter for reinforcement actions in both cocaine and heroin. Normal dopamine function begins in the neuron and vesicles and moves to the neural membrane where it is sent to the synaptic cleft. The dopamine binds to receptor sites on another neuron and begins its reuptake process. The dopamine travels back from the synaptic cleft and into the original neuron by reuptake pumps. When cocaine is taken, it blocks the reuptake pumps keeping dopamine and noradrenaline from re-entering the neuron. Instead cocaine removes the dopamine from the synapse, causing an increased amount of dopamine and noradrenaline to build up in the gap between the synapse and the neuron causing the pleasure people feel. After using cocaine for a certain amount of time, a person will become dependent on the drug to feel normal, because without it their brain does not produce enough dopamine in the synapse, causing the person to feel depressed, tired, or having periods of low mood swings.

Heroin is a class of drugs known as opiates. The main ingredient in these drugs is morphine. Heroin when entered into the body binds to opiate receptors. These opiate receptors are located on neurons which release gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA – a neurotransmitter which inhibits dopamine), and the binding of the opiate to the opiate receptor blocks GABA from being transmitted. This causes the dopamine in the synaptic cleft to increase significantly causing an intense feeling of pleasure. Just like with the use of cocaine extended use of opiates can cause the brain to develop abnormalities which even after one discontinues using them, their brain will never function the way it did before the use of the drug. Withdrawal from opiates could have a person feeling anxious, irritable, and having low moods as well.

Learning and classical conditioning have been shown to be important in drug tolerance through a process called behavior tolerance. One of the most important factors which can enhance the experience of the drug abuser is the environment in which they take the substance. It was found majority of heroin overdoses occurred when the abuser uses the drug a new location. The environment in which a person is used to taking the drug along with the method in how the drug is taken such as a needle or cocaine carrying case, acts as a signal (conditioned stimulus). This stimulus elicits a conditioned response such as excitement and sweating, which predicts the consumption of the drug in the body. The body eventually gets to a point where the act of taking the drug triggers an anticipated response causing the secretion of the drugs antagonist, which helps to eliminate the drug from the body. This is called compensatory conditioned response. This prevents the person from over-dosing, because the environmental cues help to produce a form of tolerance.

References:

Moyers, B. (2013). Moyers On Addiction: How Drugs Work. Retrieved on December 11, 2013 from http://www.thirteen.org/closetohome/science/html/animations.html

Wickens, A. (2009). Introduction to Biopsychology (3rd edition). Pearson Edition.

9. Answer
Brain scanning technology has definitely changed how we view the brain and has enhanced the understanding of how the brain functions. Before brain scanning equipment was developed, researchers were forced to use dead patients in order to see what areas may have been damaged. Unfortunately in many cases the problem areas were recovering some of its function by the time the doctors were able to view the brain, making it extremely difficult for pathology to be determined. This problem was solved with the inventions of CAT, MRI, PET, and fMRI scans.

Computerized axial tomography (CAT) is a system developed where brain X-rays are mathematically resolved by computer algorithms (Wickens, 2009, p. 390). CAT scans work by using a ray gun to shoot narrow X-ray beams through the brain and around a person’s head. The radiation would be absorbed by the brain and picked up by detectors creating a three-dimensional picture of the brain. These scans are affective in identifying tumors and damaged areas of the brain as a result of a stroke. They can also give doctors a clear view of ventricles which are indicative of brain atrophy and degeneration. Limitations to this technology include limited detail and the inability to discriminate between objects which are less than 5 mm apart.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides scientists the opportunity to observe detailed pictures of the brain without injecting the patients with any substances. This technology works using magnetic fields and radio waves which create a three-dimensional image of the brain. It is considered the most superior of the scans because it can distinguish between different types of soft tissues of the brain, is it non-invasive, spatial resolution allows for items to be detected even as small as 1 mm in diameter, it can allow for views of the brain at different angles, and by alternating between magnetic gradients and radio frequency pulse parameters, they can generate images with different atoms or contrast mechanisms (Wickens, 2009, p. 394). Lastly they allow for images to be taken every couple of seconds allowing for different areas of the brain to be viewed in sequential order.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows for researchers to see the how blood flows in the brain, as well as the oxygen removal process. This technology works using MRI equipment to scan for changes in the blood oxygenation and deoxygenation from the signals. The images show when the brain is active an increase of oxygen-rich blood goes to that area of the brain which was activated. This shows the activation of different areas of the brain helping researchers to produce mapped areas of the brain involved in mental processes.

Positron emission tomography (PET) allows for brain activity to be examined while it is engaged in a mental activity. Unlike CAT scans which use X-rays, PET scans use short-lasting radioactive substances that radiate positrons, called cyclotron. These substances are injected directly into the blood stream of the person being examined, and the positrons are picked up by a scanner which creates a three-dimensional image of the chemicals distributed into the brain or body. PET scans are able to observe blood flow and this allows for the brain to be examined because activity of the brain is directly proportionate to the level of blood flowing through its regions. Another advantage to this type of scan is colorful visual display from the image produced. This helps with receptor mapping and tracking the activity in the brain.

Fortunately, CAT, MRI, PET, and fMRI scans were created to see pictures of a living brain to examine physiology and site damages. One of the first advantages for neuropsychologist with this new technology is the ability to look at a live active brain in a non-invasive way. This allows for researchers to be in a controlled experimental environment where they can see specific or localized areas of the brain where different processes like recognition, speech, and memory take place. It enables the researchers to study and discover the relations between brain activity and a person’s behavior, without causing any harm to the patient. An example of how brain scanning technology is providing new insights is the creation of a new field of research called cognitive neuroscience. The non-invasive technology is considered an important factor in the experimental studies these scientists conducts. Their purpose is the find explanations behind the mental and cognitive functions which arise from activity in the brain. “Functional imaging allows the scientist to examine just about any mental process, and to record the activation of multiple brain structures during its activity” (Wickens, 2009, p. 395). Scientists are even able to use the observations of the brain activity to determine what cognitive operations a person is performing, giving them the ability to literally “read a person’s mind”.

References:

Wickens, A. (2009). Introduction to Biopsychology (3rd edition). Pearson Edition.
10. Answer

Abnormal formation and deposition of the amyloid is one of the main implications in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD). Amyloid is a fragment of a protein, from a larger 695 amino acid protein called beta-amyloid precursor protein (B-APP), which builds up causing amyloid or senile plaque in the brain. The most defining characteristic of AD is the presence of senile plaque. These structures are shown to be in abundance throughout the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, and sometimes occurring at the striatum, basal ganglia, and thalamus. Accompanying this plaque is neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which then leads to neurodegeneration and eventually dementia (due to the dying of cells from the brain). This whole process is called the amyloid cascade theory. B-APP can be cut by enzymes called secretases, and forms two types of amyloids. The first is normal and not toxic, but the second forms insoluble and toxic sheets (senile plaque) which affect the neurons of the brain from its toxicity levels. This form of amyloid (created by faulty B-APP) is responsible for starting the process of events in the amyloid cascade theory. “Although there is evidence that faulty metabolism of the B-APP protein leads to amyloid deposition in the brain, the theory that this initiates neural degeneration in AD is more controversial” (Wickens, 2009, p. 489). For instance, the level of dementia is not directly correlated with the amount of amyloid buildup in the brain. Some forms of degenerative diseases have shown NFTs were present before the amyloid plaque emerged. This has led to two separate debates with one side supporting the NFT theory while the other supports the amyloid theory. In either case, most evidence still points toward amyloid being the most important part in the aetiology of AD, like the fact some individuals have been known to carry mutated B-APP in their DNA making AD a genetic disease (although it is extremely rare).
Mental exercise is proposed as protection from AD. Studies have shown people who were highly intelligent were able to maintain their intellect as the disease progressed. The results from the study showed the people with higher intellect usually had five times the amount of amyloid plaque and NFTs over less educated people, before they developed behavioral signs of AD. The theory behind this phenomenon is that mental exercise helps to build a cognitive reserve, which increases the brains resilience to neural degeneration (Wickens, 2009, p. 494). The implication behind this finding is the more knowledgeable a person is, the heavier and larger the brain becomes, due to an increase in the amount and strength of the brains neural connections. The larger the brain, the more capable it is in remaining functional, even if it lost a couple of neurons. Thus it would take a significant loss of neurons for the person to reach the point where a deficit would occur. People who have higher IQs also used very little effort in performing mental tasks, which was proven with functional imaging of their brain. The images showed less blood flow to the areas of the brain which were performing the task because they did so with ease. The greater the cognitive reserve was associated with the reduced amounts of blood flow, thus making the patients less likely to succumbing to AD. Not only is mental exercise important in providing protection from AD, but physical exercise as well, which implies both nature and nurture can have an effect on a person developing AD. References:

Wickens, A. (2009). Introduction to Biopsychology (3rd edition). Pearson Edition.