This is an article that I read in an old edition of The scientific American:
Soldier´s stress: What doctors get wrong about PTSD Apparently there is a possible over-diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder. One of the problems with the diagnosis is that a condition of it is an experience of a traumatic event. However, patients with some disorders that have not experienced a traumatic event (such as some anxiety and mood disorders) show almost similar physiological activity. Another problem is that those who are functioning well after their "traumatic" experience, can be diagnosed with the disorder, just because they are dreaming about the event. It is however believed that the dreaming of the event is a natural and healthy way for the brain to integrate the trauma into the normal experience. A third problem with the disorder is that the flashbacks and memories of the trauma might not be accurate memories at all. This is in line with the view on memory to be reconstructive by nature (for example Loftus and Palmer). In fact, most research show that humans are very resilient and can generally cope well with traumatic experiences. Recent research has suggested the same about soldiers returning from the great wars. Only a small fraction of the returning solders had PTSD symptoms, and this could have been because they were more sensitive by their nature or because they have had extreme experiences.
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This is an interesting article that I read in Scientific American:
The brain´s dark energy It is about research that shows that the brain is constantly active, especially in a system that is called the brain´s default mode network (DMN). It is called DMN because it is the network that is always active, no matter what state of consciousness you are in. It is believed that this network synchronizes all other parts of the brain by sending timing information. This ensures the brain to react in unison to a stimuli (for instance, perceiving the color a stimuli at the same time as seeing the spatial dimensions of it). The DMN can be found in several regions of the brain, such as the temporal cortex, the prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex. Without DMN, it is believed that the electrical signaling in the brain would be chaotic. The electrical signaling of the different areas of the brain is believed to be hierarchically organized. At the highest level is the DMN, which acts as the symphony conductor over the other parts of the brain. On the next organizational level are the slow cortical potentials (SCP), which are groups of neurons that fire every 10 seconds. SCP:s are synchronized with the electrical oscillations of DMN, and coordinates brain activity in specific brain regions. Without DMN and SCP:s the brain activity will turn chaotic (maybe a bit like Bangkok traffic) and it is believed that many brain disorders, such as Alzheimer´s disease, depression and schizophrenia have dysfunctional DMN activity. Dr Stiles sent me this article. It is about the hypothesis that autistic traits might have had an evolutionary advantage during stone age.
The autism advantage - the solitary forager hypothesis This is of course only a hypothesis, which is very difficult to ever prove scientifically. I used to be very interested in criminal psychology. Here is a website that has many interesting articles on criminal minds:
Crime library This article may be of interest. It is an article about a pair of twins that are conjoined by the head. Brain images have revealed that their thalamus are linked to each other. This is interesting, because the thalamus is an area important for consciousness. The twins seem to share their sensory experiences. They also frequently synchronize and mirror each others' movements. However, they do have different personalities.
Could conjoined twins share a mind? |
AuthorThis is my class blog for IB Psychology. Here I will publish reflections on psychology, reviews of psychology books, recommended links, lecture notes, and information on psychology topics that are not covered by the syllabus. You are free to add comments or ask me questions. Archives
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