Mindbogglers Booklet

7/28/2019 Mindbogglers Booklet

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MINDBOGGLERS!

MORE

From thepeoplewhobroughtyouItsMindboggling!


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This booklet is the result o collaboration between the Dana Alliance orBrain Initiatives and the Center or Educational Outreach at Baylor Collegeo Medicine (BCM). It is adapted, by permission o the authors, rom BCMsBioEd/BrainLinkseries components, Brain Chemistry Teachers Guideand Brain Chemistry Explorations. Baylor College o Medicine. The

BrainLink project was unded through Science Education Partnership Awardsrom the National Center or Research Resources o the National Instituteso Health.

The Dana Alliance is a nonproft organization committed to advancingpublic awareness about the progress and benefts o brain research and todisseminating inormation on the brain in an understandable and accessibleashion. Supported entirely by the Dana Foundation, the Dana Alliance doesnot und research or make grants.

The mission o the Center or Educational Outreach at Baylor College oMedicine is to advance quality teaching and learning in science and health,and to promote access to careers in medicine and science-related felds.Projects are aimed at diverse student audiences, rom pre-school throughhigh school, undergraduate and graduate school, and also include teacherproessional development, and the creation o unique curriculum materials.

The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives

745 Fith Avenue, Suite 900, New York, NY 10151Tel: (212)223-4040, Fax: (212)593-7623E-mail: [email protected], Web site: www.dana.org

Center for Educational Outreach, Baylor College of MedicineOne Baylor Plaza, BCM411, Houston, TX 77030Tel: (713)798-8200, Fax: (713)798-8201E-mail: [email protected], Web site: www.BioEdOnline.org

Table of Contents

The Brain ....................................................... 2

The Nervous System ...................................... 4

Learning and Memory ................................... 6

Senses ........................................................... 8

Drugs and the Nervous System ................... 10


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1

Circle each word and learnabout the mystery of your

brain in the following pages.

Check It Out!This puzzle contains hidden words that relate to the brainnames o partso the brain, unctions it perorms and things that may aect how the brain

works. There are eleven words in bold on the following pages that are inthis puzzle plus nineteen words relating to how your brain and body work.

BaylorCollegeofMedicine.


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2

The BrainThe human brain directsalmost everything that we

do. It controls our voluntarymovements and it regulatesinvoluntary activities such asbreathing and heartbeat. Thebrain stores our memories,allows us to eel emotions andgives us our personalities.

As the command center o your

body, it receives and processesinormation rom the worldaround you and controls youremotions, thoughts, movementsand automatic body unctions.Made up o 100 billion nerve cells with more than 100 trillion connections,the brain is the most complex organ in your body. In act, it is the mostcomplicated arrangement o matter in the known universe.

The brain can be divided into several regions, each with a specic unction.These include:

The brainstem connects directly with the spinal cord andis responsible or automatic unctions o the body.

The cerebellum is located near the back o the brain at thetop o the brainstem. It is about the size o a tennis ball.

The cerebrum is the largest part o your brain. It sits above thebrainstem and cerebellum and covers most o the remaining brainstructures. It is divided into let and right hemispheres, which areconnected. Dierent parts o the hemispheres handle dierentunctions. Even though the hemispheres look similar, someunctions are handled more by one hemisphere than the other.

Circuitsofneuronsworktogether

eachtimewefeel,smell,taste,

seeorhearsomething.

Ouremotionsaregovernedbyaregionothebrainknownasthelimbicsystem.Buriedunderthecerebrum,thelimbicsystemisinvolvedinmanyemotionsandmotivations,especiallythoserelatedtosurvival,suchasanger,earandtheght-or-fightresponse.Thelimbicsystemalsoplaysanim

portantroleineelingsopleasure.


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3

Cerebrum

Thinking

Learning

Remembering

Sensing

Speaking

Feeling Emotions

Voluntary Movement(Movements youchoose to do)

Planning

Decision making

Reasoning

Limbic System

Feeling emotions related

to survival, such as earand anger

Processing o memoriesor longterm storage

Feeling pleasure

Regulation o bodytemperature, thirst andappetite or hunger

Brainstem

Automatic body unctions,such as:

Swallowing

Breathing

Sneezing

Heart beat

Eye movements and blinking

Spinal CordPathway or nervesignals to and romthe brain

Coordination orefex actions,like jerking yourhand away romsomething hot

Cerebellum

Controlling

balance andmovement

Rememberingwelllearnedtasks and skilledmovements

Processing sometypes o memory

Baylor College of Medicine.


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4

The Nervous SystemThe nervous system is made up o two classes o cells known as glial cells and neuralcells (neurons). Glial cells are the support cells o the nervous system; they perorm

a number o important jobs that help keep the nervous system running smoothly.Neurons are specialized to receive and transmit inormation. In act, almost allunctions o the nervous system are based on electrical and chemical communicationsinside and among neurons. Types o neurons dier in appearance, but they all collectinormation rom inside our bodies, rom our senses or rom other neurons. All neuronsalso transmit inormation to other neurons or other kinds o cells (such as muscle cells).Some neurons can receive messages rom several thousand dierent cells at once!

A typical neuron has an enlarged area, the cell body, which contains the nucleus.Neurons typically also have several branches or extensions that project away rom

the cell body. The branches on which inormation is usually received are known asdendrites. Most neurons have many dendrites and a longer, tail-like branch calledthe axon, which transmits inormation to the next cell. The axons o many kinds oneurons are surrounded by a atty, segmented covering called the myelin sheath.This covering acts as a kind o insulation and improves the ability o axons to carrynervous system signals rapidly.

Neurons communicate with one another and with other cells such as musclesthrough a special junction known as a synapse. At the synapse, the axon o one

neuron usually is separated rom the next cell by anarrow gap (20 to 40 nanometers wide) known asthe synaptic clet. Messages traveling rom neuronto neuron must cross the synaptic clet in orderor the signal to continue along its path. This iscalled neurotransmission. A single neuron may becapable o receiving messages simultaneouslyon its dendrites and cell body rom severalthousand dierent cells.

How does inormation getacross the synaptic clet?Chemical changes causean electrical signal, orimpulse, that can moverom one end o anaxon to the other. Thismovement along anaxon resembles a

line o dominoes inwhich each dominocauses the next oneto all. Once theimpulse reachesthe end o theneuron, it triggers

Axon

MyelinSheath

Axon Terminal


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the release o special chemicals known asneurotransmitters, which cross the synapticclet and attach to matched receptors,usually on the dendrites or cell body oanother neuron or on a muscle ber.

There are many dierent kinds oneurotransmitters (more than 100!). Some othem are excitatorythey make it easieror the neuron to re. A single neuron mayreceive excitatory and inhibitory messagessimultaneously rom thousands o otherneurons. The neuron must sort out all othat inormation and, based on the types omessages it received, either remain silent or

generate its own electrical impulse that willtravel down its axon and send a signal to the next neuron.

The spinal cord is the main linkbetween your brain and the rest

o your body. Together, the brain

and spinal cord are known as the centralnervous system. Your spinal cord is made o

millions o neurons (cells that are the building blocks o the nervous system) that allowyour brain to communicate with the rest o your body. Each year thousands o peoplesuer spinal cord injuries, usually rom auto and sports accidents and alls. Oten theresult is paralysis not being able to move parts o the body. Scientists are trying tond treatments that get these spinal neurons to grow back ater injury.

Direction of Impulse

Dendrites

Cell Body

Nucleus

Synapse orSynaptic Cleft

(tiny gap)


Nanomeansonebillionth.Ananometerisonebillionth(or0.000,000,001)ofameter.Asynapticcleftisusually20nanometersacross.Justimaginehowtinyasynapseisifthewidthofasinglehairis50,000nanometers!


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Learning and MemoryLearning is the process o gaining new inormation.

Memory is the system our brain uses to hold on to inormation and to getit back when we need it. All the acts we know, our knowledge o how to dothings and our ability to make sense o what is going on around us dependson learning and memory. Located deep within the brain, the hippocampus isa part o the brain that is important or many orms o memory and learning.

How long do memories last? Some o our memories last or only a shorttime. Have you ever orgotten a telephone number right ater makingyour call? This brie kind o memory, called working memory or short-term

memory, is whatyou remember onlyas long as you arepaying attention.

Some things aresaved as long-termmemories. Thingsthat are important to

us or arouse strongemotions are morelikely to be placedin permanentstorage thanordinary lie events.Creating long-termmemories oten

involves repetitionor rehearsal. Long-term memories canlast rom a ew hoursto a lietime.

Learn how to ride a bike and you never orgetwhy?

Think o how many things you do each day that require your body tomove. There are many parts o the brain that achieve this. Remember whenyou learned how to ride a bicycle or to ice skate? In the beginning, youprobably ell down a lot. This is because your brain rst had to learn how tobike or skate. Next, your brain told your muscles how to make the correctmovements. The part o the brain that gives the orders to move the musclesis the motor cortex. It is located in the cerebrum.

PracticePracticePractice

6

GOA

L

Weoftenhavetopractice

whatwewanttolearn

frommultiplicationtables,

togettingtherightcurve

onasoccerkick,toplaying

asongonthepiano.

Long-termmemoriesalso

canbemadewhenyou

experiencesomethingvery

excitingorfrightening.

Whataresomeofyour

mostvividmemoriesfrom

alongtimeagoandwhy

doyourememberthem?


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When you are rst learninga new set o motor skills, youhave to concentrate. Themotor cortex directs all othe muscle movements with

instructions rom all over thecerebrum, the thinking parto your brain. At the sametime, other parts o your brain,such as your cerebellum,are remembering how themovements are made.

Ater you have learned to ride a bike or toice skate well, the motor cortex receivesinstructions rom these other brain areasthat maintain motor memories or allyour amiliar actions. You dont have tothink about them. Thats why you can walk

and talk at the same time or sing whileyou skate. You dont have to concentratehard on telling your muscles what to do.Your cerebellum is doing a lot o the workor you.

MemoryPower:Usingrhymeorrhythmto

help remembersomethingis

onewaythatyoucanboost

yourmemorypower.Mosto

uslearnedtosaytheletters

othealphabetinorderby

singingthealphabetsong.

This is calledmnemonics.Anothergoodexampleis usingaphraseor

wordtorememberalongerlist.Forexample, HOMEShelpsusremember

the namesothefveGreatLakes Huron, Ontario,Michigan,Erie and

Superior. Youcanalso createapictureinyourmindtohelpremembera

difcultwordorphrase.Imaginingahippoattendingsummercamp,or

example,isamnemonictohelpremembertheword,hippocampus.


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Senses

It is our senses that let us know what is going on inside and outside our

bodies. Every moment, your brain is bombarded by sensory signals. Itreceives messages rom sensory receptors in your eyes, ears, nose, mouth,skin and rom inside your body. All the messages travel along neurons to thebrain. Signals rom each kind o sensory receptor go to dierent areas o thecerebrum.

So many messages come in to the brain all thetime that it is almost as i a thousand balls

o dierent kinds were being thrown at

your brain at once! Incredibly, your brainsorts out the signals, knowing whichones to pay attention to and whichto ignore. In an amazingly complexprocess, the brain combinesinormation rom dierent sensesand memories o past experiences toreach conclusions and begin actions.

External inormation is gathered byspecialized receptors in the sense

organs (the nose, eyes, ears, tongueand skin.) Signals are then translated into

electrical activity that the entire nervous systemunderstands and relayed to the brain via sensory

neurons. Specialized parts o the cerebrum receive thesignals. Other areas process, integrate and interpret the sensory signals.

Most of the time the eyes and brain worktogether to tell us what is around us.Sometimes, though, the brain can befooled or confused by what the eyes take in.


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Most sensory receptors are specialized torespond to a particular type o inormation.For example, there are dierent receptors inthe skin devoted to receiving and transmittinginormation about pain, pressure, heat, cold and

touch. Senses work within our bodies to providecues about varying states o our body organs andpositions o our muscles and limbs and enableus to interpret and react to our environment.Through our senses, we are able to investigatethe world; to learn, to achieve and to discover.

What do you see in this picture? What

you see depends upon what part o thepicture you look at. Do you see the twinaces or do you see the table? You maynotice that you cannot ocus on both theaces and the table at the same time. Thebrain is selecting part o the inormationavailable to it in order to make senseo what you are looking at. We do thisall the time without being aware o it.This may be one reason why dierentpeople will describe the same scene oroccurrence in very dierent ways.

Read the names o the colors.Is it easy or hard? Now try

saying the colors insteado reading the words. Doyou nd that you have togo slowly in order to getthe colors right? Seeing thewords, the brain expects thecolors and names to match.They do not match, so thebrain has to rethink anddecide which inormationto use and which to ignore.Oten we will be ooled andthink that we see somethingthat is not present (or not seesomething that is) because owhat we expect to see.



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Drugs and the BrainDrug addiction is a complex brain disease. It is characterized by compulsive,at times uncontrollable, drug craving, seeking and use that persist even

in the ace o extremely negative consequences. For many people, drugaddiction becomes chronic, with relapses possible even ater long periodso abstinence.

How does addiction happen? Pleasure, which scientists call reward, is a verypowerul biological orce or our survival. I you do something pleasurable,the brain is wired in such a way that you tend to want to do it again.

This temporary eeling o pleasure is a powerul biological orce or survival.

Addictive drugs can activate the brains pleasure circuit. Drug addiction is apathological twist o the biological process by which the pleasure center, aswell as other parts o the brain, unctions. To understand this process, it isnecessary to examine the eects o drugs on neurotransmission.

Almost all drugs that change the way the brain works do so by aectingchemical neurotransmission. Some drugs, like heroin and LSD, mimic theeects o a natural neurotransmitter. Others, like PCP, block receptors andthereby prevent neuronal messages rom getting through. Still others, like

cocaine, interere with the molecules that are responsible or returningneurotransmitters back into the neurons that released them. Finally, somedrugs, such as methamphetamine, act by causing neurotransmitters to bereleased in greater amounts than normal.

Addictive substances like nicotine, alcohol, prescriptionpainkillers, marijuana, cocaine and heroin change thebrain in undamental ways by acting on the rewardpathways in the brain. A rush o neurochemicals are

released to produce a euphoric high. With continueduse, the underlying brain circuits physically change.These long-lasting changes are a major componento the addiction itsel. In many instances, the brainquickly gets used to a drug, so that more and more isneeded to recreate the original eelings o pleasure.

Scientists are studyingthis brain circuitry andthe underlying addictionto identiy targets ortherapies that might helpstop the compulsion to usedrugs or ease withdrawal.


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EFFECTS1. Slowed thinking or conusion

2. Poor balance and coordination

3. Panic Attacks

4. Addiction

5. Short-term eeling o well-being

6. Liver disease7. Memory loss or poor learning

8. Abnormal heart rate or heart ailure

9. Nausea

10. Seeing or hearing things that are not real

11. Temporary eelings o energy

12. Ulcers inside nose

13. Unconsciousness

14. Heart disease

15. Sudden death

16. Lowered inhibitions

17. Pain relie

18. Slurred speech

For more information about addictive substances, go to the National Institute on Drug Abuseweb site at www.drugabuse.gov/drugpages.

Many abused substances have side effects that people dont think about. Look at thesubstances listed in the white boxes and study the numbered lists of effects. Write the numbersfor all corresponding effects in each substance box. Keep in mind that each substance cancause more than one effect and that each effect can go with more than one substance. Theeffects of tobacco are given. Check the answers and see if there were any surprises!

Alcohol

Cocaine

Codeine

Ecstasy

Heroin

Inhalant

LSD

Marijuana

Tobacco 4, 8, 11, 14

HowQuicklyCanIBecomeAddictedtoaDrug?Thereisnoeasyanswertothis.Iandhowquicklyyoumightbecomeaddictedtoadrugdependsonmanyactorsincludingyourgenes(whichyouinheritromyourparents)a

ndthebiologyoyourbody.Alldrugsarepotentiallyharmuland mayhavelie-threateningconsequencesassociatedwiththeiruse.Therearealsovastdierences amongindividualsinsensitivity

tovariousdrugs.Whileonepersonmayuseadrugoneormanytimes andsuernoilleects,anotherpersonmaybe

particularlyvulnerableandoverdose withfrstuse.Thereisnowayoknowinginadvancehowsomeonemayreact.

BaylorCollegeofMedicine.


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Its Amazing!Scientists have workedor many years to

unravel the complexworkings o the brain.Their research eortshave greatly improvedour understandingo brain unction.Using new imagingtechniques, scientists

can visualize thehuman brain inaction. Imagesproduced by thesetechniques havedened brain regionsthat play a role inattention, memoryand emotion. Newndings show thatsome adult braincells (stem cells) candivide and becomenew neurons andglial cells. Advancesin research areallowing scientists

to analyze and make progress toward understanding the causes o braindisorders such as Alzheimers disease and Parkinsons disease.

Despite these and other signicant advances in the eld o brain research,most o the processes responsible or the integrated unctioning o billionso brain cells remain a mystery. Research on the brain continues to bringnew insights into how the brain is put together, how it works and whetherdamage to the brain can be reversed. Scientists who study the brain andnervous system are called neuroscientists.

Given the brains staggering complexity, it is hardly surprising that thenervous system can malunction in countless ways. Neuroscience is avast eld with opportunities or research in brain unction, in diseasesand disorders, in brain imaging and in providing important insights intothought, emotion and behavior. For more inormation, check out Sourcesand Resources.


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Sources and Resources Baylor College of Medicine, Center for Educational Outreach: http://www.ccitonline.org/ceo

Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives: http://brainweek.dana.org/education.cfm

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: www.niaaa.nih.gov

National Institute on Drug Abuse: www.nida.nih.gov

National Institutes of Health Ofce of Science Education: http://science.education.nih.gov/ National Institute of Mental Health: www.nimh.nih.gov

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: www.ninds.nih.gov

Neuroscience for Kids: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html

Society for Neuroscience: www.sfn.org

AnswersCheck It Out (page 1):Axon, Brain, Brainstem, Caffeine, Carbohydrate, Cerebellum, Cerebrum, Chemical,

Dendrite, Dopamine, Electrical, Food, Health, Inhalant, Limbic, Marijuana, Medicine,Mineral, Neuron, Neurotransmitter, Protein, Receptor, Signal, Speed, Stimulant, Sugar,

Synapse, Tea, Tobacco, Vitamin

Think About It (page 8):Alcohol (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 16, 18); Cocaine (4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12);

Codeine (1, 4, 5, 9, 13, 17); Ecstasy (7, 8, 10, 11); Heroin (1, 2, 4, 5, 9, 13, 17);

Inhalant (2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18); LSD (8, 9, 10); Marijuana (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7)

Thank You to...Nancy P. Moreno, PhD, Barbara Z. Tharp, MS, Tadzia GrandPr, PhD, and Martha S. Young,

BFA, Center for Educational Outreach, Baylor College of Medicine.

William Stilwell, Dana Press

Karen Graham, Dana Alliance

FoodforThought!Haveyoueverfeltcrankyaftermissingamealorhadtroubleconcentratingonatestwhenyouskippedbreakfast?

Ahealthybrainandnervoussystemrequiremanydifferentkindsofrawmaterials.Theserawmaterialscomefromfood.Didyouknowthatglucose(akindofsugar)isthemainsourceofenergyforthebrain?Undernormalconditions,thebraindependsonacontinuoussupplyofglucoseprovidedbytheblood.Carbohydrate-richfoodssuchasbread,pasta,andpotatoesareimportantsourcesofglucoseandyourbodycanmanufactureglucosefromproteinsandotherenergy-richfoods.Candyandothersugaryfoodsactuallydepriveyourbrainoffuelbecausetheycauseglucoselevelsinthebloodstreamtoriserapidlyandthencras

h.Eathealthy!


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The

Dana

Alliance

for

Brain

Initiatives

2008 The Dana Alliance or Brain Initiatives

Adapted rom BioEd Brain Chemistry Teachers Guide by permission o the authors. Baylor College o Medicine.

Adapted rom BioEd Brain Chemistry Explorations by permission o the authors

Access the online edition of

More Mindbogglers! at

www.dana.org/kids/lesson.cfmwww.dana.org

www.BioEdOnline.org

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