Mental abilities genius, savant, and autism

Assessment 1

Mental Abilities: Genius, Savant and Autism

1.             Explain in detail what "savant syndrome" means.

Savant Syndrome is the condition in were a person has some serious mental or physical disability or has an undeveloped part of the brain in which the other side has predominance which results in the remarkable and sometimes spectacular talents. 

Hiles, Dave. "Savant Syndrome." Psy. 2001/2002. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.psy.dmu.ac.uk/drhiles/Savant Syndrome.htm>.

2. What does genius mean?  Explain the difference between genius and savant.

A genius is defined as a person with an exceptional intellect and talent. Genius and savant are to very close related terms, one of the main differences between the two is that Genius is defined as exceptional intellect and talent and savant is more on the creative side meaning that it is the result of an undeveloped part of the brain, when Genius works more on the reasoning savants are more on the creative side and have a disability which genius do not have.

Farlex, Inc. "Genius - Definition of Genius by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia." Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary. 2011. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.thefreedictionary.com/genius>.

3. What is a stroke and how could it affect your mental functioning?

As stroke is when one of the arteries leading to the brain break or get blocked this occurs when the brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen that causes cells to die this can result in various disabilities such as inability to talk, paralysis, inability to understand, and other conditions brought by brain damage.

Http://www.euronet.nl/~jonkr/, Ron Jonk-. "Stroke / Brain Attack." University of Maryland Medical Center | Home. 25 Jan. 2008. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.umm.edu/non_trauma/stroke.htm>.

4. What is a functional MRI and how does it help us understand brain activity?

A Functional MRi is a type of medical test that can diagnose and treat medical conditions, it consists of using a magnetic field, radio frequency pulses and a computer produced detailed pictures of different parts of the brain. This helps us understand and see for ourselves the brain in a better perspective and being able to see the tiny metabolic changes that take place in an active part of the brain.

Radiological, Society. "Functional MRI (fMRI) - Brain." RadiologyInfo - The Radiology Information Resource for Patients. 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=fmribrain>.

5. What is the corpus Callosum and what role does it play in your brain's activity?

Corpus Callosum is a big bundle of nerves fibers found in mammalian brains, it connects the right brain and the left brain together and its maintain communication between both. The role of the Corpus Callosum in brain activity consists  on connecting both hemispheres and it allows both to communicate and plan their activities.

"What is the Corpus Callosum?." wiseGEEK: clear answers for common questions. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-corpus-callosum.htm>.

6. What is epilepsy and how might it affect your brain's abilities?

Epilepsy is defined as the a syndrome in were a human experiments constant seizures that are cause by sudden burst of electrical activity in an individuals brain that causes temporal disruptions between messages being send to the brain. Epilepsy can make your brain stop transmitting message fro a while and so your body suffers an automatic seizure as it is confused like your brain.

daughter, the way when my, and the. "What is epilepsy? | Epilepsy Action." Epilepsy Action. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/what-is-epilepsy>.

7. What is autism?

Autism is a condition that affects the functioning of the brain it is characterized as a dysfunction of someone’s communicating skills, social skills and reasoning. It affects the way a child looks at the world.

What is Autism? What you should know." Autism/PDD Information and Support to help your child. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.autism-pdd.net/what-is-autism.html>.

8. What is Asperger's Syndrome?

Asperger’s syndrome is a condition in which a child develops a normal intellect but as he/she gets older his/her they may develop problems with their communication skills.

"What is Asperger's Syndrome? ." WebMD - Better information. Better health.. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/mental-health-aspergers-syndrome>.

Images sources:

• " Society for Neuroscience - Autism In Children ." Society for Neuroscience. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=brainBriefings_autismInChildren
• "Eleven Amazing Savants Show the Power of the Human Brain | DegreeScout." Search Online MBA, Business Degrees, Nursing Degrees | DegreeScout. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.degreescout.com/online-education-news/eleven-amazing-savants-show-the-power-of-the-human-brain>.

• "Italian Prodigy: 3-Year-Old Reads, Gives Medical Advice | THE B.S. REPORT." THE B.S. REPORT. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://thebsreport.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/italian-prodigy-3-year-old-reads-gives-medical-advice/>.

Genius video 3

The Third Genius video was about a certain type of people called savants that have a very good particular talent but have other parts of their brain and lives un developed such as social skills, the main character was a man who could make any type of calculations like a calculator which was very shocking and surprising. I really liked this video as it showed people with amazing qualities and various unsolved mysteries that have been investigated for a long time, I personally really liked it and think that savants are very interesting people and that maybe some people may be born with a talent except they develop It late or how the video showed half your brain is turned off the other part will work better and so you develop like a savant. In conclusion the third genius video was very interesting and educational and had many important points that really called my attention.

Bibliography image: http://www.brghtnghts.com/blog/?p=75

Genius video 2

The second genius video told the story of a woman whose dad had taught her from very little to play chess in a very interesting way and had grown in that world and was able to play very well at an extremely young age, her talent also included a huge memory and she could play pretty much like a computer could. This video was very shocking and interesting as I got to see how her talent developed and that someone can be formed into a genius, I personally believe that young kids such as this woman can be shaped into a genius if their surrounded by the right environment and that maybe they do have some gene that may help one become a genius but that doesn’t change with genre or race, meaning that it is mainly based on the environment one is surrounded by.

 Image Bibliography:http://www.brghtnghts.com/blog/?p=75

Genius video 1

The first genius video was about a little boy who had a tremendous musical talent and could play the piano from a very early age, it surprised me greatly to see his talent and to find out through the video that there’s many young children who are raced or already have a talent that no other kid they’re age should, in the video there was also footage of a little girl whose dad trapped her in a chair all her life and when free she had to talking, reading or any intellectual abilities and was of great use for scientists to see the theory of nature and nurture genius. I thought this video was very interesting and had some very interesting point of view, I personally believe that a child can be turned into a genius mainly because of nurture meaning that all children have the same abilities to grow and develop over achieving talents if treated correctly and exploiting every chance.

Image bibliography:

"turn ur child into a genius." for new moms. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2011. <http://www.fornewmoms.com/subfeature/turn-your-child-into-a-genius/>.

Nature VS Nurture: Homosexuality

"Astatalk - BBC - The Making of Me: John Barrowman [Documentary] download release." Astatalk - Underground community - download everything. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://astatalk.com/release/69808/0/BBC_-_The_Making_of_Me%3A_John_Barrowman_%5BDocumentary%5D/>.

This video is about homosexuality and weather it comes from nurture or nature meaning if someone’s born with this or it is learned during their lives. To find the answer to this long time mystery researchers and scientists have experimented with fraternal twins such as to find out how someone comes to be homosexual. Something that really surprised me about this video was that the first fraternal twins appeared completely the same except that one of them liked things from the opposite sex, meaning that his likings fit the ones most common for the female genre, and how come two kids that have been together thru every experience and have been born together etc grow differently. Another thing that I learned and found very interesting in the video was how it stated that a boy with older brothers is more subjected to being homosexual, this is a very surprising finding as I had never before heard of such hypothesis. I think this video was very interesting as it showed various confusing and controversial findings that may or may not prove that homosexuality derives from a particular gene in the human DNA. I particularly think that probably a person’s gene those have something very lightly to do with she/he being homosexual but is what occurs in nurture that drove that gene to develop into homosexuality.

Video Response # 4

Bibliography (image):

"Watch Unboxing Hot Toys Predator 2 Battle Damaged Sideshow Exclusive via YouTube Online." Yidio makes it easy to watch TV & Movies online. Watch Full Episodes & Movies Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://www.yidio.com/unboxing-hot-toys-predator-2-battle-damaged-sideshow-exclusive/id/3181600111>.

The video “Mind of a murderer” is a very complex and interesting video about the minds and thoughts of a murderer (as the title states), it teaches the audience and makes them reflexionate about the constant debate of whether a murderer’s actions are the results of his brain, his experiences or maybe even a dramatic injury he/she had experienced earlier. Watching this video I learned about different murderers’ lives and actions that might had driven them to commit such things and even about murderers that without having a past have randomly chosen to subject those actions and live with the harsh consequences. This simple idea of were murderer’s thoughts are situated made me reach the conclusion that anyone can commit such actions, anyone can randomly decide to be a murder and that’s why scientists haven’t been able to anticipate such action, maybe in a near future technology could advance to the point in which the next generation would not have to sufferer such high crime rates especially those of assassination or murder. One of the examples that most impacted me was the one of the men that randomly disappeared followed by a little girl that also disappeared not long after that, later on the men was found with an ice cream sitting tranquil on top of a bridge looking down were later on the body of the little girl was uncovered from. This man had no highlighted past experiences that would conduct him to commit such things instead something in his brain drove him to do it, this story makes the audience wonder what that answer could be. I think this video was different and creative and its lessons were well transmitted, which results in individual thoughts from the audience themselves that aroused from the constant questions the video posts in the audience’s minds and ideas.

 

Video Response # 3

Bibliography (image)

"Traumatic Brain Injury From Auto Accidents ? What You Need to Know." Traumatic Brain Injury. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. <http://www.besttbicaregiver.com/?p=28>. 

The video “Living with traumatic brain injury” shows various stories about diverse people that have suffered traumatic brain injuries.  Traumatic brain injuries can affect your life in many important aspects, as it damages the most important organ in your body the “brain” which controls every action, thought or movement a human being does. This video shows complications that arise after someone is subjected to such injuries, for example they loose some of their skills that they use to have before the accident such as the ability to walk, move or even talk that strongly affects their daily lives. I think this video was very interesting and it hurt to think that someone can suffer a drastic change that quickly and never go back to the way they were before or that it’ll take a lot of time to recuperate and act like they did before. This video had a lot of impacting stories about people, their accidents and their lives which really made a difference in the way I valued life. I now have reached the conclusion that life can suffer quick changes at any moment and that’s why we should enjoy every minute of it without regrets.

Video Response 2

In the video “reading your mind” there were numerous points that amazed me completely. The first fact that left me open mouthed was when it was stated that today’s technology can be used to see someone’s brain activity. In the video we can see how every little object you can think about results in a whole movement of the brain and no two individuals can share the same thoughts because of their own experiences and actions. What kept my attention going was the constant calling of this next technology “mind reader” by the speaker; this made me very curious on what was being showed.  The video is mainly about how the new technology of MRI’s can now a days read your mind, it can decipher exactly what your thoughts are by scanning your brain and show all the work your brain makes constantly for every thought. This video showed something that impressed me greatly, this was the experiment they conducted by asking the computer what image had been showed to the person scanned, the computer continuously answered right. I think this next technology is very interesting and useful for crime inspections etc. and is a great invention for future generations.

Bibliography ( image)

"22C+: Small Things and the Big Picture." 22C+. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Feb. 2011. <http://22cplus.blogspot.com/2010/10/small-things-and-big-picture.html>.