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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key suggested answer key the dana sourcebook of brain science resources for teachers and students fourth edition section 1 looking inside the brain suggested recall questions pages 56-57 1 whereisthevisualcortexofthebrain the visual cortex is located in the back of the brain 2 whereisthepartofthevisualcortexspecifictorecognizingfaces?whatsizeisit it is located on the left not far from the ear and is about the size of a pea 3 howdoesfunctionalmri,thetechniqueusedbydr.nancy kanwisherinthevideotoimagethebrain,work it uses an intense magnetic field that reveals which parts of the brain are getting more blood or less more blood flows to brain areas that are working harder activity is mapped by a continuous series of high-speed digital images taken together these images provide an idea of the nerve-cell communication patterns in a particular region of the brain 4 whyisthereanareaofthebraindedicatedtoreadingfaces humans are social primates it is important for us to determine if the people we meet are friendly or not interested or detached confident or afraid it is of such importance that an entire area of the brain is dedicated to this one task examples of discussion questions 1 doesthenewimagingtechnologyallowscientiststo read ourminds new technology can for example identify the separate areas in the brain that are active when we think of a face or a place as shown in this segment by looking at fmri images of the brain scientists can tell whether the person is thinking of a place or a person they cannot determine what place or what person 2 whatisthedifferencebetweenthebrainandthemind the brain is a physical organ of the body in the same way the heart is an organ scientists tend to study the mind as a set of activities e.g thinking feeling and sensing that originate in the brain the brain is a measurable physical entity in biology the mind is a concept that describes some of the things the brain does.

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key section 2 sports and the brain suggested recall questions page 57 1 whyisitdifficulttohitabaseballthefirsttimeyoutry the first time a person tries to hit a baseball neither the brain nor the corresponding muscles have learned how to respond to the oncoming ball and coordinate the swing of the bat both have to learn this new skill 2 howdoesthebrainlearnmotorskills in order to perform a motor skill the brain has to coordinate many different muscles at the same time this makes learning a skill somewhat complex nevertheless the brain has an efficient way of consolidating new information saving what it needs and discarding what it does not certain parts of the brain are active during motor learning and become inactive once the skill is mastered new procedural memories are formed in areas of the brain dedicated to short-term memory but they don t stay there instead these memories are stored elsewhere in the brain for future retrieval 3 accordingtodr.davidvanessen,whatmustan athletedoinordertoperformsuccessfully an athlete must analyze not just one but several objects moving simultaneously in many different directions the visual system controls the flow of that information into the specialized subsystems of the brain that make sense of the shapes and movement trajectories of those objects examples of discussion questions 1 istheresuchathingasabornathlete no person is born with the ability to hit a home run all athletic skills are learned by the brain and the body individuals may be born with the potential to develop bigger and stronger muscles but the ability to coordinate the muscles to perform well is always learned 2 whatarethemostimportantskillsanathletemustdevelop perfect coordination between the brain and the body and the ability to trigger the brain to remember what it has learned athletes often refer to this ability as being grooved or in the zone to hit a home run both the body and the brain have to be well trained and perfectly coordinated if a person s muscles are tired or the brain is distracted the person is likely to pop up ground out or miss the ball completely.

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key section 3 the broken brain suggested recall questions page 58 1 whatisaconcussion a concussion is much more than being knocked unconscious neurologists define a concussion as any change in cerebral function resulting from a blow to the head such changes can include headaches nausea sleeplessness moodiness and an inability to focus one s attention 2 howdidpatlafontaine sbraininjuriesaffecthisfamilyrelationships he became depressed had a personality change and even had difficulty reading stories to his children examples of discussion questions 1 whymightanathlete,whetheraprofessionalorastudentathlete,notreportproblemsfollowingaheadinjury according to pat lafontaine and dr james kelly athletes are taught to play with injuries and sickness and not to complain the mind-set among athletes seems to be that you must play and overcome adversity in order to get back in the game 2 whatcanbedonetohelpreducethenumberofserioussports-relatedinjuries coaches trainers and athletes can learn more about the brain and brain injuries standardized neurological tests need to be configured to sports situations and used by officials of the various sports better equipment can be developed brain research to determine how the brain recovers from an injury and what can be done to promote healing must continue 3 ifayoungpersonsuffersaconcussionplayingsports shouldthatpersonquitplayingthatsport the person usually does not have to quit the sport but should not risk further damage until the injury is healed the brain can recover from concussions if it has time to heal multiple concussions especially in a short period of time can increase the risk of serious brain injury.

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key section 4 stress and the brain suggested recall questions page 59 1 arezebrasbetterequippedtodealwithstressthanhumans or,putanotherway,whydon tzebrasgetulcers the zebra s environment is better suited to its response to stress which is the brain signaling the body to prepare to flee or fight a physical threat according to dr robert sapolsky humans have constructed a network of social stressors that activate this same system since we are obliged to live in this framework stress builds over time chronic psychological stress can lead to cardiovascular damage and other serious health problems 2 howdothebrainandthebodyreacttostressors stress in response to for example the threat of attack entails many changes in the body first adrenaline causes an increase in heart rate and blood pressure so that blood can be sent to muscles faster second the brain s hypothalamus signals the pituitary gland to stimulate the adrenal gland specifically the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol this stress hormone a longer-acting steroid helps the body to mobilize energy at the same time long-term projects like digestion are put on hold however prolonged exposure to cortisol can damage the body chronic high blood pressure can cause vascular damage and the long-term shut down of digestion can lead to ulcers examples of discussion questions 1 whydosomepeopleexperiencemorestressthanothers individuals who feel they have control over their lives appear to experience less stress our stress response also depends on personality and temperament aggressive competitive types are more likely to define a situation as stressful than a passive accommodating personality a universal stress producer seems to be social isolation 2 whatarethemajorcausesofstressamongyoungpeopleinamericatoday few young people today have to confront life-threatening situations very often the stress most experience is usually psychological for example fear of failure fear of rejection fear of abuse physical or verbal and fear of the unknown 3 whatcanpeopledotoeliminateorreducestressintheirdailylives there are thousands of books on this subject advocating everything from mind exercises to body exercises to therapy what they all have in common is learning what we can control and finding helpful ways of responding to or balancing out the inevitable things we can t control.

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key section 5 pain and the brain suggested recall questions page 60 1 ispainimportanttosurvival yes dr steven hyman says that in certain circumstances pain is essential for learning which in turn is necessary for survival a child who touches a hot stove or a sharp object and feels acute pain learns not to do those things again 2 ischronicpainasignofpersonalweakness no according to dr hyman people are suffering and it s not because they are weak or because they are not trying hard enough it is literally because the brain is hard-wired for pain to be a negative emotional experience 3 howdoesacutepaindifferfromchronicpain acute pain is well understood chronic pain is far more complicated according to dr allan basbaum if the pain is severe and persists it causes long-term changes in the spinal cord these changes can be thought of as memories which last a long time and which sensitize the entire body s pain system making the individual hypersensitive to ordinary stimuli 4 howdoessicklecelldiseasecausechronicpain sickle cell disease deprives tissues of the oxygen they need many sickle cell patients suffer every day with dull throbbing pain and then unpredictably acute pain can strike at any time examples of discussion questions 1 whataresomewayspeoplehavelearnedtohelpthemselvesmanagechronicpain they distract their brains by doing something else for example painting dancing or meditating by distracting the brain they eliminate or reduce the brain s awareness of the pain signals it receives 2 whyaresomepeopleunsympathetictoanotherperson spain pain is personal and not visible to others people have no way of knowing another person s pain they can only relate it to their own pain experiences a person who has never experienced severe chronic pain may assume the other person is exaggerating some people believe that individuals are supposed to play over pain and tough it out frequently these are people who have never experienced chronic pain.

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key section 6 depression and the brain suggested recall questions page 60 1 isdepressionarealdiseaseorjustaconvenientexcuse madeupbypeopletoexplaintheirbehavior depression is a real disease involving disruption of nerve cell signaling in the brain s emotional circuitry also depression is a disease that can affect many systems in the body 2 doesdepressionaffectadultsonly no for singer and songwriter judy collins depression began in her teenage years and is as vivid to her now as it was then 3 candepressionruninfamilies yes in her particular case judy collins described her depression as a family legacy in fact scientists are currently investigating the hereditary genetic bases for depression 4 howwidespreadisdepressionintheunitedstates more than 17 million americans suffer from this disease examples of discussion questions 1 whatisthedifferencebetweensadnessanddepression sadness is a normal reaction to an unhappy experience it can be very intense but eventually subsides and people move on with their lives depression is a disease that persists if left untreated depression can last weeks months or even years and it can be severely debilitating 2 inwhatwaysaredepressionandalcoholismdiseases doctors do not know exactly what causes depression or alcoholism research indicates there may be multiple genetic factors involved science has shown however that in either disease brain circuits are malfunctioning however effective medications and other treatments have been developed for both diseases.

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key section 7 gray matters alcohol drugs and the brain suggested recall questions 1 whatpercentageofamericanssmokeonadailybasis 25 percent one in four 2 whatpercentageofamericanhighschoolstudentsusetobacco 35 percent more than one in three pages 61-62 3 howmanyadultamericanshaveusedanillegaldrugatsomepointintheirlives a 70,000 c 7,000,000 b 700,000 d 70,000,000 answer d 4 candrugusemodifyyourbrain yes 5 trueorfalse:nicotineisnotanaddictivesubstance false 6 howcanalcoholabuseaffectmemorylossanddementia alcohol abuse can lead to or increase both examples of discussion questions 1 howdodrugsgivepeoplepleasure drugs are rewarding because they directly or indirectly stimulate the brain s natural reward system and cause dopamine to be released dr steven hyman drugs are much more reliable and potent than normal stimuli instead of running that marathon or for a scientist working for months and writing a good paper and getting it accepted a lot of work for a little dopamine in the brain people who use drugs find that they can literally short-circuit all of these natural processes 2 whydosomepeoplefallquicklyintoaddiction,while otherscanexperimentandthenwalkaway dr hyman this gets back to the issue of vulnerability that is people who will take enough drugs to potentially get addicted seem to seek them out and enjoy them they seem to have fewer warning signs dr alan leshner it s not true that you take a drug and you become addicted for the rest of your life some people do most people don t however most people who routinely use ultimately will become addicted to an addicting substance the question is what determines how readily and what determines how intensively a single individual will respond to the drug and become addicted

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key 3 isalcoholismpolygenici.e involvingmorethanonegene yes according to dr enoch gordis alcoholism is a polygenic disorder almost certainly that is it s not one gene causing the disease almost all the complex disorders especially those involving behavior are probably polygenic and that means the task is harder because no single gene is responsible for the whole condition these are genes for vulnerability or risk not destiny and that s a very important distinction currently 24 genes have been mapped in rodents that are relevant to drug addiction addiction genes have not yet been found in humans but it is only a matter of time and technology before the genetic component of human addiction is more fully understood 4 whywouldapersonwhocanholdhisliquorhavean increasedriskofbecominganalcoholic we have learned that the ability to hold your liquor is actually a warning sign not an advantage dr gordis described a long-term study by psychiatrist mark schuckit with some college students he [dr schuckit tested their reaction to alcohol on several scales how wobbly they became in standing how much they actually had a subjective feeling of being high he also did certain hormonal measurements at the time and he found two things first of all early on he found that those with a family history tended to be less sensitive to the effect of alcohol less sensitive but whether or not you had this family history lack of sensitivity or reduced sensitivity to alcohol on his testing at the age of 20 was predictive of an increased risk of alcoholism at the age of 30 5 accordingtodr.leshner,howcandrugaddictionbe limitedtoaspecificenvironmentalcontext regarding a study that revealed an alarmingly high number of soldiers were using heroin in vietnam but did not get readdicted when they returned to the united states dr leshner comments the heroin addicts in vietnam developed their heroin addiction in a certain environmental context vietnam when they came back to the united states they were never exposed to that context again they were never exposed to all of the cues all of the stimuli associated with their initial drug use 6 citingdr.hyman sstatement,describethethreekindsofchanges thatoccurinthebrainasaresultoflong-termdruguse ß dr hyman the first kind of adaptation is caused only by alcohol and by opiates not by nicotine particularly and not by cocaine or amphetamines and these are adaptations that lead to what has been called physical dependence ß in the second type of change drug users start losing the ability to experience normal pleasure they feel depressed and they crave drugs ß the third change from chronic drug use involves what dr hyman calls your emotional memory dr hyman this is a system that s there to say yes that was good let s do it again and let s remember exactly how we did it so memories that are associated with the drug taking become nearly indelible and we know from experience that people who are fully detoxified from drugs remain at really high risk of relapse for a very long time maybe for the rest of their lives alcoholics anonymous says that people are only recovering and not recovered and a great deal of this i think has to do with these emotional memories and these can be triggered by even trivial reminders of

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key drug use in the environment a smoker might have a festive meal a thanksgiving dinner and intensely crave a cigarette someone who had used opiates or cocaine might meet friends that he used to use drugs with or see some drug paraphernalia and get intense waves of craving

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key section 8 gray matters alcohol drugs and the brain suggested recall questions 1 whatismethadone a maintenance drug used to treat heroin addiction pages 63-64 2 whatrecentadvanceinmethadonetreatmenthas occurredandwhyisithelpfultoaddicts a longer-acting form of methadone enables addicts to avoid sometimes stigmatizing trips to a clinic to receive medication 3 whatisnaltrexoneandhowdoesitwork naltrexone is a drug that works to treat alcohol addiction by blocking the opiate receptors in the brain 4 trueorfalse:addictionisacomplexphenomenon;therefore nosingletreatmentcanworkforeveryone true 5 trueorfalse:dealingwithrelapseissodifficultbecausetheindividualis oftensubjecttothesameproblemsthathetriedtosolvewithdruguse true 6 howdonewdrugsforcocainetreatmentwork they use antibodies to catch cocaine in the bloodstream before it gets to the brain depriving the addict of a high and hopefully weakening dependence on the drug examples of discussion questions 1 accordingtodr.alanleshner,whatispsychological dependenceasopposedtophysicaladdictiontodrugs dr leshner says that physical addiction plays a surprisingly small role in drug addiction what does matter in addiction is what people used to call psychological addiction but which i prefer to think of as the essence of addiction and that s uncontrollable compulsive drug use sometimes that s a hard concept for people to think about but think about the crack addict who has sold her children in order to get drugs nobody wants to sell their children but the drug becomes such a consuming part of the individual s core personality at that point in time that there is nothing else but drug and the craving for the drug that s what addiction is addiction is not about whether or not it gives you the chills when you stop taking it we can manage the chills we can t seem so easily to manage the behavioral elements of it and those are the things that matter clinically 2 describethefunctionofmethadoneatthemolecularlevel dr leshner a maintenance drug like methadone we call an agonist compound it actually binds to and occupies the receptors in the brain where the drug of abuse acts so that methadone works primarily by occupying the mu opiate receptors in the 0

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key brain and therefore the individual doesn t feel the need [for heroin to occupy his or her own mu opiate receptors 3 howcouldcocainedrugs,calleddopaminetransport blockers,workindealingwithcocaineaddiction dr bertha madras one of the approaches that we ve taken is to try to find drugs to lodge on this dopamine transport system like cocaine that are much longer acting but also enter the brain very slowly unlike cocaine there is accumulating evidence that the speed at which cocaine enters the brain which is seconds and the speed at which it comes off its targets which is minutes is part of the process of producing the euphoria as well as the potential addictive properties so we re trying to develop compounds medications and replacements for cocaine that are analogous to methadone and that would have different profiles of time on and time off 4 patsummerall,thehostoftheprogram,admitsthathewould nothavequitdrinkingifhisfamilyhadnotconfrontedhim wouldyouconfrontafriendorfamilymemberwithanaddiction orwouldyoulethimsortouthisproblemsalone ask students to give their opinions or share their experiences if possible 5 discusshowmuchprogresshasbeenmadeinalcoholism treatmentinrecentyears,ashighlightedontheaudio dr enoch gordis i think we ve learned more about alcoholism in the last 20 years than we have probably in most of the history of this before it is only in the last few years that treatment has been subjected to the same rigorous scientific inquiry and analysis that every other branch of medicine has customarily used for new treatments for many many years dr charles o brien i think that too often people think of addiction as a kind of broken arm or a case of pneumonia where you get treatment and then it s cured and because addiction is really a chronic memory the brain has changed as a result of using a drug hundreds or thousands of times once you get into treatment you can t expect to wipe all that out the memories are indelible we have to aim for improvement and not expect total cure

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key section 9 gray matters the arts and the brain suggested recall questions 1 howmanyneuronsareaddedeverysingleminuteto thedevelopingbrainduringgestation a 250 c 25,000 b 2,500 d 250,000 answer d pages 64-65 2 trueorfalse:researchersattheuniversityofillinoisfoundthatrats raisedwithplaymates,toys,andavarietyofstimuligrew25percent moreneuronsthanthosedeprivedofthatsamestimulation false despite recent evidence that points to neuronal production in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus during adulthood increasing the number of neurons in the brain by 25 percent is unlikely instead what researchers at the university of illinois found was an increase in the number of synapses or connections between neurons in the brains of rats raised in stimulating environments 3 howdomentalschemahelpusmakesenseoftheworld they help us to understand the elements of the world and how they fit together repetition is important for building schema infants and young children need repetition to help them make sense of the world being able to predict a pattern gives them a sense of security and comfort which allows them to explore new ideas and learn more complicated things examples of discussion questions 1 describewhat sgoingoninyourbrainwhenyoureadmusicandplay itonaninstrumentandhowthismighthelplearningingeneral to paraphrase dr norman weinberger we begin with the various senses you envision you are looking at the score then take those notes and translate them into what they represent this is symbolic manipulation then you execute that program through your motor cortex which requires the coordination of muscle activity you then hear what you ve played and that feeds back into what you need to do next playing music seems to be the ultimate form of brain exercise involving more brain cells more circuits and more systems the speculation is that this interconnected activity might give you more pathways to solve problems and you become more flexible in the way you approach and think about problems and the way you actually solve them 2 astudyconductedbycolumbiauniversityshowsthatstudentswhowere involvedinmusicandtheartsweremuchmoretolerantofotherpeople s ideas,moreflexibleintheirapproachtosolvingproblems,andmorewilling totakeintellectualrisks.discusswhyyouthinkthismightbethecase mary jo thomson a minneapolis-based art teacher and the project director for a united states department of education program in new york city and minneapolis called artful teaching and learning suggests the following explanation:

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key i think what happens to the process of visual thinking is that [children start to move off the idea that there s only one way to look at something and there s only one right way to understand things that the world is more complex and that there s much more nuance and subtlety in the world than there is black and white right and wrong once we start to examine things more artfully you find that there s always a tension there s a give and take in whatever it is children become more open to living within that ambiguity being able to explore it and ask those harder questions 3 annegreengilbertisheadofseattle screativedancecenter.sheclaims that thebrainonlyhasmemorywhenthereismeaning whatdoyou thinkofthisstatement?cantherebememorywithoutmeaning this discussion depends on your definitions for memory and meaning if we think about memory as any kind of imprint then we might consider a footprint left in the sand as memory does it have meaning it certainly refers to something having been there but whether it is meaningful in itself is questionable insofar as memories in the brain are concerned some are equally devoid of meaning implicit memories for instance motor learning and fixed action patterns are acquired by rote 4 whyismovementincreasinglyimportantasatoolforlearningintoday ssociety scientists at the university of illinois have found that the cerebellum takes at least a couple of years before it starts to work well and that if a child isn t given opportunities to move a lot during the first few years of life synapse development in the region suffers this biological imperative however is at odds with sedentary pasttimes or projects such as television or children s computer games there are stages in visual development when the brain is primed and ready for the next batch of wiring at each of these stages it is argued movement is needed for the improved development of different synergies from singing to social and emotional behavior.

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key section 10 gray matters the arts and the brain suggested recall questions page 66 1 whataresomeofthegoalsofartstherapy the process of creating art can foster individual expression self-awareness and communication with others 2 whatisthepotentialbenefitofmovementtherapy one therapist believes that dance or other forms of creative movement can however temporarily lift the moods of depressed or even suicidal teenagers by helping them release anxieties and frustrations 3 whatissynesthesia?namesomefamoussynesthetes synesthesia refers to the crossing of sensory signals e.g music evoking a perception of a particular color or a particular taste evoking a tactile sensation novelist vladimir nabokov was a synesthete and wrote about his experience others include the composer franz liszt and the physicist richard feynman 4 trueorfalse:mostartistsaresynesthetes false examples of discussion questions 1 howcanartandmusictherapyofferhealingpotentialforthebrain dr michael thaut had this hypothesis if music and rhythm help a high performer to learn better and better would it help a low-end performer to also learn better and better except that they start from a different level it did he discovered for patients disabled by parkinson s disease stroke and traumatic brain injury though it was not the music but its rhythm it can be folk music it can be classical music it can be a metronome a metronome in many cases may work just fine the liking of the music for the patient is an additional bonus or motive to succeed in therapy and so that s important too but that s not what really drives the effect of music on coordinating and retraining the movement 2 howelsecanarttherapyhelpadamagedbrain one researcher believes art therapy can give people with brain damage a sense of mastery a tool for self expression and a way of processing information without words thus simplifying a potential information overload another brain scientist believes the power of art therapy lies in enhancing brain plasticity the power of the brain to change and form new connections a key component of recovery after injury disease or insult 3 howcommonissynesthesia dr vilayandur ramachandran speculates that as many as 1 in 200 people may be synesthetes he indicates however that synesthesia is seven or eight times more common among artists painters poets and writers who are especially gifted at mixing words images color and sound though this increases the proportion of

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the dana sourcebook of brain science suggested answer key synesthetes in a specific population to 7 or 8 in 200 it does not mean that most artists are synesthetes 4 dr.ramachandranobservesthatthefusiformgyrusoccipitotemporalgyrus theregionofthebrainresponsibleforseeingnumbers,liesbesidethepart ofthebraininvolvedinseeingcolors,whichisitselfadjacenttoaprimary auditoryarea.heconsiders sloppywiring betweentheseregionsasapossible sourceofsynesthesia.whywouldthebrainmake sloppy connections the brain does not make sloppy connections instead dr ramachandran suggests that these are redundant connections left over from infancy perhaps due to a genetic condition in his words the normal brain is born with excess connections so in childhood and infancy and in the fetus there are far more connections than you need everything is connected to everything then you start pruning away these connections to create the characteristic modular organization of the adult brain with a different area for color numbers language and so on now if this gene is defective if the pruning is defective the pruning does not take place you end up having the number area and color area connected in these people therefore every time they see a number they see a color as a further note the fusiform gyrus is implicated in face recognition as distinct from recognition of other objects

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