Developmental 1: Intro and neural development

Question 1

Development is an interaction between what two things?

Answer 1

Pre-programmed processes and learning from experience

Question 2

A scientific understanding of human development is crucial for informing what?

Answer 2

Education, medical practice and government policy

Question 3

How is preferential looking measured?

Answer 3

Camera tracks where babies eyes are looking - compare two pictures on left or right of a screen

Question 4

How does eye tracking work and what does this provide insight into?

Answer 4

Eye tracker camera determines where on the screen the infant is looking.
Collects more detailed information about looking patterns than preferential looking. Can make assumptions about what baby is attending to and processing

Question 5

What physiological measures can be taken in infants?

Answer 5

Heart rate, pupil dilation (shows interest), skin conductance (fear or anxiety, high arousal)

Question 6

What issues are there with using EEG on babies?

Answer 6

Artefacts from baby moving head or blinking

However, NIRS is not susceptible to movement artefacts

Question 7

At what age can children start doing fMRI?

Answer 7

6 years onwards, but have to sellotape their head

Question 8

Under what conditions does MRI with infants have to be carried out?

Answer 8

Infant has to be asleep

Question 9

What is the study of brain-behaviour links in the developing brain?

Answer 9

Developmental cognitive neuroscience

Question 10

What does the brain begin life as?

Answer 10

A “plate” of cells in the embryo, which folds into a tube
Tube grows to become the spinal cord

Question 11

What are the initial parts that the brain divides into during pre-natal development?

Answer 11

Midbrain
Thalamus
Cerebellum
Cortex (neocortex)

- Each part of cortex is also composed of several layers, which gradually differentiate

Question 12

What happens during mitosis in the brain?

Answer 12

Cells divide, forming immature neurons

Question 13

What happens during migration in the brain?

Answer 13

Cells move to their destination

Question 14

What happens during differentiation in the brain?

Answer 14

Cells become specific types of neuron

Question 15

What is synaptogenesis?

Answer 15

Growth of connections between neurons, connections become many and complex, expand at a huge rate postnatally

Question 16

What is apoptosis?

Answer 16

Active programmed cell death (unlike necrosis - cell death due to injury)

Question 17

What is synapse rearrangement?

Answer 17

Pruning and rearrangement of connections

Question 18

What is biological development in the brain driven by?

Answer 18

Gene expression, proteins and chemical signalling

Abnormalities in these processes can lead to atypical brain development
e.g. abnormal migration reported in learning disabilities, schizophrenia, autism

Question 19

How can down syndrome occur in the fetal brain?

Answer 19

Premature differentiation of new neurons occurs and that this results in fewer new neurons and a reduction in the expansion of the maturing cortical layers.
Normal process of corticogenesis may be disrupted
Cascade of processes - no one process responsible

Question 20

How much does brain weight increase from birth to adulthood?

Answer 20

4x

Question 21

Are most of our neurons already present at birth?

Answer 21

Yes

Question 22

What does synaptic growth and pruning depend on?

Answer 22

Experience

Question 23

What feature of the brain grows post-natally?

Answer 23

Myelin - fatty sheath surrounding axons

Question 24

Does synaptic pruning occur at the same rate in all brain areas?

Answer 24

No - different rates in different areas

Question 25

What type of pruning is there loads of in adolescence, and what type is there none of?

Answer 25

Loads of prefrontal pruning No visual pruning

Question 26

What is the critical period for the development of binocular vision?

Answer 26

The critical period is over by 3 years - If two eyes not properly wired together or if babies have cataracts before 3 years, this has knock on effects in later life - Even 4 months of cataracts at birth can lead to deficits in pattern vision later in life: these are known as sleeper effects e.g. worse at identifying patterns of direction

Question 27

What shows that there may be more residual plasticity in the visual system than was once thought?

Answer 27

- Project Prakash & other trials of cataract surgery show rapid improving: - Cataract removal operations on older kids - shows ability to recover and rewire the brain eye system for these abilities: Contrast sensitivity Face categorisation Multisensory integration

Question 28

What are Brodmann's areas?

Answer 28

Classify different brain regions based on their cytoarchitecture (cell architecture at a microscopic scale)

Question 29

Must the developing brain develop functional specialisation?

Answer 29

Yes

Question 30

What is interactive specialisation?

Answer 30

There are genetically specified growth patterns, but these can change and adapt as a result of experience and its resulting neural activity. “Activity-dependent interactions between regions sharpens up the functions and response properties of cortical regions such that their activity becomes restricted to a narrower set of circumstances”. Interactions between regions fine-tunes each regions - restricts activity so each region becomes more specialised

Question 31

When does the fusiform face area start to become selective for faces?

Answer 31

At around 9 5-8yrs and 9-11 yrs have similar BOLD activation in fusiform gyrus (FG) in response to faces, but this is most selective (vs. objects) for 9–11-year olds. At 5-8 years, the same areas process objects and faces

Question 32

Do kids have more extensive medial PFC activity than adults?

Answer 32

Yes Adolescents thinking about intentions showed more extensive mPFC activity than adults.

Question 33

White matter connections at birth predict what at 2 years?

Answer 33

Cognitive outcomes (The frontal node is particularly important)

Question 34

What is the early learning composite?

Answer 34

Standardized score based on Mullen Scales of Early Learning – motor, vision, language

Question 35

Functional connections at birth predict what at 4 and 8 months?

Answer 35

Motor outcomes

Question 36

What is the difference between structural and functional connectivity?

Answer 36

Structural - is there an axon (a connection) between two areas Functional - when this area is active is this other area active as well

Question 37

Is it true or false that adult-like structural connections (though often unmyelinated) are largely present by birth?

Answer 37

True

Question 38

Functional connections move from visual motor to what by 2 years?

Answer 38

Move to more frontal nodes

Question 39

There is lots of parietal motor activity in childhood, but much more what activity in adulthood?

Answer 39

Frontal and temporal activity in adulthood

Question 40

What is the human connectome project?

Answer 40

Large scale study of structural connectivity across the lifespan