PSYC 2230 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Reticular Formation, Substance Abuse, Menarche

• School: University of Windsor
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2230
• Professor: Dr.Jill Singleton- Jackson

Document Summary

Develops very quickly in the first two years of life. Midbrain and medulla are almost completely developed at time of birth (controls heartbeat, respiration, attention, sleep, waking, elimination, and head and neck) The least developed part of the brain at birth is the cerebral cortex (controls perception, body movement, thinking, and language) *brain development throughout childhood is not a smooth, linear process; it is sporadic and each spurt tends to be localized to certain areas in the brain. Synaptogenesis: process of creating synapses in the brain; rapid during first years of life (brain weight triples by the age of two); happens in spurts and is localized (ex. language at age 4) Both of the above processes depend on experiences. Early flexibility allows children to adapt to their environment better. Programmed plasticity is in its height in infancy (plasticity is when the brain changes in response to experience); more able to recover faster in youth.