PSYCH 3400 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Basal Ganglia, Prefrontal Cortex, Limbic System
Document Summary
Scientists have long thought the human brain was formed in early childhood. But, by scanning children"s brains with an mri year after year, they discovered that the brain undergoes radical changes in adolescence. Excess gray matter is pruned out, making brain connections more specialized and efficient. The parts of the brain that control physical movement, vision, and the senses mature first, while the regions in the front that control higher thinking don"t finish the pruning process until the early 20s: parts of the brain: Nerve cell bodes and fibers that make up the bulk of the brain"s computing power. Planning, emotional control, problem solving: gray matter density. Gray matter becomes less dense as the brain matures. The highest volume of gray matter occurs during early adolescence. During adolescence, significant changes occur in the cortex, especially the prefrontal cortex and in the limbic system: includes the amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia.
