PSY 140 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Psych, Brainstem
Document Summary
Brain and developmental behaviour: developmental psychologists have largely neglected brain-behaviour, but we are witnessing the beginning of an explosion of new knowledge after the advent of non-invasive brain-functioning technologies (van der molen and ridderinkhof, In populist literature, it is often believed and promulgated that genes determine the brain structure which in turn determines behaviour. Variations in brain structure for example, between males and females, or between those diagnosed and not diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity. Disorder (adhd) can be interpreted as evidence of underlying, inherited human neurological differences that underlie observable differences in behaviour. Thus, in the field of brain behavior relationships, the nature / nurture issue is again evident: but there is clear evidence that epigenetic mechanisms establish the development of the human brain. In particular, the latter studies showed the presence of sensitive periods for these changes (as in the case of imprinting, stated earlier)
