Synapse Competition and Elimination
Throughout the growth and life of vertebrates and many animals, beginning even in the embryonic stages of development and continuing throughout adult life, a process known as synaptic competition takes place that eliminates certain underperforming synapses and neurons and leads to the dominance of a single motor neuron bringing even in embryonic stages (Wyatt & Balice-Gordon, 2003). This begins with the innervation of musculature during embryonic development by a single motor neuron that remains dominant and leads to the ongoing elimination of other motor neurons throughout life (Wyatt & Balice-Gordon, 2003). Though the mechanisms by which synaptic competition and the resulting synaptic eliminations occur are not precisely known, there has been some research into this area and the beginnings of reasonable theory explaining this phenomenon have been developed.
In embryonic development, synaptic competition begins...
Neurons This is how I would explain the electro-chemical interaction between neurons to a friend. Imagine standing in a giant room with a large number of other people -- each of you are holding your arms out to either side of your body, like Leonardo Da Vinci's drawing of "Vitruvian Man." The giant room corresponds the brain and the nervous system, and you and the other people are each individual neurons. You
Each has its own skills associated with that specific areas (e.g. thinking is generally associated with the frontal cortex whilst vision with the occipital lobe; the frontal lobes are associated with motor control, speech, abstract thought, and sense of self, whilst the parietal lobes contain bodily sensations and the temporal lobes record hearing). Likewise each hemisphere has its specific expertise too with the analytical left containing speech, mathematical skills,
Bacterial Toxins & Damage to Neurons Which bacterial toxins have negative impacts on the human body? This paper reviews those toxins and their effects on human functions. Clinical Diseases Professor F.H. Kayser explains that "Exotoxins" are pathogenic bacteria that are capable of producing a "variety of toxins that are either the only pathogenic factor" in the onset of diseases like diphtheria, tetanus and cholera, or if they aren't the only factor they are
As part of the experiment, another person entered the study area and expressed feelings of anger at the researcher for some time and at other times remained neutral. Later the researchers found that children who had witnessed the angry person were less likely to play with the toy compared to the children who had witnessed the neutral person. Also the researchers found that even the children who had seen
Its [mylelin insulation] growth enables a baby to gradually hold up its head, and its destruction by diseases such as multiple sclerosis causes severe impairment" (Chen 2009). Researchers have also found that both brain tumors and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease may be the result of problems with glia cells. Clearly, glia "are more than mere support cells that cater to the needs of neurons" and a "dynamic
Imagery and Cognitive Mapping and Their Common Applications Imagery and its applications Humans are capable of imagining moving without actually moving in real life. Studies making use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRi) reveal that the same Motor Imagery (MI) part activated during real movement is also activated during imagination. Perhaps similar visual inputs lead to the activation of mirror neurons in the course of observing an action; internal inputs also
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