Food, Obesity, and Psychology

"Your child will live a life ten years younger than you because of the landscape of food that we’ve built around them.”    -Jamie Oliver

     Food is something that is essential to our health and our life in general, but sometimes food becomes a problem. When food becomes a desire or compulsion, it is the start of a serious problem. Everyone has heard that the number one cause of death in the States is heart disease, which is then followed by diabetes, and a whole list of things that could have been prevented.  I know people often talk abouy how they believe that this is the year to get in shape or eat healthy, I think it is necessary to start now before the pounds become harder to shed. 
      Everyone has their comfort foods, which they need when they don't feel so great and are under stress. Even though we may think that it may not interefere with our health, it does have an impact. Comfort foods and eating out of boredom are unhealty and are do to the neurotransmitter Dopamine, which is a receiver of pleasure.  The same receptors that dopamine excites also give pleasure by means of drug use, sex, and food.  When you get food, or even engage in those other activites, your brain sends a message and tells you that this feels good.  Because it feels good, it is something that will likely occur again.  Things that give us pleasure are ones that we want to keep doing because we want to maintain that "high". Your belly enjoys eating popcorn, not necessary for the taste, but because it makes you feel good, so then you do it again and again. It can become a vicious cycle, and I think it's essential for each individual to be aware of what they eat. Too much of a food high can lead not only to weight problems, but to disease and to eventual death because of those diseases.  If you were ever told you are what you, it is true, so make sure to respect it.
     I know this post is a bit different from what usually may be written, but it does have a psychological aspect. Also, I was inspired by the TED Talk that is available below. Please watch and at least skip through the articles below. I hope you enjoyed this post of Psych Knowledge. Stay tuned for even more info, thank you!

 (I do not own the rights to any of the links below)

Jamie Oliver's TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/jamie_oliver.html

Two helpful online articles:

• Article 1
• Article 2

Schizophrenia

   

(This image is from here!)

    These days when most people think of this mental disorder would probably jump to the movie "A Beautiful Mind", which was directed by Ron Howard.  The movie tells of a brilliant man who has hallucinations and delusions, which are two of the positive symptoms of Schizophrenia.

    Individuals that are diagnosed with this mental disorder can be be thought to have acute or chronic Schizophrenia. Acute Schizophrenia is mostly associated with positive symptoms, which I will list below, and is usually a one time thing.  An individual may have a psychotic break in their early twenties, and then show no other signs. With chronic Schizophrenia, the individual faces this disorder throughout their life and it is associated with negative symptoms.  

    The most common positive symptoms of schizophrenia are delusion, hallucination, and thought disorder, and others are uncommunicative and socially withdrawn. There are various types of delusions. Thought broadcasting is when the individual believes that someone else can read their mind.  Thought insertion is when they think that someone has put a specific thought into their mind.  Thought of control is when the individual believes that something that they do will have a consequence on the world. Delusion of persecution is when they think that someone is trying to kill them, which is obviously rational to a normal person.  Another rare delusion is one of grandeur, which is when the person thinks that they are Jesus, or anything related with religion.  The definition for a  delusion is a profoundly, invalid belief.  A hallucination is almost never visual; quite often it is a voice which can be linked to the delusion.  This hallucination does not come out of nowhere, but rather it seems as though it is a message and you are being told something.  In addition to the auditory sense of the hallucination, there is also a tactile sensation. An example of these are bugs on the skin, snakes in your stomach, and so on. Someone with schizophrenia can cycle in and out of episodes of delusion and hallucination. Thought Disorder seems to have a poetic feel to it. The individual is able to talk and speak, but what they say may not always make sense. It is as though they have a word salad and these thoughts seem to be 'off track'.
     Negative symptoms are things that are absent in this individual compared to a "normal" person. They are socially withdrawn, have a poverty of speech, flat affect, and they do not initiate goal-oriented behavior. If the schizophrenic person is aware of them self, then they would be able to tell that they are not connecting with the people that are around them.  These negative symptoms can be associated with loss of brain tissue and frontal lobe damage.  The positive symptoms are not associated with frontal lobe damage, but an increase in the neurotransmitter Dopamine.
    There is so much more that can be written about Schizophrenia, but I thought that I would give a somewhat brief introduction to this mental disorder. Hope that you enjoyed the Psych Knowledge that is within this post. Feel free to comment and stay tuned for even more great topics coming up. Thanks again for reading!!! Take care!

Wernicke's & Broca's Aphasia

        Wernicke's Aphasia is a language deficiency that is the cause of left-hemisphere damage.  The area of the brain where this occurs is within the left inferior cortex.  An individual with this deficiency does not have a problem with getting the words out, as in they don't stutter, but the words have a fluidity to them. The individual is able to say words, but these words don't have any meaning. These individuals understand the dimensions of the conversation, and even though the words lack any concrete meaning, the individual doesn't get frustrated with them-self.  Their words can be thought of as a "word salad". Also, they are unable to understand verbal speech or even sign language, which can be a comprehension issue. This type of Aphasia has a relatively normal or fluid production of words, but these words come out as jibberish.  Therefore these individuals have a difficultly of actually comprehending the language or the content (of the conversation).

 video example 1    video example 2

(I do not own any rights to these videos)

        Broca's Aphasia is a language deficiency that is also the cause of left-hemisphere damage, which is often thought of as a stroke.  Broca's Area is located in the left inferior frontal cortex.  People with this disorder struggle to get the words out and because of this, they often become frustrated with themselves.  They do not have any difficulties with comprehension, but they may often stutter to try to get the correct words or sounds out.  It is a motor problem with trying to get the words outs properly, which is linked to functions in the frontal lobe.  Even though people with this type of aphasia have a difficulty to produce words, the words still makes sense; there is comprehension of what is being asked.

                                             video example 1    video example 2              

                                        (I do not own any rights to these videos)

       Hope you enjoyed this introduction into two vary famous types of aphasia! This language dysfunction is often cause my damage to the brain and isn't just something that happens when you wake up one morning. It affects, according to the link below, "....80,000 individuals acquire aphasia each year from strokes. About one million people in the United States currently have aphasia." Thank you for visiting this page today, and hope you enjoyed today's psych knowledge!

information on aphasia

Contralateral and the Corpus Collosum

  (This image is from here.)

      The corpus collosum is a bundle of fibers that connects the left and right hemisphere of the brain.  There are surgeries that cut the corpus collosum which are called split-brain surgery and this is done with patients that have severe epilepsy. After this surgery takes place, there are still moments of epilepsy, but they are decreased.
      Contralateral control means opposite side; for example, the right hand is controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain.  The corpus collosum passes information from the left side of the brain to the right side of the brain, and vice versa.  For those that are left-handed, sometimes there is crossover between the left and right hemisphere, especially with language and writing. The left hemisphere is responsible for language, and the right hemisphere is responsible for the intonation within language; which would mean that the right hemisphere is able to detect sarcasm, upward inflections, and so on. The right hemisphere is also responsible for images, as in visualizing the face on a coin. Linguistic thinking is thought to be originated in the left hemisphere.
     The most amazing aspect of contralateral control is that when someone is being asked a question, depending on the type of question, there eyes will move in the direction that is opposite to the hemisphere that is being activated. So, if you the eyes move to the left, then the right hemisphere is being activated, and if you moves your eyes to the right after being asked a question, then the left hemisphere of your brain is being activated. That bit of information should be fun to try on your friends!!!
       The right hemisphere is able to "appreciate" music and see things holistically, while the left hemisphere see things in an analytical manner.  The picture below shows some key differences between the left and right hemisphere. So, please take a moment to look at the image below.

(This image is from here.)

     Thank you for viewing this post on contralateral control and the two different hemispheres of the brain. Hope you enjoyed the above information. Thanks again for reading this post of psych knowledege!

Oxytocin, the love hormone

     Oxytocin, as described by James W. Kalat, is a hormone that is released within the brain that is also a neurotransmitter which is important for sexual and parental behaviors.  One way to think of oxytocin is to think of it as a chemical in the brain that can provide a euphoric feeling when an individual is engaged in sexual activity, and it is also released when a mother gives birth to her child. So, therefore it is important for reproductive behavior. It "stimulates contractions" withing the uterus during labor and also causes stimulation in the mammary glands so that milk is released. Oxytocin is released during sexual pleasure at the time of orgasm. After orgasm is experienced, there is an obvious state of relaxation which is the result of oxytocin being released.
    There have been studies done on rats that showed an increased in exploring areas that they had not gone before, which could be potentially dangerous, after they had experienced orgasm-which reduced their anxiety of the area. Therefore if the release of oxytocin was blocked, then it would seem that oxytocin is responsible for calm and the lack of anxiety after orgasm occurs.
     The link below is from a TED talk by Paul Zak who talks about oxytocin, but not really the way that I have said above. He talks about oxytocin and it's relationship to moralality, rather than focusing on the familiar notion of "love". Also, my favorite part of the talk is when he mentions hugs and the effect that it can have on individuals. His 'doctorly' advice is to have eight hugs a day, which will increase your happiness. Please do watch the video, it's a great talk!!!

Paul Zak: Trust, morality...and oxytocin

    Thank you for reading this entry, and that some useful information was absorbed. Or at least that you enjoy this blog post. Thanks again, and 

Fusiform Gyrus!!!!

One of my favorite words to say in the land of Psychology is fusiform gyrus. It is the area of the brain that controls face recognition and can also be called the fusiform face area. My interest in this particular part of the brain actually stems from the abnormality that exists in this part of the brain. One of the main disorders are Proposagnosia, which is "facial blindness". Proposagnosia is the inability to recognize people or faces that are familiar. If an individual has this disorder they have a normal intelligence level and memory. They are able to point out the facial features that make up a face, such as eyes, nose, mouth, but their inability stems from putting the pieces of the face together so that it makes a complete face. 

The exact function of the fusiform gyrus is still under debate, but many researchers have concluded it to include the following functions: the processing of color information, body and face recognition (as stated), the ability to recognize words, the identification of things that belong to a certain group, and number recognition (this is under debate still). The location of the fusiform gyrus is in the inferior temporal cortex, as shown below.

This image is from this link.

The above information is just a general overview of the fusiform gyrus. I think the deterioration that occurs and results in Proposagnosia is an amazing act of the brain.  No matter how many times someone passes the individual with this disorder, they won't really be able to recognize them.

Hope you enjoyed the Psych Knowledge for this time! If you have any questions or comments feel free to ask, or if you have any topics you'd like me to discuss feel free to ask. Thank you!

I love you Basal Ganglia!

The basal ganglia is a set of forebrain structures within the lateral hypothalamus, which includes the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus palidus. The connection or function that is most obvious is within the frontal areas of the cortex, which is responsible for planning planning things in a particular order, and certain aspects of memory and emotional expression. When the basal ganglia has deteriorated, which occurs in cases of Parkinson's or Huntington's disease, the most visible sign is impaired movement. However there are also signs of depression, deficiencies with memory, reasoning, as well as attention.

This image is from: http://neuralmodel.net/library/brain/basal_ganglia.htm

The basal ganglia also plays a role in language, especially those who are bilingual. How do individuals who speak two, or more, languages manage to keep each language separate? The answer is our dear friend basal ganglia.  The language receptors are stored in different areas of the brain, and for those who are efficient with language are able to juggle the different languages. Those individuals who learned two or more languages in early childhood had language areas in the temporal and frontal cortex become "thicker" than average. With those who are better at one language versus the other, the second or weaker language takes more of an effort and therefore activates the language areas stronger than the other language does. The shift from one language to another activates the frontal cortex, and basal ganglia.

Memory tasks that require a procedure, known as procedural memory(motor skills and habits), are linked with the basal ganglia. Another type of memory, declarative, is linked with the hippocampus, has to do with the ability to put things into words. The basal ganglia is also linked to sleep disorders, Schizophrenia, Parkinson's Disease, movement, and of  what is described above. There is more that can be said, but let's just say this is a condensed version of what information there is out there.

If you have any questions, or would like some more information, please feel free to ask or leave any comments/questions/concerns. Thank you for reading Psych Knowledge!

For more information on basal ganglia, click on the link below to listen to a podcast of what happens when the basal ganglia "short circuits"....(This podcast does not belong to me, and is the rights of Radiolab and WNYC.) Enjoy!

Damn It, Basal Ganglia!

Intro of Psych Knowledge and the Lobes of the Brain

Hello everyone!
     This blog will be written about my knowledge of Psychology. The reason for choosing this particular topic is because it is something that I am familiar with and it is something that I am studying. There has been so much research done to prove a particular finding, but there is a vast ocean of  knowledge that has not been found out. Psychologists are familiar with the lobes of the brain and the basic functions that that each part does, but the details of every single one of those parts is still unknown. So let's start with something easy, like the four lobes of the brain.
     The four parts of the brain are the Frontal Lobe, Parietal Lobe, Occipital Lobe, and Temporal Lobe. The Frontal Lobe is located right above your eyes and is responsible for the planning of movements, some aspects of memory and the inhibition of inappropriate behaviors. The Parietal Lobe is located behind the Frontal Lobe. It is responsible for integrating sensory information from different parts of the body, the notions of numbers and their function, manipulation of objects, and there are some aspects of vision.  The Occipital Lobe is located in the back of the brain and is responsible for vision processing and can be linked to the origination of  dreams. The fourth lobe is called the Temporal Lobe and is located where the temples are, which is below the Frontal and Parietal Lobe. Its function is auditory perception, advanced visual processing, and is a key to the formation of long-term memory.
      That is just some basics about the brain and what the functions of the four lobes of the brain. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Hope you enjoyed the Psych Knowledge!