Electrical Stimulation of Brain Boosts Birth of New Cells - Essay Example

? This article talks about how an issue of ‘The Journal of Neuroscience’ talks about the effect of stimulating a particular region of the brain that leads to the production of new brain cells which lead to an enhancement of memory. The findings talk about the DBS element, deep brain stimulation, which is a basic clinical intervention that aims to deliver electric pulses to areas of the brain for the purpose of aiding cognition. The cognitive domain encompasses how our mental skills develop and how an individual acquires knowledge. It refers to an individual’s knowledge, comprehension, and application, their ability to analyze things and their synthesis as well as evaluation of concepts. How this article relates to the cognitive domain is evident in the way DBS has been effectively used as a treatment tool for coming up with potential treatments that are for individuals who have mental disorders. It focuses on the part of the brain which is known as the learning and memory center – the hippocampus. By the use of electrical stimulation to the entorhinal cortex, a area which is responsible for the line of communication to the hippocampus, it led to the creation of new cells. Despite the short term existence of these cells it was found that their presence had a lasting impact as far as changes in the memory were concerned. The affective domain comprises of ones feelings, sentiments, emotions as well as outlook. More specifically it looks at an individual’s ability to receive and respond to phenomena, value and organize things as well as define their characterization. The affective domain is reflected in this article, in the way the study proposes that by the use of stimulation of the brain circuitry the end result would be enhancing new functional brain cells in specific regions of the brain. This affects an individual’s ability to process, respond, react and hence have a major impact on their feelings and attitudes. Furthermore their attention span increases due to the expansion of their memory which directly has an effect on their ability to listen attentively and organize. The behavioral domain looks at a person’s utilization of motor skills and their ability to coordinate them. The initial test subjects on which the DBS therapy was tested were rats. To check whether the new integrated cells had led to the appropriate changes in memory the authors let the animals navigate their way in a pool of water which was submerged. The key aspect of their behavior which was tested was that of any noticeable impact on their learning. This in turn looked at their perception of the situation, their readiness to act appropriately, any learning which had resulted as far as their guided response was concerned. And finally their adaptation to the situation by analyzing their behavior contributes to their behavioral domain. There are various ways that the study can be applied to the various aspects of critical thinking. 1. Questions The questions which this study proposes to answer are whether electrical simulation of the brain can lead to the birth of new cells? Can this growth of new cells be then used to create changes in the memory? Can these changes then help individuals who have diseases such as Parkinson’s or other neurologic and psychiatric conditions? 2. Purpose The purpose of this study, as defined by the author, is basicalyn answering the questions which formulate the basis of its objective. It aims to check by applying the DBS technique on subjects, which were rats, to check the impact this stimulation had on a specific part of the brain, the hippocampus, which is responsible of a human’s brain learning and memory center 3. Concepts The basic idea of the study is to come to an understanding of the clinical impact of DBS. In previous studies the effects of DBS have not been too understandable, so the idea on which the study is operational is that perhaps by the stimulation of specific brain circuitry the predicted result could be a development of new functional brain cells in certain areas of the brain. 4. Information The information which is key to the undertaking of this study is the preliminary study carried out by researchers of Toronto Western Hospital. These were led by Professor Lozano, who went on to publish a clinical trial that shows the effect of DBS on the fornix. His study concluded that the fornix, an area of the brain which communicated directly with the hippocampus, leads to slowing down cognitive decline in patients who had dementia as well as a number of other cognitive impairments. 5. Assumptions The key assumption which is noticeable as part of this study is the fact that the researchers seem to assume that the effects and reactions as well as changes in the rat’s brain caused by the DBS will be the same if the deep brain stimulation was done on a human being. Furthermore they seem to be under the assumption that there would be no ethical concerns raised if the study was to be replicated on human subjects. Just because DBS has a certain impact on a rat’s brain the assumption that a human brain would react in the same way seems to be a foolish one. 6. Inferences What we can conclude from this article is that DBS is a technique which proves to be quiet effective in terms of generation of new cells in the brain. It has an impact on the memory and therefore proves to be a valuable in terms of clinical implications to come up with treatments for individuals with memory disorders. 7. Implications As far as implications are concerned it is critical that there be more research conducted on the DBS as a technique and studies carried out that are more conclusive and aid to further understanding and knowledge regarding the topic. 8. Point of view I think that electrical stimulation might boost brain cells however the human brain is complex there are too many factors which might be contributing to the generation of these new cells. To study one factor in isolation and say with confirmation that there are no other contributing aspects seems risky. Like Professor Frankland, from Toronto Western Hospital, suggests that this could be due to the production of new neurons. References Society for Neuroscience. "Electrical stimulation of brain boosts birth of new cells: Animal study suggests deep brain stimulation improves memory." ScienceDaily, 20 Sep. 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2012 Read More