Disorders
In the last few decades, brain imaging systems have been used to determine brain region volumes and nerve linkages. Several studies have indicated that reduced volume and interconnections of the frontal lobes with other brain regions is observed in those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder; those subjected to repeated stressors; suicide victims; those incarcerated; criminals; sociopaths; those affected by lead poisoning; and drug addicts. It is believed that at least some of the human abilities to feel guilt or remorse, and to interpret reality, lie in the prefrontal cortex. It is also widely believed that the size and number of connections in the prefrontal cortex relates directly to sentience, as the prefrontal cortex in humans occupies a far larger percentage of the brain than any other animal. And it is theorized that, as the brain has tripled in size over 5 million years of human evolution, the prefrontal cortex has increased in size sixfold.
Read more about this topic: Prefrontal Cortex
Famous quotes containing the word disorders:
“A car can massage organs which no masseur can reach. It is the one remedy for the disorders of the great sympathetic nervous system.”
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)
“It no longer makes sense to speak of “feeding problems” or “sleep problems” or “negative behavior” is if they were distinct categories, but to speak of “problems of development” and to search for the meaning of feeding and sleep disturbances or behavior disorders in the developmental phase which has produced them.”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)