When examining brain size evolution, it’s essential to consider the different stages that our ancestors passed through. The first hominids, such as Australopithecus, had brains around the size of a modern chimpanzee’s—about 400 to 500 cubic centimeters. Fast forward to Homo habilis, who lived around 2.3 to 1.4 million years ago, and their brain size had increased to roughly 510 to 600 cubic centimeters. This change marks an important milestone cerebrumiq in human evolution, as it reflects the beginning of more advanced cognitive processes like tool-making, communication, and problem-solving. Understanding the specific brain mechanics and power sources that drive fluid intelligence helps neuroscientists characterize cognitive processes involved in various types of intelligence and offers insights into what types of interventions might improve fluid intelligence. For example, I have a hypothesis that aerobic exercise stimulates creativity and fluid intelligence, which this new research corroborates.
And then, in the sameyear that Baddeley devoted an entire chapter to the central executive and itsproblems, coining as he did so the name «dysexecutive syndrome»(DES), came two papers which challenged our conception of nothing less than»the will» itself. Andas to the procedures themselves, a number of variants soon emerged, two ofwhich were compared by Petrie (1952). In what he termed the bilateralstandard operation, an incision was made 3 cm behind the lateral margin ofthe orbit and 5-6 cm above the zygoma.
In our experience it can also sometimes be a way of seeing more when the area of vision seen (field of vision) is very narrow. Neurological Visual ImpairmentSome use this as an alternative to cerebral visual impairment, because the cerebrum is not the only part of the brain that is responsible for the visual difficulties that come under the current CVI umbrella. It is all part of the evolution of the labels around this condition that we explained in our introduction, and is a good sign that we are still learning and expanding our knowledge base and understanding. Mental Health ConditionsIt is not surprising that a condition like CVI that can affect social relationships, learning, behaviour and development, can lead to mental health conditions, and we know many people with CVI who have been affected by Depression. Understanding how impaired vision has caused difficulties can be very empowering, and a pathway to help and recovery can be developed, matching strategies to the known difficulties CVI creates.
John R. Crawford (University of Aberdeen) delivered a meta-analysis of alarge number of frontal tests, including the WCST («stressful anddifficult») and the MCST. He expressed mild reservations about Shalliceand Evans’ (1978) CET, but was more positive about Shallice and Burgess’s(1979) Brixton Spatial Anticipation Test and the BADS, both of which have largeeffect sizes. He, too, warned that the standard clinical tests were «toostructured and examiner-led», and thus found it difficult «to capturethe core problems of initiation, planning, and self-monitoring» (p9). «For the effect of lesions of the frontallobe on human intelligence, it seems that one will have to look elsewhere thanto clinical observation or ratings by intelligence tests such as are nowavailable» (p437). Another substance which increases the brain’s serotonin levels is the party drug MDMA (ecstasy). MDMA prevents the neurone’s ability to reabsorb serotonin from synapses by binding to and blocking reuptake proteins on the presynaptic membrane.
Thepoint was that Bianchi’s (1922) five areas of deficit usually tended toco-occur, more or less, in patient after patient and therefore qualified forthe medical descriptor «syndrome», and so «frontal lobesyndrome» was born. Admittedly, alot of sensory information is processed at the various segments of the spinalcord, but this is only for reflex or biomechanical purposes (balance, say, ormultiple limb coordination), and as soon as any «higher function» isneeded the information is routed instead «rostrally»- forwards – to the brain. The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an ambitious target, set in 1990, to sequence the entire DNA found in humans. Scientists are able to use the database to identify genes and proteins which are implicated in disease.
Sensory Processing DifficultiesThis is a general term meaning that the challenges a person may face, could be due to how the brain is processing information received from the senses. All the incoming information to the brain comes via the senses, so you really need a bit more information, as all it essentially means is that the difficulties are due to how the brain processes the incoming information from the senses, which is not specific enough to mean much. The researchers examined how the distribution of NAA in the frontal and parietal lobes related to fluid intelligence and found that energy metabolism in the left lateralized frontal-parietal brain region predicts fluid intelligence. For this study, the Beckman researchers used magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) to measure N-acetyl aspartate (NAA). NAA is a biochemical marker used to gauge the neural energy production within specific brain regions.
It can include difficulties with sounds, or the feel of anything, including the fabric of clothes in the skin.CVI causes visual processing difficulties, and from many reports, also auditory processing difficulties. Many people with CVI are both tactile and taste averse, and the causes of these aversions can be explained due to their CVI. CVI is not considered to be a sensory processing disorder, although it does cause sensory processing difficulties. Some people identified as having a sensory processing disorder may have CVI, others may have autism (see Autism, above), or causes that are not known.
