Teen Brain-Article Review

Dr. Jay Giedd, chief of brain imaging in the child psychiatry branch at the National
Institute of Mental Health, conducted research which involved building a record of brain imaging
over teenage years. Giedd studied many patients and used MRIs to see how the brain progressed
as it matured. It was generally thought that the brain was an almost complete product by age 12.
Giedds research indicates otherwise. Giedd believes that brain density may peak at about 12
years. At this point, however, proliferation and pruning occurs. The brains gray matter is
thinned out at a rate of about 0.7% a year and the brains white matter begins to thicken. This
creates new pathways for nerve signals and increases the number of connections in the brain.
During teenage years, the brain is also affected by hormones. When puberty hits, sex hormones
are more active in the brains emotional center. Further, many teens rely greatly on the amygdala
which a structure in the temporal lobe linked to emotional and gut reactions. These discoveries
have also sparked questions over the development of mental illnesses. Some mental illnesses,
such as schizophrenia, are now thought to develop during teenage years.
I feel that Giedds work has helped start research on the teenage brain. The research that
Giedd is conducting seems sound in nature. He is studying many teenagers and is frequently
using MRIs to trace brain development during teenage years. The fact that brains continue to
develop and begin to proliferate and prune after around 12 years did not really come as a surprise
to me. In fact, I was more surprised that scientists used to believe the brain was almost a finished
product by age 12. I agree with Giedds conclusion that there is a second wave of proliferation
and pruning with the final parts of the wave occurring late in the late teens. I also believe that
what actions you take during this development can alter the proliferation and pruning process. If
one were to frequently play the piano during this second wave, it seems logical that neurons in
the brain regions that control finger movement will thicken. A few questions came to mind when
I was reading this article. First, is there a way to accelerate the entire proliferation and pruning
process, and what effects would this have? Also, how would external factors, such as poor health
or stress, affect the proliferation and pruning process? Giedd did not violate any ethical issues
when conducting his research.


Placebo-Article Review
The article Placebos power goes beyond the mind was written by Linda Carroll, a
health and science writer. The article reviews various experiments and comments on the new
discoveries about the placebo effect. The placebo effect involves anticipation of relief actually
leading to real relief. This effect has been noted in various patients, such as Parkinsons patients
who had increased levels of dopamine after receiving a placebo. The first experiment reviewed
by Carroll was conducted by UCLA scientists. Volunteers were hooked up to an EEG and
received either an antidepressant or a sugar pill (the placebo). It was determined that the patients
who received the greatest benefit from the medication had a specific pattern of brain waves when
they were on the placebo. This research can help show how patients might be able to be screened
with an EEG to determine if antidepressants are likely to work. Another study, conducted by
Stanford scientists involved utilizing the placebo effect to help patients treat their own pain. The
researchers showed patients real-time images of their brains and tried to teach volunteers to
activate certain parts of the brain involved with the placebo effect. Thoughts were isolated and
found to trigger certain brain responses, which may have helped patients activate the placebo
effect in their brains.
I felt that the article was a good introduction to the placebo effect. I found the UCLA
experiment particularly interesting because of the new application of the placebo effect. Instead
of using the placebo effect to treat patients, the study suggested that we might be able to screen
and isolate patients who respond to antidepressant medication. This experiment seemed to follow
correct methodology though the article does not indicate if the experiment was double-blind and
how many volunteers were studied. I also found the concept of the Stanford experiment
intriguing. Teaching patients how to treat their own pain by activating certain parts of the brain
was interesting. However, the article does not indicate what level of success the scientists
experienced. In general, I believe that the placebo effect does have many potential applications;
yet, with so much knowledge about placebos readily available to patients, experiments are
becoming much harder to conduct. When reading this article, many questions came to mind.
First, what was the exact methodology of the UCLA and Stanford studies? Also, what level of
success did the Stanford study have? Can the placebo effect really be triggered by activating
certain parts of the brain with memories or thoughts? Does our new knowledge about placebos
inhibit their strength? Can we get the placebo effect to work with all patients? The experiments
in the article did not violate any ethical issues.