Ania G

As children grow, their brains go through periods of rapid development. Negative experiences can disrupt these, leading to changes in the brain. It can cause psychological and emotional problems in adulthood, such as psychological disorders and addictions. There are clear differences in brain structure between people who had experienced childhood trauma and those who had not. The biggest changes are in the brain regions that help balance emotions and impulses, as well as self-aware thinking. Some examples of these changes are: overactivity in the amygdala, which is responsible for processing emotions and determining reactions to potentially stressful or dangerous situations. Decreased size of the hippocampus, which is important in learning and memory. Less volume in the prefrontal cortex, which affects behavior, emotional balance, and perception. Dysfunction at different levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which is involved in the stress response. And there are many ...

Men’s brain size is about 11% bigger than women’s but no specific brain areas are disproportionately larger in men or women. Brain size is proportional to body size, and the brain difference between sexes is actually smaller than other internal organs, such as the heart, lungs and kidneys. No individual brain region varies by more than about 1% between men and women. And even these small differences are not found consistently across geographically or ethnically diverse populations. Other brain differences are also a product of size, not sex. These include the ratio of gray matter to white matter and the ratio of connections between, versus within, the two hemispheres of the brain. Both of these ratios are larger in people with smaller brains, whether male or female. In other words, sex isn’t a good indicator of what type of brain a person will have. Unfortunately, some men still claim they are superior to women, thinking they are naturally more intelligent. Source:  https://theconv...

Before antipsychotic drugs were invented, lobotomy was a popular "cure" for mental illness. The purpose of this procedure was to cut the nerve fibers in the brain that connect the (responsible for thinking) frontal lobe to other regions of the brain. Lobotomy was invented in 1935 by António Egas Moniz. His original method involved drilling holes into the skull and pumping absolute alcohol into the frontal cortex, essentially destroying brain tissue. However, in 1946 another neurologist, Walter Freeman, developed a new method. Instead of drilling into the skull, he used a hammer to drive an ice pick into his patients’ brains through their eye sockets. While the original method took over an hour, the new method could be done in 10 minutes or less. In some cases, lobotomy worked well, but in many it had tragic results. After this treatment, some patients lost an ability to function on their own, while others couldn’t feel strong emotions or empathy. People believed it could help...

It turns out that this is not only possible, but relatively common. And there’s plenty of evidence for that. One of the most popular cases is what happened to Phineas Gage.  While working, he had an accident in which a rod pierced his skull. After this accident, previously a well-mannered, respectable, smart business man became irresponsible, rude and aggressive. Another controversial case is that of a teacher who was diagnosed with pedophilia. Later, it was discovered that he had a brain tumor. After the tumor was removed, the symptoms of pedophilia disappeared.  There are much more cases like those, but they all have one thing in common: damage to areas of the prefrontal cortex, in particular the orbitofrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex has a role in managing behaviours, regulating emotions and responding appropriately. So it makes sense that damaging it can change a lot. I think it's very interesting, but also scary, that an accident can make o...