Please consider the following prompt and craft a response that sufficiently captures all aspects of it from your unique point of view and original research. Please cite and reference any source(s) you use to help write this response in APA format.* Notice that in addition to your Main Entry post, you will need to offer two substantive classmate response posts to complete this exercise. See below instructions that will guide your peer engagement thinking/posting. See syllabus or course calendar for due dates for both main entry posts and peer engagement.
Main Entry (Parts 1, 2,
and 3):
Part 1: Neuroanatomy
Share about a time when you were hit with a major bolt of insight, an amazing, exciting idea, a sudden burst of creativity, or when you otherwise were experiencing something meaningful or profound in your life. Walk us through what was happening in your central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves) at the time. What lobes were activated? Support structures? Hemispheres? Describe how that information flowed through the central nervous system (CNS) and your subjective experience of how it felt to you at the time. Use this as an opportunity to showcase your knowledge of neuroanatomy!
Part 2: Synaptic Survival
In this unit, you learned about synaptic survival. As Lyons et al. (2014) describe it “in order for a synapse to survive, it must be used by the organism on a fairly regular basis. Regular use reinforces the synaptic connection and ensures the survival of that connection and the neuron itself.” This is true in the early developmental period and throughout our lives as well (forming the basis of what is called neuroplasticity).
In the context of your unique cognitive and physical strengths, think back over your life and consider the habits you practiced in order to retain dense neural connections.
a. What were the activities/habits you performed to create that strength?
b. What neural structures (lobes, hemispheres, cortexes, etc.) are denser and stronger now as a result?
c. How does that work to make you good at what you do?
You can focus on any developmental period here – from the enrichments your early caregivers gave you to what you are practicing and developing now as an adult.
Part 3: Genetic Contributions
In addition to practice and habit, do you think genetics played a role in you developing this strength, too? You learned about epigenetics in your Hedges (2022) reading. Briefly, discuss how your genetic background coupled with practices, habits, and other more environmental factors have shaped your particular set of strengths. If this is a challenging exercise, you can consider how epigenetics manifest in someone else’s life – a friend, a person in popular culture, etc.
Peer Engagement:
Remember to circle back and substantively respond to two classmates by the due date specified in the syllabus. Your peer engagement posts must go beyond summarizing and praising. To aid you in this endeavor,
incorporate one or more of the following lines of thinking in your peer engagement posts, ensuring both a hearty, meaningful conversation and that your work meets criteria for substance and depth:
· Maybe you had a similar “Part 1” experience as your classmate. Offer your account of that shared experience – what areas of your brain were activated? What was going on inside you during this profound moment?
· Perhaps you have a weakness in the area your classmate had a strength in. Take advice from their story, come up with a plan for shoring up that strength. Ask them if they agree with your plan and what would they suggest?
· Add any follow up thoughts you may have had or any additional resources you might share with your classmate regarding their points about epigenetic influences.
