Exogenous & Endogenous, Which one are you?

For me it's not as hard to control my impulses, because I've trained my mind to be at peace when I get the urge to want to act out of character. But it does tend to be a bit difficult when I'm in a stressful stage and I'm not trying to act out of character, I often dismiss myself from the position I'm in at that point. So I would say I'm endogenous, I think before I act upon things. Most of the time when I snap it's because I'm caused under a lot of stress and it makes it hard to think about the scenario I'm in.

Quick Write

The best advice I believe parents can give to their children on drugs, alcohol and other risky behaviors are to compare kids who do drugs and attend school and kids who don't do drugs and go to school. Kids who stay away from drugs at a early age have a better chance of having a good future, then kids who get introduced to drugs at a young age. I personally feel like the "Just say no" slogan may not work for the majority of teens in today's era. Teens now often believe they don't have to follow or listen to any rules especially from adults. Most teens go through a rebelous stage. My concern will be for the parent to let their teens take risk but also as a parent always remind them about the difference between taking the road down to drugs, and turning away from them.

Ted Talk Answers..

1. How does Ms. Balkmore define adolescence? How long does it last?                                   Ms. Blake more define adolescence as the period of life that starts at your bi logical hormone changes of puberty. It ends at the stage where the individual is stable and in a independent role in society (20's or 30's)
2. What is the significance of the prefrontal cortex? Which section is this on the diagram we viewed yesterday?                                                                                                                            It's located on the front of the brain behind the fore head, that specific section of the brain is in charge of abstract thinking and thought analysis, it's also responsible for regulating behavior. This includes mediating conflicting thoughts, making choices between right and wrong, and predicting the probable outcomes of actions or events
3.  What is synaptic pruning and what is the significance of the process?                                         Synaptic pruning is the beginning of the process where you begin to get your neurons.
4. What is the social brain?                                                                                                                The social brain is the network of brain regions that we use to understand other people and interact with them. 
5.  Explain the design and results of the experiment in which adolescents were compared to adults in seeing things from another person's perspective.                                                     
6.   It stated that adolescents are more active when they make social decisions and think about other people than it is in adults. Adults have more experience than adolescents, what is new for teens is old for adults.
7. Describe the difference between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex in teenagers and adults.                                                                                                                                  Since adults have seen more in life their able to be inhibited in any situation they occur in. For teenagers it's a bit different because we're risk takers.
8. Do you see your own adolescence as a problem or an opportunity? Explain.                               I see it as an opportunity because it takes us through the different stages of life without going through our "teenage" problems and all the things teens seem to hate. We wouldn't know how to become responsible individuals.

Do Now:

• The Human Brain goes through distinct stages of development as it matures to childhood = 1
• The teenage brain is at a unique point in development = 2
•  Because of their brain development, teenager sometimes struggle with decision-making = 2

1.  What makes teenagers different?

Once you hit the stage of 13 your officially a teen. At that point teens are already aware of what goes on around them, you start coming to understandings and asking more questions about certain things that happen in your life. But what most teenagers don't realize, that most adults do is that your in control of your own destiny. Being an adult you becoming independent and realize what you need to do for yourself but as a teenager you become dependent or loss or out of place when ever you don't have that guidance you received when you were younger. A teenager being different has a lot to do with realizing things and being more aware of the things that are happening around you. It's a stage when you begin/learn to take charge.



  2. Should teenagers have the same rights as adults


 I believe that teenagers shouldn't have the same rights as adults because being a teenager you don't have the kind of mindset as an average adult, most teens mature at a young age and some take time. But also your only young for a short period of time and then you spend the rest of your life being an adult. You grow older not younger, it's always great to enjoy your childhood and the rest of your teen years while you have them before you turn step into the real world.

Thanksgiving:

This year I am so excited to be hosting thanksgiving with my older sister. Although it has been a lot of stress getting the food together and getting the decorations. Everyday I'm thankful for having the life I have and going down the road I'm going, I'm thankful for all the success that's coming my way and most of all I'm thankful for having the people that I have around me support me and bring me up when I'm at my lowest. I hope everyone enjoys and has a great thanksgiving this year! 

Do Now:

One thing I will always remember from taking this class is the relationship the mind and the brain have and the difference between both of them.

Do Now:

The most important thing I have learned from doing my I-Search project was, finding out that the difference between the mind and the body is that, your mind controls your feelings and your brain controls your body.

Self Assesment

When I finish my project I hope to have at least a 4. I have good grammar when it comes to proceeding projects like this.

What Motivated Me?

My I-Search topic is based on thoughts and my main question is "How do we control our thoughts?" What motivated me to select this question was, day by day everyone goes through about 1000 thoughts a day. But it's completely impossible to control every single one of your thoughts. I would like to know how can I control myself from having several thoughts that come to my mind.

What are you a genius at?

There's a few things I believe i'm good with or at but one thing I can say I am a genius at being is making people laugh and smile. At the age 13 is where it started. Where I can make any person's smile reach from ear to ear. I began to notice it with my close cousin's I was always the one in the clique who made everyone laugh whenever someone was down. Then when I entered middle school that was one thing I did with everyone. I started off by suddenly making anyone who came my way feel happy, whether it was by saying something funny or making them realize the good side of something bad. I now have become the girl who has the ability to tell you things and to teach you things when you feel like your whole world is crashing down on you and when your not happy within yourself or a particular event in your life that has occurred. I learned to use it with anyone who comes my way! 

Are we all born as “genius” or do we obtain it?

The Physical Genius

In my personal opinion, I know that people aren't born as geniuses. It develops over time. Once you're born you live up to expectations and you begin to learn things little by little step by step. It determines on how many times you practice a particular activity until you get better. In the article we read today in class, we read about a very successful surgeon named Charlie Wilson and other artist who are good at what they do. Charlie Wilson wasn't born a genius but he did work his way to get where he is now. In the article the writer states that in the 1980's thats when Mr. Wilson was at his busiest. He would routinely perform seven to eight brain surgeries in a row starting at dawn and ending at dusk. This states that Charlie Wilson didn't just wake up one day and assume he was good at being a surgeon. He practiced on, day and night until he was as  Michon Morita stated, "like a cat playing with a mouse".

Tourette Syndrome

The article that was read in class was on a surgeon who suffered from having tourette syndrome, he wasn't only a surgeon he was also a pilot. Based on the article I was asked to answer two questions  which are:

1. What do you think is the difference between the mind and the brain based on your close reading of "A Surgeon's Life"?
2. Do you think Dr. Bennett would be even an even better pilot and surgeon if he did not have Tourette Syndrome? Explain.

I wrote two paragraphs based on these two questions in this link, 2 question's Answers.

A Surgeon With Tourette Syndrome.

In the last article we read, "A Surgeon's Life" we read about a surgeon that goes by the name of Dr. Bennett, he suffers from having Tourette Syndrome. He doesn't only perform surgery, he always has the ability to fly planes. Can you imagine boarding a plane knowing your pilot as this syndrome? I created a 3-2-1 that explains my comments, questions and reactions towards the article we read in class.

Lost Every Day...

1. How does the woman describe her disorder? 

She described her disorder by explaining how she view's the world. In the beginning she talks to her self about routing where to go and what lane to stay on so she won't lose track of where shes going.  

2. What triggers the disorder? 

What trigger's her disorder is water and the curves of the route.  

 3. Is her condition psychological or neurological and explain why.

 I strongly believe the woman's  condition is psychological because it has to do with arising in her mind. It is an emotional and mental state in her brain. 

4. Describe one way in which this disorder could limit a person. 

One way in which the disorder she has could limit her was, for instance when her baby was crying in the middle of the night and she couldn't find a route on how to get to her baby because that part of her brain was damaged, her only way to get to her son was by following the sound of him crying. 

5. Describe one trick she uses to overcome her disorder. 

One trick she uses to overcome her disorder is constantly telling her self what route to stay on and when to turn left and when to turn right.  

6. “Train your brain.” Explain the significance of this statement through the lens of Dr. Charney’s theory on neuroplasticity. 

By training your brain you can work on a a lot of excercises to train a specific role in your brain. Training your brain is always important to do especially when your a teen, at times like this your always learning new things each and every day.

Vocabulary Word

One of the words that I've learned so far while studying the brain is Grey Matter

Grey Matter - Is a made up of the cell bodies neurons, the nerve fibers that project from them, and support cells  

How can/do we re-wire our brains at times of crisis and challenge?

In this source Upgrade Your Brain! I found some information according to the question I picked. What I found was, any person who goes through a rough experience can always recover. No matter what the circumstances are. The article states step by step, how to recover your self from any tragedy. The mind works according to your feelings, so when you step back and feel your heart and go back to a time where you felt safe, loved and nurtured you can begin to feel all the good feelings you had before any situation occurred.

Are you a risk-taker?

Out of all the risk's that I've taken throughout my life. One of the biggest risk takers was, one night when I was with all of my friends. We were in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. We decided to leave because it was getting too late and we had a long drive back to the Bronx. The driver decided to buy another bottle of alcohol and insisted we drank while he drove. All of his friends agreed, but my friend's were unsure. At that time we felt like he was our only option to get home rather than taking the NYC transit. I sat on the passenger seat, I knew it was a big risk for me to take but I didn't know what was a better option for me to do, my word wasn't going to convince him any better. I sat in the passenger seat and everything was fine until we hit the highway. With the music blasting and us laughing his adrenaline was pumping, he began to feel over powered so he hit 100 mph on the Brooklyn Bridge. That night was definitely one of of the biggest risk's I have ever taken,  I could of easily lost my life. But of course I turned out to be safe.

One risk that I did take that didn't turn out as i expected was one day, me and my little brother decided to call 911 and prank call. When we called, we immedietly hung up the phone. But before we hung up the phone my little brother screeched, and made it seem like something was happening in my house. What I remember was a few hours later, when we were getting ready to head to my sister's house. The police arrived at my front door and it was hard to tell them we were playing around with the phones. But eventually we got in big trouble with my mother and I wasn't allowed to use the phone unless I had a guardian around.

Me, Me, ME!

My names cheylin, it's a difficult name for many to pronounce but you'll get the hang of it! I'm currently a high school senior in crotona academy. I have dreams bigger than the twin towers! As of now I'm living in the bronx with my mother and younger brother, I plan to move out the state once i finish college. My only focus as of now is becoming a better person, and being successful. In this course i hope to learn more about blogging, it's always seem interesting to me but I never gave it a try. My question towards brain science is, how much percentage of our brain do we really use? and why.