What does Sacks tell us directly or by implications about the relationship of the brain to time (past, present, future), to identity, and to living a life? Consider: Greg’s history, his neurological disorder, his symptoms suggesting the disorder, what he was like before and after the discovery of his problems, the affected area of his brain, loss and gain, adaptation, the importance of music in his life, the role his parents played, the significance of the historical context in which he lived, the effects on memory, what the disorder implies about identity, how Sacks feels about Greg.
The brain functions like a computer’s CPU, at some point only in a more complicated and more responsive manner. The fact is, no particular new design of computers could actually match up with the capacity of the brain to store and process information within a milliseconds-count. This is the reason why scientists and medical technologists continue to be fascinated with what wonders the brain could actually do. Take into account the fact that the brain is able to store memory that is specifically years and ages old (Dowling, 2001). This particular capacity of the brain encompasses its being compared to even the finest design of control processing units installed within the super computers considered as most accurate and most efficient these days.
The brain’s capacity to function to its fullest is most often than not dependent with its parts and the way they are correlatively connected to each other. The brain nerves, serving as the transportation sites of the brain-fuses allow it to interpret data as it passes from the five senses of the body, namely the sense of sight, sense of smell, sense of hearing, sense of touch and sense of taste. From all these distant body parts, the brain is able to process data completely and simultaneously depending on how the human himself functions according to the situation.
There is however another fascinating function of the brain, its capacity of storing information which are more likely known as memories. Memories are formulated through segregation of information. The brain immediately segregates information that it receives from the five different sense in the body through the transfer of data within the nerves. Practically, this process of segregation of data is the decision point whether an information ought to be kept or should it be dismissed; most likely such decisions are made based on the established being of the person which includes his beliefs and convictions in life.
When a memory is stored in the brain, it becomes set apart from the information that a person regularly uses in his daily engagements. Later on, when the stored information is needed, it becomes handy as the brain sorts it out and finds the one that is able to respond to the current need of the person. For instance, an individual sees a long time acquaintance. The person might not recognize the said person immediately, however the brain begins to collect all necessary data from memory and establish a correlation between the said groups of information thus allowing the individual understand the background that a particular acquaintance have in relation to him and his particular dealings in life. The process might seem long and tedious as narrated herein; however, for the brain, such function and procedure only takes a few milliseconds, a reason why it only takes a blink of an eye for one to actually say the name of a long time acquaintance. Considerably, there are instances when such procedure fail. When this happens, it is believed that there are other elements affecting the process of information recall; matters that are at some point outside of the brain’s power of control (Jerison, 2003).
This is the very reason why in the process of learning, one tends to remember matters that are specifically interesting to him. Not everything that is discussed in class becomes accepted as a necessary information by the brain. The segregation of data that the brain handles every time a student enters a class is based on what the person is most likely interested about; what he wants to know and to master. This is why there are those who are good in arithmetic while some others are good in other subjects such as language and arts.
A specific proof to this matter is that of Greg’s case. His being when he was growing up was intact. Everything he does defined who he really was. However, after undergoing a particularly traumatic case, Greg’s brain responds accordingly to the matter. With the damages incurred with the incident, it could be understood why Greg behaved differently compared to how he acts I the past before the incident. These changes have been considered to have a direct connection to how the brains function is altered especially when particularly traumatic events occur.
The brain responds to situations based on the information it has in store. When particular situations alter the procedure, it could be expected that such function could be altered accordingly. This is the reason why patients who undergo traumatic experiences, may it be physical [targeting the head] or emotional, present a great threat on how a brain functions especially in interpreting new information that is presented to him after the said incident. Some, when not treated early on, suffer complete memory loss; some even take new identities simply because the brain losses the capacity to interpret the current situations based from intact memories. No matter what the case is, it could be realized though that a particular amount of information is left in the brain, a particular amount of memory that is able to create a new foundation for the need to respond to the corresponding situations that a person shall undergo after a particular accident or traumatic experience. This is the reason why in health, the human brain is one of the most protected organs of the body for in it lies the capacity of a person to live and to deal with life as it is. Protecting the brain from stressful elements also maintains its capacity to function well as expected. Based on the discussion presented herein, once alterations occur, such function could be jeopardized, putting the individual afflicted by the situation in great danger and even a possible alteration of personality.
Discuss the autism scale. Present facts about Autism in the past, present and future. As outlined in Sacks Temple Grandin states she feels like an anthropologist on Mars. Explain why she feels this way. How does Sacks feel about Temple? Discuss using key anecdotes from the text and secondary sources and video clips.
Autism is a mental disorder that is most often than not noted for the brain’s function to be centered on one value alone. A normal brain basically functions based on an overall scale; allowing a person to explore his capacities. Most often than not, a single individual might have several talents and can hone several skills at one time. However, when it comes to autism, the brain becomes highly focused on one interest alone causing one to almost fail in everything, but extensively be successful on one endeavor that he is specifically interested in.
In cases when Autism is observed to be a development hindrance to a person, the observation often includes a distinct stagnation on a person’s overall progress in terms of mental capacities. For instance, a child with autism might not be able to socialize with other children their age at the age of four; an age that is most often than not gauged as the point of exploration and engagement with peers. For this reason, children who have autism often get set apart from the others specifically because of their situation and the way they relate with their peers. Feeling left out is a common problem among autistic individuals; they may not pose particular symptoms of depression, however, the way they handle everyday activities are often affected by such emotional turmoil. For others, learning to grow up with full acceptance of their situation often turn out successful in their own fields. Take note of Gradin Temple; she, even though autistic, is noted to be one of the most celebrated academes in America,
She often refer to herself as if she was an anthropologist from mars. Such thought spurs out from the fact that she knows that she is somewhat different from the others and she sees matters in a much different perspective than that of her colleagues. Such a capacity of seeing things differently have become a basis of how she is known and recognized in the industry. Most often than not, her attention to details, and perhaps on over-consideration on facts she tends to develop through research, makes her work more than just the usual study that are correlatively connected to that of her colleagues. The way she presents data is different, as if tickling the minds of her readers and making them think for their own thus letting them create an opinion of their own or perhaps establish questions that they may not have thought of asking in the past. Temple is one of the most successful autistic individuals in the world. Her non-traditional response to her job and her role in establishing the foundations of science and history through anthropology has made it easier for her to see matters that may not be that obvious to others in her field.
Considerably, as noted through the discussion and the example provided, autism may be incurable, but it is manageable. The brain, although it has some lacking elements, even though it may not be able to process information as that of the one in a normal state, the brain is able to provide an autistic individual to become more focused on one thing thus if harnessed accordingly might result to the mastery of such skill, talent or interest. Basing from this part of the discussion, it could be realized that when it comes to utilizing the brain to its fullest, no particular disorder could put a halt to such desire (Piggot et al, 2009).
The human brain is able to contain loads of thousands of information and is able to process them according to the desires of an individual. With the occurrence of mental-disabilities, it could be understood that somehow, the brain function is somewhat limited (Kuhn, et al, 2004). Nevertheless, such limitation does not render a person useless. What it takes is for someone to know how to hone such excellence hence making a disabled individual more capable of handling life at a much normal pattern amidst the abnormalities they may have.
Sacks specifically think of Temple as a great example of defying the fallacies that bind the debates and argumentations about people with autism. Instead of being liabilities to the society, these people could become the best foundation for progress especially if their talents and skills are honed in a proper pace and with proper motivation for use and application. While people who have mental disabilities may not be able to function as normal individuals, with ample help from friends, families, mentors and even the government, these individuals would be able to provide exceptional service to the society, if they are given the chance to do so (Szatmari, 2007).
‘Specialization’; according to temple, this is what sets them [the autistics] apart from all the ‘normal’ individuals in the world. Their capacity to specialize in something and be really good at it could make them the most important assets that could pave the way towards particular developments. These instances may not be easily handled by those who have too many interests, to many choices in life. Individuals whose brains function practically well often find themselves confused of what path they should take in life; with so many opportunities that they want to grab, they often end up with nothing, being an expert to nothing at all. At this point, it could be realized that the advantages that autism implicates on an individual may actually make sufferers of the said situation more capable of facing life’s challenges with the use of their expertise and focused minds. This particular information should enlighten the society with the real worth of individuals with autism, thus respecting them as individuals with special gifts and not as mere people with ‘mental cases’. Dealing with their disorder properly and with full attention to proper management on the part of their families, friends and other institutions that provide ample help to people with such cases, people with autism could be given the chance to enjoy life at its fullest like everyone else. Relating to this case, diagnosing autism in children at its earliest stages could help well when it comes to finding a proper management approach that could be used to make sure that such a child would turn out to have specifically undeniable expertise that he could use in life later on. The diagnosis could be acquired through the application of analysis based on the autism scale, a measuring [information table] that identifies what type of autism a person is experiencing. With the capacity to know what particular type of autism one suffers from, he could be gradually helped to focus on what he could learn and master through time that would define his life and his being at a better stand.
References:
Dowling, JE (2001). Neurons and Networks. Harvard University Press. pp. 15–24.
Goldstein, S. Autism Spectrum Rating Scales. http://www.mhs.com/product.aspx?gr=edu&id=overview&prod=asrs. (Retrieved on February 20, 2014).
Jerison, HJ (2003). Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence. Academic Press. pp. 55–74.
Kuhn R; tr. Cahn CH. (2004). Eugen Bleuler's concepts of psychopathology. Hist Psychiatry. 2004;15(3):361–6.
Lyons V, Fitzgerald M. Asperger (1906–1980) and Kanner (1894–1981). (2001). The two pioneers of autism. J Autism Dev Disord. 2007;37(10):2022–3.
Piggot J, Shirinyan D, Shemmassian S, Vazirian S, Alarcón M. (2009). Neural systems approaches to the neurogenetics of autism spectrum disorders. Neuroscience;164(1):247–56.
Szatmari P, Jones MB (2007). Genetic epidemiology of autism spectrum disorders. In: Volkmar FR. Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press.
