BRAIN BIOLOGY

Brain Biology

Brain Biology

Question 1 a)

(i) Plagiarised

“Homeostasis refers to the ability of the body to maintain”

(ii) Closely Paraphrased

“an optimal internal environment by acting to restore any changes that take the body away from this optimal state”.

“It is through this process that levels of water can be returned to the ideal level.”

(iii) Quoted from the Module Text

From here 'it is transported in the blood to the kidney, where it slows up the production of urine' (Toates, 2006).

This hormone is secreted from a gland located at the base of the brain, the pituitary gland, in response to dehydration (Toates, 2006).

(iv) Written About The Topic In Their Own Words.

Many examples of homeostasis will be familiar, such as those concerning temperature where your body acts to return to an optimal temperature when faced with a deviation from this.

Thus, when your body starts to overheat as in a sauna, sweat will soon appear on the body surface.

Sweating serves to lower the body temperature. Conversely in a cool environment, we start to shiver. Hormones may play a role in this process, for example the hormone arginine vasopressin.

By contrast, if the body is over-hydrated, secretion of the hormone is reduced or stopped and the excretion of water is high.

Keeping in mind the above 4 examples regarding the student answer it can be said that the student has a better understanding of the academic writing. Majority of the content from the student answer was written by himself. 1sentences was quoted, but he was supposed to give page number as well in citation. The first sentence was plagiarised and 2 sentences were closely paraphrased.

Question 1 b)

Changes in physical activities and feeding habits have transformed the historically rare disease of obesity into a modern metabolic pandemic. The hypothalamus is a tiny brain structure that occupies the ventral portion of the diencephalon, the borders of which are the optic chiasm (rostrally), the optic tracts and cerebral peduncles (laterally), and the mammillary bodies (caudally). Several nuclei are found within the hypothalamus. Here we touch on those that have been shown to be important for coordinated body energy balance. The destruction of ventromedial hypothalamic areas including the ventromedial (VMH) and arcuate (ARH) nuclei leads to hyperphagia and obesity.

The hypothalamus is the main neural control center (brain part that controls endocrine glands). The pituitary gland lies just below the hypothalamus. The pituitary gland is a small endocrine gland that secretes a variety of hormones (organic chemicals that regulate the body's physiological processes). When the hypothalamus detects certain body changes, it releases regulating factors (chemicals that stimulate or inhibit the pituitary gland). The pituitary gland then releases or blocks various hormones. Because of this close association between the nervous and endocrine systems, together they are called the neuroendocrine system.

Question 2 a)

The caudate and putamen are functionally and histologically similar nuclei located on either side of the internal capsule. Collectively, they are called the striate nuclei, the neostriatum or the striatum. The caudate nucleus is on the ventrolateral side of the lateral ...