Brain Notes for parents of the Nursery

School and Daycare Center at Christ

United Church

Gaetano Castellino
EDU: 417 Cognitive Studies Capstone
Professor: Dr. Joanna Savarese-Levine
2/12/16

Basic Facts
As busy parents and professionals we are honored that you
chose our facility to care for your children while you are doing
the things you need to get done. We are offering a brief
survey of the mind. Included in the survey will be a study of
certain Neurotransmitters, structures, and their functions in
the brain. In particular, we will focus on Acetylcholine,
Serotonin, & Dopamine. Different age groups will be focused
on as well as what happens in utero with respect to brain
development. As Pastor of the church I feel this bit of
scientific knowledge of the brain will be a healthy addition to
your overall knowledge, and your childrens time here in
either the nursery school or daycare services we offer. I also
hope to see you in worship. Thank you for your participation
and consideration in our church and its programs.

In Utero (The beginning)

Beginning -continued

When becoming pregnant , a woman must take every

precaution available for a healthy baby and successful
pregnancy. Sometimes the medications we take can
have horrific consequences to the babies development.
For example, women that take VPA (Valporic acid) which
is a common anti-epileptic drug can have devastating
consequences like Autism spectrum disorder for the
maturing baby according to News RX (2015). Not to
mention other behavioral and intellectual impairments
that could occur. The point here is to find out as soon as
possible when pregnant and stay in contact with your
OBGYN about any medications you currently take to
avoid such problems from arising.

Neurotransmitters

These are what we call the natural

chemical messengers that your brain
creates and sends out that serve many
and all functions of mood, sleep
patterns, and pretty much anything
else you can think of. We will focus on
three. Hey are

Neurotransmitters
continued

Neurons which are the cells of the brain

communicate in two ways. There are
chemical impulses and electrical ones
(Wolfe, 2010). The electrical impulses are
usually what happens when sensory
information is brought in through the five
senses and then different parts of the brain
delegate where what is to be done with
those. We will get to that later. The
chemical signals are the neurotransmitters.

Neurotransmitter

We know that emotions and body state can and do

affect states of a childs ability to learn and function
properly (Fisher, Immordino-Yang, 2008). So we will
look at Acetylcholine, Serotonin, and Dopamine to
see just what and where they affect our children.
The basic physiology on how these chemicals get
around is through a synoptic cleft in a vesicle (bag)
(Wolfe, 2010). From there a dendrite will pick up the
neurotransmitter and move it along the axon of the
neuron, and shoot it across another synoptic cleft
until the proper emotion or physiologic function is
carried out 9Wolfe, 2010).

Dopamine, Serotonin,
Acetylcholine

All three of these neurotransmitters are simple

proteins, or can be thought of as part of the
amine group (Wolfe, 2010). Dopamine is
responsible for our reward centers. Pretty much if
we are feeling good or happy it is because of
dopamine. Deans (2011) suggests that dopamine
is what makes us different from our primate
cousins, simply by means of neuroplasicity.
Deans (2011) states that dopamine tells the brain
when to communicate in conjunction with being a
pleasure sensor. It can tell other neurons when to
fire and when not to fire.

Dopamine

This can be dangerous because as parents and guardians, and educators,

we want to see the best for our children. Dopamine can also be at the
root of many bad drug addictions. In methamphetamine users there was
no dopamine stores in the brain because the drug releases so much at
once that to resupply does not usually happen before the next time the
drug is used (Ballard, Dean, Mandelkern, London, 2015). Therefore the
receptor sites in the brain become permanently damaged to where long
term use of this drug changes the makeup of the brain forever. It is
important to share the dangers of such things with our children in a way
that does not press an issue too hard on them, but rather makes them
afraid of the effects of what can happen to them to not to want to touch
such a thing. Dopamine also controls sleep cycles (Wolfe, 2010). This has
a lot to say when it comes to the addict of any drug, especially the sleep
deprived meth addict. Since there is no dopamine the body has no idea
that it needs to sleep so all the pleasure senses went out while the
normal homeostatic sleep cycle aspects of what dopamine controls also
left with the huge synoptic evacuation of the neurotransmitter.

Serotonin

Serotonin is the emotion

neurotransmitter. However as Fisher,
Immordino-Yang, 2008) note that when
there is damage to the frontal cortex of the
cerebrum emotional caring goes out the
window. There is no loss in cognitive
function, rather a loss in the empathy that
would normally go along with such a
release of this neurotransmitter. Serotonin
is also has a calming effect(Wolfe, 2010).

Acetylcholine

This neurotransmitter has more

functions than we can mention. It is
excited by nicotine or cigarette
smoking which makes you think or
have a greater capacity for cognition at
the moment. It is also responsible for
long and short term memories, and its
depletion is seen in the horrible mind
eating disease of Alzheimers disease
(Wolfe, 2010).

Nutrition and
neurotransmitters

Since serotonin and dopamine are from

the amine group, it is conceivable that if
a person did not have enough protein in
the diet for the long term that this could
cause a problem in their production.
Acetylcholine is originated in the
brainstem, but has functions and travels
all through the cerebral cortex so it is
also known for nerve and muscle
innervations (Wolfe, 2010).

Environment &
neurochemical factors

If a child has damage to the prefrontal

cortex, then they cannot develop a healthy
way to differentiate between positive and
negative social situations Fisher, ImmordinoYang, 2008). If this damage were to happen
in an adult we would have had the previous
knowledge, but without the proper interface
to make the connection due to the lesion,
this could be a case for future biomechanical engineers to think of in the
future.

This knowledge and our

daycare

It is important to have a basic understanding of how

our childrens brains work, and hence our own as
well by default. When we see something that bothers
a child that is seemingly from nowhere, there is a
reason and causer for it. Whether it be something
simple like a lack of sleep from the night before, or a
more complex situation from home, that is
ultimately at your discretion as the parent as to how
much you want to share with us and where we can
help. Please remember as part of this faith
community we need to be here for each other and
knowing the science behind the spiritual never hurts.

References
Ballard, M.E., Dean, A.C., Mandelkern,
M.A., & London, E.D., (2015). Striatal
dopamine D2/D3 receptor availability
associated with executive function in
healthy controls but not
methamphetamine users. Pios ONE
vol. 10, issue 12, Pgs. 1-16
Deans, E. (2011). Dopamine primer: How
dopamine makes us human. Evolutionary
Psychiatry. Vol. 6, issue 2, Pgs. 215-226
Fisher, K., Immordino-Yang, M.H., (2008). The
Jossey-Bass reader on the brain and learning. San
Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons INC.
Nervous system research; study data from university of Maryland
school of medicine update knowledge of neuroscience
(increased BDNF expression in fetal brain in the valporic acid
model of autism. ). (2015). Pain and Central Nervous System Week.
retrieved from: http://search.proquest .com/docview/1664278890?
accountid=325211664278890=?
Wolfe, P., (2010). Brain Matters: translating research into classroom practice
(2nd Ed.) Alexandria, VA : Association for supervision & curriculum
development (ASCD)