Natale Thomas

March 10, 2014 Personal Misconception Essay

Coming into the course I believed that vision was something that was established at birth. I was aware that vision was not as clear for infants as it is for children in early childhood and up to adulthood, but I was not aware that if ones vision is not used or impaired at birth that it could be lost. I assumed that vision was only affected by needing glasses/contacts or blindness, but not because of lack of eye stimulation. This was a misconception that was definitely wrong. I am not sure why I thought this way, I just did. After viewing the National Geographic Science of Babies documentary on infant cognitive, physical, and social and emotional development I learned that this was not true. I now have a new understanding. In a portion of the documentary there was a discussion on an infant who had developed a cataract on her left eye because of a lack of stimulus. The explanation for this occurring was the nerve cells all have to compete with each other for connections. The wiring of neurons is dependent upon environmental influence also. Being that the wiring of neurons does not come naturally as it does for insects for example, it is imperative that it is learned. Otherwise the child will be permanently disabled. This is the accurate concept. Therefore, vision is a critical portion of development in infancy. Either you use it or lose it; as the documentary states when referring to vision. The textbook states that, Researchers study when brain lateralization occurs to learn more about brain plasticity. A highly plastic cerebral cortex, in which

many areas are not yet committed to specific function, has a high capacity for learning, And if a part of the cortex is damaged, other parts can take over the tasks if would have handled (pg. 168). The video said this exact thing when discussing how Nylees (the infant) right eye was cannibalizing her left eye therefore not allowing the left eye to be functional because of the defect in the left eye. This evidence is convincing because it simply makes sense with the way that our body functions and the way that neural development works. This information has become very important to me for two reasons. I would say that the first reason that it has become important to me is that it has become something that I now know to look out for when having children. Brain plasticity and how neurons work is not something that most parents know about, but it can be very helpful to know of these and of the importance of the input of sensory information when it comes to vision and the growth and development of their child or children. Secondly, it has helped me to further understand what neurons are, how they work, and how there communication is major component of not only physical development, but cognitive development also. I believe that for someone who has not taken this course it would not be very difficult to explain this concept. The documentary did an excellent job so I would say to do the same thing as it did. First, explain what a neuron is, how it works, how the communication of neurons contributes in development of vision, and then apply it to a real life situation that results in vision loss based on lack of neural communication. This way the person would not only gain the knowledge of the anatomy of neurons, but the physiology of them also if you will.