Effects of the Environment on Physiological Processes

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Effects of the environment on physiological processes The functions of a living organism and its parts, and the physical and chemical factors involved are known as its physiological processes. There are certain environmental conditions that can affect physiological processes such as hormones, neurotransmitters, and in particular, the human brain. Therefore the relationship between the environment and physiology is often said to be bidirectional, where environmental enrichment changes the cerebral cortex and therefore the brain changes our experiences and behaviour. This essay will talk about two effects of the environment on physiological processes: 1. Environmental enrichment affecting neuroplasticity 2. Activation of mirror neurons caused by experiencing actions The first effect that will be discussed is environmental enrichment on neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity or brain plasticity is a lifelong ability of neuron pathways in the brain so as to be able to change and reorganise themselves in order to account for learning and new experiences. This is a representation of how the brain adapts to the environment – the changes that take place in the brain are caused by changes in the environment. It occurs every time something is learnt. An explicit example is when the brain reorganizes and forms new connections with healthy neurons to compensate for the functions of the damaged area after brain injury. Rosenzweig & Bennett (1972) Aim: To investigate the effects of a deprived or enriched environment on neuroplasticity, in particular, the development of neurons in the cerebral cortex Method: * The participants used were rats * The independent variable was the type of environment: stimulating or non-stimulating * Stimulating environment contained toys * Non stimulating environment did not contain toys * The dependant
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