While we have developed a much stronger understanding of the causes of certain neural, or brain diseases, there is still so much more to learn. For example, what causes Alzheimer's, how can we better predict when, and who the disease will strike, how can we cure it? There are so many things that can go wrong with our brains, just imagine for a moment all the problems you can face with your laptop, it gets a virus, or one of the chips stops working, it gets old and slows down, or a piece of software goes on the fritz. Our brains are far, far more complex than the computer this was typed up on so just think how easy it is for something to go wrong. Below is included a list of diseases, or incidents that can effect how our brains function, this list is by no means comprehensive. This part of the unit is inquiry based, have students look at the list, or come up with their own brain disorder that they are interested in learning more about, they can focus on the cause, the outcomes, or the cure/treatment of the disorder, or a combination of all three. They will write either an essay, complete a poster, or a powerpoint presentation on what they have learned about that disorder, and the aspect of it that they looked at.
List of Diseases/Disorders Autism Epilepsy Dyslexia Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Bell's Palsy Meningitis and Encephalitis Huntington's disease Aphasia Alzheimers Cerebral Palsy Concussion Stroke Cushing's Syndrome Brain tumour Multiple Sclerosis Dementia Creutzfeldt - Jakob Disease Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome Parkinson's Disease Drug addiction Substance Abuse (Alcohol, smoking)