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Aubree Tschudy Professor Brand English 1010 87433 October 10, 2013 Writing 5 Rough Draft
Brain Development Until recently very little has been known about the way the brain processes and stores information and recent studies have shown shocking information that will have everyone rethinking their lifestyle. While we all know sleep is necessary to give the body time to rebuild itself and keep the immune system strong. Studies show that sleep improves the brains ability to remember and caffeine the go to substance we use to theoretically improve concentration is actually affecting the development of the brain. A recent study found naps play an important role in the memory of young children. A study done by a psychologist from the University of Massachusetts at local preschools shows sleep increases a childs memory. In the study, the childrens memory was tested by showing cards with pictures on them. The children were allowed to either take a nap or play other games. After the nap the children were then asked to repeat the same game they had played before the nap. The research shows that the children who took naps scored the same on the game as they did before the nap. The children who opted out from taking the nap and chose other activities instead scored 10% lower. Sleep plays an important role for a developing brain at any stage and lifestyle choices early on can affect or impair the development of the brain. Although others can argue that the amount of sleep one gets does not affect their memory and that memory is solely affect by the methods used to learn information. More still one could argue brain development can only be impaired by genetic abnormalities because the brain is developing everyday whether or not you have a healthy lifestyle and

Tschudy 2 get the recommended amount of sleep every night even though research is saying otherwise. Caffeine is proven to affect the development of the brain. Researchers from Switzerland found Teens drinking too much caffeine and potentially undermining the brains development because caffeine leads to a reduction of deep sleep achieved. The deeper phases of sleep are the phases where the brain is developing at a higher rate especially in younger adults. Lifestyle affects the development of the brain the largest factor being sleep but factors such as caffeine intake is just as critical.

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Work Cited Couzin-Frankel, Jennifer. Naps Nurture Growing Brains. Science. 23 Sept. 2013. Web. 8 Oct. 2013. Chumley, Cheryl. Swiss Science Says Too Much Caffeine Kills Kids Brain Power. Washington Times. 25 Sept. 2013. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.

Tschudy 4 I dont think I understood this project completely I reorganized and re-worded some parts but in general I think this is one of my worst writing assignments yet. I felt like if you cant understand why I think sleep is important for learning and caffeine is bad for teenagers that you might have bigger problems which led to me not knowing how to put in my thoughts as to why I agree with the topics. My strong points are my facts I have included in the paper but the thought development is my weak point.