Understanding the brain - Coursera final assignment

1. Huntington’s
disease
B Y : R H I E Y A R A H U L

2. What is Huntington’s disease?
• Huntington’s disease is a rare, inherited disease which causes the
degeneration of nerve cells in the brain,
• It has a huge impact on a person’s functional abilities and results in disorders
with movement, psychiatry and thinking.
• It usually develops when a person is in their 30’s or 40’s however, if it is
detected before the age of 20, it is known as juvenile Huntington’s disease.
• Huntington’s disease implies an injury made in the basal ganglia.

3. How chorea affects individuals
Some patients with Huntington’s disease have chorea which is a prototypic motor feature of
Huntington’s disease which can impact emotional, interpersonal and professional functioning
of an individual.
An individual with Huntington’s disease with chorea are much less likely to be employed.
Chorea also impacts gait, and doesn’t allow the individual to work properly.
The video below gives a good demonstration of how chorea impacts a person.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTCnbga3sqg

4. Active parts of the nervous system
In Huntington’s disease, some parts of the brain which help in smooth coordinate
movements degenerate.
The basal ganglia is impacted and this impacts the initiation of smooth out muscle
movements. With the basal ganglia, involuntary movements are suppressed and
coordinate changes in posture take place. Without the basal ganglia, these functions
don’t take place. The following parts are inactive….
1) Caudate nucleus
2) Putamen
3) Globus pallidus
4) Subthalamic nucleus
5) Substantia nigra

5. Functions that are impaired in the
nervous system
Functions impaired as a result of damage to the basal ganglia include cognitive, physical
and emotional function. The death of brain cells in certain areas of the brain cause
impairments in cognitive, physical and emotional function.
It is a slow progressive condition that interferes with the movements of the body and can
affect awareness, thinking and judgement which can lead to a change in behavior as well.

6. How this course has allowed me to better
analyze the events around me
The following course has allowed me to understand the different neurological
conditions that people encounter. I have grown to realize the everyday functions that I
take for granted.
I have also better understood how our brain works and how important each and every
part of the brain plays a very important role in our life.

7. Bibliography
Betterhealth.vic.gov.au. 2022. Huntington's disease - Better Health Channel. [online]
Available at:
<https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/huntingtons-disease>
[Accessed 26 July 2022].
MSD Manual Consumer Version. 2022. Huntington Disease - Brain, Spinal Cord, and
Nerve Disorders - MSD Manual Consumer Version. [online] Available at:
<https://www.msdmanuals.com/home/brain,-spinal-cord,-and-nerve-disorders/movement-
disorders/huntington-disease> [Accessed 26 July 2022].
2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8216765/>
[Accessed 26 July 2022].
Mayo Clinic. 2022. Huntington's disease - Symptoms and causes. [online] Available at:
<https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/huntingtons-disease/symptoms-
causes/syc-20356117> [Accessed 26 July 2022].