7. plasticity and functional recovery Flashcards
what is the key term for plasticity
the brains tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and learning.
what is the key term for functional recovery
the transfer of functions from a damaged area of the brain after trauma to other undamaged areas.
functional recovery can take place through a process - neuronal unmasking.
what is the key term for neuronal unmasking
dormant synapses (which have not received enough input to be active) open connections to compensate for a damaged area of the brain.
what is the key term for synaptic pruning
rarely used neuronal connections are deleted and frequently used ones are strengthened.
what is the key term for corpus callosum
tissue connecting the two hemispheres of the brain.
what is the key term for hippocampus
major component of the brain of humans and vertebrates. human and mammals have two hippocampi - one in each side of the brain.
the hippocampus is part of the limbic system and plays an important role in the consolidation of information from short to long term memory.
what is the key term for axonal sprouting
the growth of new nerve endings that connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways.
what is the key term for reformation of blood vessels
blood vessels regrow to ensure oxygen and glucose can serve the brain.
what is the key term for recruitment of homologous areas
similar areas on opposite sides of the brain take over tasks that the damaged area would have performed.
what is the key term for cortical reorganisation
the process by which an existing cortical map is affected by a stimulus resulting in the creation of a new cortical map.
what is the basis of synaptic pruning
in infancy the brain experiences growth in the number of synaptic connections it has, peaking at around 15,000 at age 2/3 - twice as many as in the adult brain.
as we age rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used connections are strengthened in a process known as synaptic pruning.
what is the basis of brain plasticity
it was originally thought that such changes were restricted to the developing brain within childhood and that the adult brain, having moved beyond a critical period, would remain fixed and static in terms of function and structure.
however research suggests that at any time in life existing neural connections can change or new neural connections can be formed as a result of learning and experience.
research into plasticity - maguire (2000)
studied brains of london taxi drivers and found more volume of grey matter in posterior hippocampus than in a matched control group - this part of the brain is associated with the development of spatial and navigational skills in humans and other animals.
as part of their training london cabbies must take a test called ‘the knowledge’ which assesses their recall of city streets and possible routes - appears that this spatial learning alters the structure of the taxi drivers brains.
what were the findings of maguire (2000) research
positive correlation between the size of the posterior hippocampus and the time as a taxi driver.
correlations are not casual but it certainly implies that it is the experience of being a taxi driver that changes the brain (at least in the hippocampus).
research into plasticity - medical students
researchers imaged the brains of medical students three months before and after their final exams.
leaning induced changes were seen to have occurred in the posterior hippocampus and the parietal cortex presumably as a result of studying for exams.
support for this is that another researcher found a larger parietal cortex in the brains of people who were bilingual compared to matched monolingual controls.
