8- plasticity and functional recovery

Question 1

what is brain plasticity

Answer 1

• the ability to change and adapt as a result of experience

- allows the brain to cope better with the indirect effects of brain damage

Question 2

describe life experience and brain plasticity

Answer 2

• nerve connections that are frequently used = stronger connections
• nerve connections that are rarely used = die
• brain can adapt by developing new connections and reducing weak ones
• decline in cognitive functioning with age

Question 3

describe video games and brain plasticity

Answer 3

• compared control group to group who got video training on Super Mario (30min a day x2 months)
• playing games caused a significant increase in grey matter in visual cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum
• results in new synaptic connections in areas involved in spatial navigation, strategic planning, working memory and motor performance

Question 4

describe meditation and brain plasticity

Answer 4

• 8 practitioners of Tibetan meditation were compared with 10 students with no meditation experience
• EEG picked up greater gamma wave activity in monks even before they started meditating
• gamma waves coordinate neural activity

Question 5

positive evaluation of plasticity (2)

Answer 5

+ more neurons in brains of rats in complex environments compared to lab cages (prominent in hippocampus (ability to form long-term memories and navigate))
+ grey matter compared in brains of London taxi drivers using MRI and hippocampus of taxi drivers was significantly larger than control group (also correlated with experience)

Question 6

what is functional recovery

Answer 6

• form of plasticity
• following damage from trauma, the brain can redistribute/transfer functions to undamaged areas
• more likely when brain is still maturing but possible at any age
• women recover quicker

Question 7

what is neural reorganisation

Answer 7

transfer of functions from damaged areas of the brain to undamaged ones

Question 8

what is neural regeneration

Answer 8

• growth of new neurone and/or connections (axons and dendrites) to compensate for damaged areas
• axon sprouting: new nerve endings grow and connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways.

Question 9

how can recovery from brain injury be maintained

Answer 9

• physiotherapy
• movement therapy
• electrical stimulation to counter deficits in motor and cognitive functioning

Question 10

positive evaluation of functional recovery (2)

Answer 10

+ phantom limb syndrome is evidence of neural reorganisation (in the somatosensory cortex)
+ when one eye of a kitten was sewed shut, the visual cortex for that eye continued to process information from open eye so brain areas reorganise and adapt functions

Question 11

negative evaluation of functional recovery (1)

Answer 11

• patents with a college education are 7x more likely to be disability free a year after brain injury so neural reserve could be a factor in recovery