9- Brain Plasticity in Childhood Flashcards
What is brain plasticity?
The brain’s ability to change throughout life
When are synapses formed?
Rapidly in the first few years of life
When does synapse number start to reduce?
From age 3 onwards
When does the number of synapses in the brain peak?
In the first few years of life
What happens after age 3 to synapses?
Synapses are removed as brain development continues
When does synaptic density peak?
Shortly after birth
How does synaptic pruning create an efficient brain?
Only important and useful connections will be kept
What guides synaptic pruning?
Input and use of regions
How is the developing brain shaped?
By experience
What is an example of synaptic pruning in blind people?
Visual cortex is thicker in blind people due to a lack of visual stimuli
2 statements of Hebbian modification
Neurons that fire together wire together, and neurons that fire out of synch lose their link
What is synaptic rearrangement a consequence of?
Neural activity and synaptic transmission
How has it been demonstrated that the brain is highly plastic in childhood?
A hemispherectomy early in life causes little loss of function
When is the brain very malleable?
During brain development
What is childhood biologically called?
A period of heightened plasticity
