B6 - plasticity and functional recovery

Question 1

Brain plasticity (neuroplasticity)

Answer 1

Brains ability to constantly change to adapt to new experienced and information

Each time we practice and activity or piece of learning, our brain forms new neural pathways or strengthens existing pathways, to increase the speech of the electrical impulse to better perform the task

Question 2

Myelination

Answer 2

Process in which the neural pathway becomes stronger

More myelin sheath wraps around the axon, electrically insulating the axon to increase its speed of activation

Question 3

Synaptic pruning

Answer 3

Neural pathways are deleted if they remain unused

Each time we forget a piece of information, the pathways that were once connected to the memory become progressively weakened, until they become deleted

Question 4

Trauma

Answer 4

Refers to physical damage (or lesioning) to the cerebral cortex, through injury or illness, which prevents normal brain function

Question 5

Functional recovery

Answer 5

Type of plasticity, where the brain rewires and reorganises itself during the recovery process

Involves creation of new synaptic connections to avoid the damaged areas, often by recruiting similar in damaged areas in the opposite hemisphere to take over the functions that have been lost due to injury

E.g. if Wernicke’s area was damaged in left hemisphere, then right-sided equivalent could be adapted to carry out its function

Question 6

Axonal sprouting

Answer 6

Functional recovery occurs through axonal sprouting

New nerve endings connect with undamaged neurons to form new neural pathways, replacing links that were broken during the trauma

Question 7

Functional recovery and age

Answer 7

Becomes less effective with age