biopsych- plastic and functional recovery

Question 1

define brain plasticity

Answer 1

brain plasticity is it’s ability to change and adopt due to life experiences
e.g. riding a bike, learning an instrument
an experience meaning anything out of the body which changes the brain

Question 2

what are continually formed and altered in the brain

Answer 2

synaptic connections and neural pathways

Question 3

what age is the most rapid growth of synaptic connections

Answer 3

2-3 yrs old- 15,00 per neuron (Gopnick 1999)

Question 4

what is it called when connections get deleted in the brain

Answer 4

synaptic pruning

Question 5

what do recent research show about neural connections

Answer 5

neural connections can be formed at any time due to learning and experience is is not limited to only childhood.

Question 6

name and explain briefly 2 example researches that supports plasticity

Answer 6

-boyke 2003 juggling leanrt at 60
- Kuhn 2014 videogames 30 min a day for 2 months increases grey matter in cortex, hippocampus and cerebelum
found new synaptic connections

Question 7

define functional recovery

Answer 7

functional recovery is the transferring of functions from a damaged area after trauma to an undamaged area

Question 8

what happens when the brain undergoes functional recovery

Answer 8

the brain ‘rewires’ and recognises itself by forming new synaptic connections close to the damaged area

Question 9

what is neural unmasking

Answer 9

neural unmasking is where dormant synapses open their connections in order to compensate for any nearby damage

Question 10

functional recovery ca also occur through stem cells

Answer 10

stem cells are unspecialised cells that turn into other cells to carry out a function needed, so they turn into nerve cells where there’s brain damage which is a provided treatment for recovery

Question 11

name of women who is an example of functional recovery

Answer 11

jodie miller - suffered from a syndrome and had seizures when she was 3 and they escalated until she had them every 2 minutes.
she had her right hemisphere removed and quickly her left hem compensates for this, and now lives a normal life

Question 12

eval
research support for functional recovery and plasticity is maguire et al 2000
what is this study

Answer 12

Maguire et al is about 16 right handed London taxi drivers driving over 1 1/2 years and how their hippocampus size has increased due to increased use of spatial navigation
a control group of 50 healthy right handed men who are not taxi drivers
increased grey matter
shows structural change of the brain which supports idea of plasticity

Question 13

2 strengths
research support for plasticity
name them

Answer 13

kuhn et al - video game
maguire et al 2000- taxi drivers

Question 14

limitation of neural plasticity
what is it

Answer 14

potential negative consequences that come with it
prolonged drug use - medina
unethical

Question 15

strength of plasticity and functional recovery

Answer 15

application to neurorehabillitation
- development of motor therapy