biopsychology- brain plasticity

Question 1

what is brain plasticity ?

Answer 1

the idea the brain can change and develop/adapt in structure overtime

Question 2

what can cause neuroplasticity ?

Answer 2

learning and having an active brain

Question 3

what is axonal sprouting ?

Answer 3

a form of functional plasticity in which axons grow nerve endings to reconnect with neurons. forming new neural pathways for information to be spread.

Question 4

what is homologous area adaptation ?

Answer 4

suggests even if one brain hemisphere is damaged, the intact hemisphere can sometimes take over some of the functions of the damaged one.

Question 5

what is functional plasticity/recovery ?

Answer 5

it is a type of plasticity that argues the brain can function through adaptation after trauma or injury. Neurologists suggests this can happen quickly after trauma but the slows down. At this point rehabilitation may be required.

Question 6

what is Maguire’s famous study on brain plasticity ?

Answer 6

She studied 16 London taxi drivers and found an increase of the volume of grey matter in the hippocampus compared to a control group.

Question 7

who is Gabby Gifford’s?

Answer 7

congress woman shot in the head three ft away

Question 8

what is the case of gabby Gifford’s ?

Answer 8

she managed to recover from severe brain injury supporting brain plasticity theory

Question 9

what are the problems with case study of gabby Gifford’s?

Answer 9

she is only one person so it is not generalisable

Question 10

what happens in the brain during recovery?

Answer 10

forms new synaptic connections and neural pathways

Question 11

what is reformation of blood vessels ?

Answer 11

blood vessels rejoin after being broken to allow blood to travel

Question 12

what are the three main brain structure changes?

Answer 12

axonal sprouting
homologous area adaptation
reformation of blood vessel

Question 13

what was Draganskis research into neural plasticity ?

Answer 13

-studied medical students brains three months before exam and after exam
learning induced changes were seen to happen to the hippocampus and parietal cortex

Question 14

how does Draganskis research support neural plasticity and how is the research flawed ?

Answer 14

shows evidence of neural plasticity however the sample is biased since they were all med students

Question 15

what is the practical application for neural plasticity ?

Answer 15

neurorehabilitation - brain therapy after trauma this is necessary because after spontaneous recovery, recovery tends to slow down and further help is needed. Techniques include movement therapy or electrical stimulation of the brain.

Question 16

what psychologist studied taxi drivers brains?

Answer 16

Maguire

Question 17

what psychologist studied med students brains?

Answer 17

Draganski

Question 18

what did hubel and wiesel do ?

Answer 18

sew one cat eye shut to see if the brain could compensate for the visual field that is blocked and found that it did

Question 19

who studied cats?

Answer 19

hubel and wiesel

Question 20

evaluate brain plasticity

Answer 20

+ maguire
+ draganski
+bezzola
+ wiesel
+ practical applications - neurorehabilitation

Question 21

research into plasticity

Answer 21

maguire
draganski

Question 22

describe early brain plasticity

Answer 22

– early life brain experiences rapid growth in the number of synaptic connections peaking at 15,000
– having twice as many as an adult brain
– with age, rarely used connections die but used connections strengthen
– We used to think after a critical period neural changes stopped but after modern research we are challenging this belief

Question 23

what is synaptic pruning?

Answer 23

the strengthening of synaptic connections

Question 24

what did bezzola find?

Answer 24

she recorded the effects of 40 hours of golf on 40-60 year olds and found that there were changes in the motor cortex. This suggests neural plasticity occurs across our life span.

Question 25

evaluate draganskis research

Answer 25

• med student - sample bias -

Question 26

what is functional recovery?

Answer 26

a form of brain plasticity
in which the brains recovers itself after trauma through different methods such as redistrubuting functions to different areas.