Biopsychology - plasticity and functional recovery Flashcards
what is plasticity
- brain’s tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and new learning
- growth of new connections
what is the research into plasticity
Maguire et al 2008
- studied brains of London taxi drivers and found more grey volume in the posterior hippocampus than in a control group
- hippocampus associated with development in spatial and navigational skills
- taxi drivers have to take a ‘knowledge test’ recalling streets and routes in London
- longer they had been a taxi driver the more pronounced the difference
what is the strength of plasticity
Bezzola et al (2012)
- 40 hours of golf training produced changes in the neural representations of movements in 40-60 years
- reduced motor cortex in novice golf players compared to a control group
what is functional recovery
brains ability to redistribute or transfer functions usually performed by a damaged area to other undamaged areas
what is functional recovery after brain trauma
- unaffected areas can compensate for damaged areas
what happens in the brain during recovery
Axonal sprouting
- growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways
Denervation super sensitivity
- axons that do a similar job becomes aroused to a higher level to compensate for the ones that are lost
Recruitment of homologues areas on opposite sides of the brain
- Broca’s area damaged on the left side of the brain the right side equivalent would carry out the function
what is the strength of functional recovery
Real world application
- contributed to the field of neurorehabilitation
- constraint induced movement therapy in stroke patients
- repeatedly practise using the affected arm whilst the unaffected arm is restrained
what is the limitation of functional recovery
Erich Schneider et al (2014)
- more time people with a brain injury spent in education they had a greater chance of a disability free recovery
- 16 years = 40%
- 12 years = 10%
