Biopsychology: Plasticity and functional recovery after brain trauma Flashcards
What is plasticity?
The brain’s tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and new learning
Who researched plasticity?
Eleanor Maguire
What did Maguire do?
She studied the brains of London taxi drivers.
What did Maguire find?
She found that there was significantly more volume of grey matter in the hippo campus than in a matched control group.
What is the significance of the growth of the hippocampus?
It’s the part of the brain that is associated with the development of spatial and navigational skills.
What is the significance of the London taxi drivers?
As part of their training they must take a complex test called ‘The Knowledge’ which assesses their recall of streets and routes.
How did Maguire’s research support plasticity?
It appears that the result of this learning experience is to alter the taxi drivers brains, also the longer they have been in the job the more pronounced the difference.
What is functional recovery?
A form of plasticity. Following damage through trauma, the brain’s ability to redistribute or transfer functions usually performed by a damaged area to an undamaged area.
How does Doidge describe functional recovery?
The brain is able to rewire and reorganise itself by forming new synaptic connections close to the area of damage.
What structural changes in the brain support functional recovery?
Axonal sprouting
Reformation of blood vessels
Recruitment of homologous area.
What is axonal sprouting?
The growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve ells to form new neuronal pathways
What is recruitment of homologous?
Recruitment of areas on the other side of the brain perform to perform specific tasks.
What is the evaluation?
Practical application
Negative plasticity
Age and plasticity
Support from animal studies
Evaluation point: Practical application
It’s contributed the the field of rehabilitation. Following injury or illness spontaneous recovery starts to slow down after a few weeks. So therapy may be needed to maintain functioning. This shows that the brain can fix itself to a point.
Evaluation point: Negative plasticity
It can sometime have maladaptive behavioural consequences.
60-80% amputees have been known to develop phantom limb syndrome. Thought to be due to cortical reorganisation in the somatosensory cortex that occurs after limb loss.
