biopsychology: plasticity + functional recovery of brain after trauma

Question 1

brain plasticity?

Answer 1

the brains ability to change and adapt because of experience

Question 2

what does the brain do in response to changing experiences?

Answer 2

continues to create new neural pathways + alter existing ones - new connections can be made at any point in life

Question 3

synaptic pruning?

Answer 3

between ages 2-3 the brain experiences its most rapid growth of synaptic connections

Question 4

maguire study to support plasticity?

Answer 4

london taxi drivers - carried our mri scans finding significant more grey matter in posterior hippocampus than in a control group. found a positive correlation between time in the job and a more pronounced structural difference

Question 5

what does the maguire study show?

Answer 5

the brain can permanently change in response to frequent exposure to a particular task

Question 6

1. denervation supersentivity?

Answer 6

to compensate for loss of axons in a pathway, remaining axons are more likely to fire (painful), + axons that do similar job become aroused to compensate

Question 7

2. transfer of functions?

Answer 7

the brain uses equivalent hemisphere functions to allow for repair to take place in damaged area

Question 8

3. neuronal unmasking?

Answer 8

dormant synapses not recieved enough input to be active so open connections used to compensate for nearby damaged area of brain

Question 9

4. axon sprouting?

Answer 9

new nerve endings connect with undamaged cells - stem cells. allows new connections in brain to be activated

Question 10

hubel study to support?

Answer 10

used kittens, sewing one eye shut and observed cortical responses to the change, the visual cortex asociated with shut eye began to process information from open eye

Question 11

how does hubel study support?

Answer 11

supports transfer of funtions

Question 12

taijiri study to support?

Answer 12

found stem cells provided to rats after brain trauma showed clear development of neuron like cells in the area of injury

Question 13

how does taijiri study support?

Answer 13

demonstrates axon sprouting is possible

Question 14

what makes functional recovery more likely- schneider study?

Answer 14

found patients with college education 7x more likely than school drop outs to be disability free after severe - moderate brain injury

Question 15

what does schneider study support?

Answer 15

dormant synapses and cognitive reserves + neural unmasking

Question 16

what makes functional recovery more likely- elbert?

Answer 16

the capacity for neural reorganisation is much greater in children than in adults, meaning that neural regeneration is less effective in older brains, explains why adults find change more demanding than young people

Question 17

practical application strength?

Answer 17

application of findings to the field of neurorehabilitation - understanding plasticity led to development of neurorehabilitation which uses motor therapy and electrical stimulation of brain to counter brain injuries

Question 18

resprouting + unmasking takes time + effort - reinhart?

Answer 18

improve working memory of elderly, 20-29 yr olds + 60-76 yr olds did baseline memory test, young were better, older had 25 mins brain stimulation so both groups matched, those who scored worst at start made biggest improvements(50 mins only) - not done in clinical environments so might not be healthy