brain plasticity AO1&3 Flashcards
brain plasticity refers to…
the ability of the brain to change and adapt synapses, pathways and structures in the light of various experiences, including trauma i.e. brain plasticity.
what is grey matter?
major component of the CNS consisting of neural cell bodies, dendrites, and unmyelinated axons, glial cells, capillaries. Many cell bodies and relatively few myelinated axons
what is white matter?
few cell nogues composed chiefly of long range myelinated axons the colour arises from the whiteness of the myelin
describe the kempermann et al(1998) study (animal research)
rats where placed in an enriched environments that were labelled as complex proved to increase the number of neurons and therefore the volume of the brain and particularly the hippocampus as opposed to the rats that were kept in laboratory cages
what are the problems with using kempermanns (1998)study?
it is an animal study as it uses rats which means it lacks generalisability to humans as it was done on non-human animals. Therefore we cannot extrapolate the findings. there is low ecological validity
describe the study by maguire et al (2000)on spatial navigation
Maguire compared the brains of taxi drivers in london with a control group using an mri scanner, She found the posterior hippocampi of the taxi drivers was significantly larger than the control group, the volume of the posterior hippocampi was positively correlated with the amount of time they had spent as a taxi driver
what are the limitations of maguire et al’(2000)s study?
you cannot establish cause and effect because there is no before and after comparison which means it could be that the taxi drivers had naturally bigger posterior hippocampi which allowed them to become taxi drivers. however it is a real life study meaning it does hold ecological validity.
describe the study by Kuhn et al (2014)(video games)
kuhn compared a control group with a training group who were made to play 30 minutes of super mario each day for 2 months. Kuhn found an increase in grey matter in the cortexes, hippocampuses and cerebellum’s of the training group but not the control group. Kuhn concluded that playing the video game had resulted in new synaptic connections.
what are the evaluation points of the Kuhn study?
you can establish cause and effect as there is random allocation to conditions, and there is evidence of before and after exposure to the stimulus in the form of fmri scans. this is therefore better than maguire. and it uses humans in the study which makes it better than the Kempermann study and there is a reasonable amount of ecological validity in reference to the time spent playing the game.
describe the study by boyke et al…
Boyke observed the effect of 60 year olds learning a new skill (how to juggle) and found that there was an increase in grey matter in the visual cortex, however when the practised stopped the changes were reversed
what are the evaluation points for the Boyke study?
it shows plasticity is possible is possible in older age and therefore supports it. There is real life application and evidence from before and after meaning there is high ecological validity and they can establish cause and effect
