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Neuro 3610 > Chapter 23 - Development and Plasticity > Flashcards

Chapter 23 - Development and Plasticity Flashcards

1
Q

What are the three approaches to studying brain development

A
  1. correlate brain development with behavioural development
  2. the reverse = observe behaviour to predict what is occurring in brain development
  3. identify factors that influence both brain and behavioural development
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2
Q

What are the stages of brain development

A
  1. cell birth
  2. cell migration
  3. cell differentiation
  4. cell maturation (dendrite and axon growth)
  5. synaptogenesis (formation of synapses)
  6. cell death and synaptic pruning
  7. myelogenesis (formation of myelin)
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3
Q

Explain how neurogenesis drops with age

A

in both rats and humans, there are high levels of neurogenesis in the perinatal period, which drops with age
rate of neurogenesis is very low in adulthood in both

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4
Q

Why is cell death and pruning so important to development

A

eliminates excess neurons

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5
Q

What is the problem of predicting PFC injury in young kids

A

the PFC is the last cortical region to mature, therefore if injured at a young age, it will be difficult to predict what the results will be

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6
Q

Which cortical region is first to mature and which is last

A

sensorimotor cortex is first to mature
PFC is last

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7
Q

What is happening to the brain during adolescence

A

it is a time of extreme plasticity (for good and bad)
plastic to injuries and adapt BUT also highly sensitive to drug and addiction

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8
Q

What age is the onset of mental disorders

A

14 years old is a key time, start to see development when looking back, may not be obvious at first

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9
Q

How is cortical development related to cognitive function

A

negative correlation between cortical thickness and cognitive performance (as cortex thins, becomes more efficient)
increased white matter maturation increases function

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10
Q

What are unexpected results related to problem solving ability and brain development

A

kids are better at more complicated task of concurrent discrimination learning task compared to easier nonmatching sample learning tasks since this one requires the PFC and that is not yet developed

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11
Q

What are the environmental effects on cortical development (12)

A
  1. visual experience
  2. tactile experience
  3. epigenetics
  4. complex environments
  5. language
  6. music
  7. play
  8. parent-infant interactions
  9. stress
  10. gut bacteria
  11. SES
  12. colonialism
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12
Q

Why is tactile stimulation so important

A

alter brain and behavioural development that improves adult motor and cognitive function
correlates with increased synaptic space across the cortex

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13
Q

BUT HOW does tactile stimulation affect the brain

A

after injury, rubbing to feel better, produces FGF-2 which crosses the blood-brain barrier that changes the brain, is an epigenetic change

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14
Q

How do complex environments affect brain development

A

strongest ways to alter brain
dendritic length and spine density increase in complex environments

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15
Q

How does early language exposure change the brain

A
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16
Q

What is an explanation for why lower SES kids have a lower vocabulary (why the language areas develop differently)

A

quantity and quality of language exposure
thinner cortices = high language scores = associated with higher SES

17
Q

How does adoption affect brain development

A

age is important
adopted at younger age show more recovery (before 18 months)
have smaller frontal lobe and lower IQ

18
Q

How does music affect brain development

A

increases brain volume, improves school performance and IQ
best to have training young, but still shows an affect at older age (impacts neural activation)

19
Q

How does play affect brain development

A

increases pruning and flexibility (plasticity) in PFC

20
Q

How does stress effect brain development

A

increased stress results in lower connectivity in amygdala and hpc connections

21
Q

How does gut bacteria affect brain development

A
  1. affect vegus nerve
  2. affects blood system
    need bugs and therefore bacteria
22
Q

How does colonialism affect brain development

A

decline in indigenous quality of life and poverty, life expectancy, incarceration, drug abuse, etc.

23
Q

What is the Kennard doctrine

A

if you are going to have brain injury, have it early so the outcome is better
mostly applies to motor functions

24
Q

What is the Hebb principle

A

brain injury earlier may be worse
PFC injury in early childhood resulted in poor outcomes

25
Q

How does language reorganize after early brain injury

A

language function (speech and comprehension) can be transferred to opposite hemisphere, but depends on type and location of brain damage
anterior and posterior damage cause complete transfer, damage in one area results in bilateral
transfer can occur before age 5

26
Q

What are radial glial fibers

A

cells that form pathways for migrating neurons to follow to their appropriate destinations
from subventricular zone to cortical surface

27
Q

What do cases A.R and Alex tell us about language compensation after early injury

A

Alex = sturge-weber syndrome, LH malformation prevents speech development, LH removed at 8 years old and developed language
A.R = hemispherectomy at age 10

possible to develop language after 9 using just the RH
substantial plasticity in language development, language is special

28
Q

How do prefrontal-subcortical circuits change in development

A

early childhood:
strong = ventral striatum and amygdala for emotion
weak = prefrontal regions

early adolescence:
all of the above become stronger

late adolescence:
strong = amygdala and mPFC

young adulthood:
all regions strongly interconnected
amygdala and mPFC decrease

29
Q

Is there neurogenesis after birth? Where?

A

yes
hippocampus, and subventricular zone

30
Q

How do diets and nutrients affect brain development

A

diet differs at different times of the year, dry and rainy (higher gene methylation is better in rainy)
affect methylation and alter gene expression and therefore brain development

31
Q

How does the learning of second languages relate to distinct cortical regions at different ages of language learning

A

if second language learned during childhood, both overlap in Broca’s area in same brain region
if learned separate, two languages are processed in two areas because less plastic

32
Q

How does the microbiome affect brain development

A

involved in myelination
contributes to formation and integrity of blood-brain barrier

33
Q

How is language representation changed by perinatal ischemia

A

perinatal ischemia = stroke to the brain shortly before/after birth

RH can take over many language functions
dorsal language pathway (involved in processing complex language functions) was absent in LH and instead found in RH

disrupts RH visuospatial functions

Neuro 3610 (19 decks)

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