Functional Recovery and Plasticity

Question 1

what is plasticity

Answer 1

the brains tendency to change and adapt as a result of new experiences

Question 2

what is functional recovery

Answer 2

brains ability to redistribute the functions of the damaged cortexes to undamaged cortexes to allow for functioning

Question 3

what is synaptic pruning

Answer 3

the deletion of rarely used synaptic connections and the strengthening of current ones

Question 4

what was Maguires study with taxi drivers for plasticity

Answer 4

they found more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus of taxi drivers compared to a matched pair group

Question 5

why did taxi drivers have more grey matter compared to the matched pair group

Answer 5

they have to take a knowledge test so their brains had plasticity to grow for knowledge

Question 6

outline Draganskis research in medical students

Answer 6

tested medical students 3 months before and after the exams
- learning induced changes were seen in the posterior hippocampus

Question 7

how does the brain recover

Answer 7

forms new synaptic connections and rewires itself and secondary neural pathways are activated to function