Lecture 27 Flashcards
What are the three key steps in the development of the brain?
The three key steps in brain development are cell division (proliferation), cell migration, and cell differentiation.
What is the significance of cell differentiation in brain development?
Cell differentiation refers to the process by which newly migrated cells take on the characteristics of neurons or glial cells, contributing to the formation of the brain’s structure.
How does the plasticity of the brain change as we age?
Brain plasticity declines as we age, although some degree of plasticity remains, particularly for learning.
What drives the fine-tuning of the brain’s wiring after birth?
Sensory experience drives the fine-tuning of brain wiring after birth, allowing for more precise connections between neurons.
How does sensory experience affect the neural projections from the two eyes?
Sensory experience results in reduced overlap in neural projections from the two eyes, enhancing the specificity of visual processing.
What happens to the inputs from the two eyes in the primary visual cortex over the course of early postnatal development?
Over time, the inputs from the two eyes segregate into ocular dominance columns in the primary visual cortex, becoming more organized.
What happens when visual input is surgically rewired to the auditory system in newborn ferrets?
Rewiring visual input to the auditory system results in neurons in the auditory cortex behaving like visual neurons in response to visual stimuli.
What percentage of participants with no residual vision reported experiencing phosphenes when visual cortex was stimulated?
Only 20% of participants with no residual vision reported experiencing phosphenes when visual cortex was stimulated.
What is the significance of the differences in the ability to elicit phosphenes in participants with different levels of visual impairment?
The differences suggest that the effect of activating visual cortex via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is altered in people with severe visual impairment, especially in those without previous visual experience.
Which brain structure is activated during mental imagery in both sighted and congenitally blind participants?
The primary visual cortex is activated during mental imagery in both sighted and congenitally blind participants.
How does training monkeys to discriminate specific tone frequencies affect the cortical regions in which those frequencies are represented?
Training monkeys to discriminate specific tone frequencies leads to an enlargement of the cortical regions representing the trained frequencies.
How does training with the non-dominant hand affect the brain’s primary motor cortex?
Training with the non-dominant hand results in greater changes in blood flow in the contralateral primary motor cortex for the practiced sequences, indicating plasticity.
What is the consequence of brain atrophy associated with aging?
Brain atrophy associated with aging contributes to a decline in memory function, particularly linked to reductions in the size of the hippocampus.
How can engagement in aerobic exercise affect the size of the hippocampus in older adults?
Engagement in aerobic exercise can increase the size of the hippocampus in older adults, potentially improving memory function.
Besides memory, what other cognitive function can aerobic exercise improve in older adults?
Aerobic exercise can also improve the accuracy of spatial memory in older adults.
