Neuroplasticity

Question 1

Define neuroplasticity

Answer 1

the ability of the brain to change structurally and functionally over time due to environmental factors or genetic inputs.

Question 2

Study

Answer 2

Maguire et al (2000) - posterior vs anterior hippocampus for spatial memory

Question 3

Aim

Answer 3

to investigate the growth of hippocampus in London taxi drivers in relation to their navigation experience.

Question 4

Procedure

Answer 4

• the participants were 16 right-handed male licensed taxi drivers.
• the taxi drivers were compared with the MRI scans of 50 right-handed males who did not drive taxis.
• the controls were taken from an MRI database.
• the sample included a range of ages
• the data from the MRI was measured using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and pixel counting.
• VBM: used to measure the density of grey matter in the brain.
• Pixel counting is used to calculate the area of the hippocampus.

Question 5

Design of the study

Answer 5

• the study is correlational in nature (IV is not manipulated by the researcher).
• it is a single-blind study (the researcher did not know whether she was looking at the scan of a taxi driver or a control.

Question 6

Results

Answer 6

• pixel counting revealed an increased brain matter volume in the posterior hippocampi of taxi drivers compared to the control group.
• VBM showed the volume of the right posterior hippocampi correlated with the amount of time spent as a taxi driver.
• the “shift” of brain matter is related to taxi drivers’ experiences as a result of neuroplasticity.

Question 7

Link to localization

Answer 7

• Posterior hippocampus: previously learned spatial information is used
• Anterior hippocampus: encoding of new environmental layouts.

Question 8

Evaluation

Answer 8

• lacks certainty: no cause-and-effect relationship.
• single-control is used: no researcher bias.
• the results are hard to generalise: only males participants are used.
• ethics: informed consent + use of data.