Neuroplasticity Flashcards
1
Q
Define neuroplasticity
A
the ability of the brain to change structurally and functionally over time due to environmental factors or genetic inputs.
2
Q
Study
A
Maguire et al (2000) - posterior vs anterior hippocampus for spatial memory
3
Q
Aim
A
to investigate the growth of hippocampus in London taxi drivers in relation to their navigation experience.
4
Q
Procedure
A
- 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.
5
Q
Design of the study
A
- 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.
6
Q
Results
A
- 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.
7
Q
Link to localization
A
- Posterior hippocampus: previously learned spatial information is used
- Anterior hippocampus: encoding of new environmental layouts.
8
Q
Evaluation
A
- 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.