Neuroplasticity I Flashcards
Does your brain keep changing after the critical growth stages of childhood?
The brain you were born with is modified by your experiences throughout your life. Your brain is changing all the time. Genes lay out potential and vulnerabilities, but they do not dictate your thoughts, your feelings, or your behaviour.
What is neuroplasticity?
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to learn and adapt. In essence, neuroplasticity is any change in neuronal form or function. This includes the ability of the brain to form new connections and pathways and change how its circuits are wired.
How do human movements, thoughts and feelings link to neuroplasticity?
Every human movement, thought, or feeling is a precisely timed electric signal travelling through a chain of neurons—a circuit of nerve fibres. The more we fire a particular circuit, the more the circuit is optimised, and the stronger, faster, and more fluent our movements and thoughts become. Changes in these connections which is what we refer to as plasticity and are essential for learning.
What is a synapse?
Each neuron has a mechanism for receiving information from other neurons, and a separate mechanism for sending information to other neurons in return. Neurons communicate with one another by sending chemical messengers called neurotransmitters across a gap called a synapse. There are many different shapes and sizes of synapses, and the shape and size of a synapse change as you learn something new.
What is “long-term potentiation”?
At the very local level, the synapses can be strengthened and weakened. The strengthening
process is called long-term potentiation and occurs at synapses that are receiving large amounts of activity (Martin, Grimwood, & Morris, 2000). During long-term potentiation, connections between neurons are strengthened, making them more likely to fire together. Long-term potentiation results in a larger signal being passed on to the next neuron.
What is the difference between synaptic plasticity and synaptogenesis?
In the last twenty years, there has been an overwhelming amount of evidence that the synapses are not hardwired but are changing all the time. This is what is meant by synaptic plasticity, or neuroplasticity. The synapses between the neurons are plastic.
Synaptogenesis, the formation of new synapses, happens continuously. When we learn something new, we see an increase in the formation of new synapses in the brain regions directly involved in the task (Kleim et al., 2002). This increased number of synapses signifies an increase in connections between the neurons important for the execution of the newly
learnt task. (Bruel-Jungerman, Davis, & Laroche, 2007).
What is myelin?
Glial cells are support cells and help neuron to perform at their best. One type of glial cell support neuron performance by coating the nerve fibres. This coating is called myelin.
Myelin wraps around the nerve fibre, preventing electrical impulses from leaking out. For a long time, researchers focused their attention on neurons and synapses rather than on their seemingly inert insulation. But what we now know is that myelin is vitally important in regulating the speed of neural transmissions.
How does neuroplasticity happen?
Synapses strengthen when there is a high level of traffic across them.
Myelin production
increases when there is a high level of electrical activity passing through a nerve fibre.
This means that synapses strengthen, and myelination occurs when you activate the circuits.
This means that synapses strengthen, and myelination occurs when you do the new thing – when you think in a new way, practice a new skill, start a new habit.
Name two ways in which you can support neuroplasticity.
- Support your brain health. You can plant the SEEDS of good brain health by sleeping, exercising, learning, and eating well. This will help the synapses and myelination strengthen, and support the necessary neurotransmitters, hormones, and growth factors.
- You can practice well. Practice makes permanent, but not all practice is equally good. In the next module, we will consider deliberate practice and how it influences neuroplasticity.
What are the SEEDS that support neuroplasticity? What are the five ways in which you can support your brain health?
Sleep, Exercise, Education, Diet, Stress.
Sleep enough, exercise enough, give your brain frequent cognitive challenges, eat well, and limit the amount of stress you experience.
