Plasticity

Question 1

What is Plasticity mean?

Answer 1

Plasticity of the brain refers to how the brain changes in response to stimulation from the environment. The process of plasticity occurs at the synaptic connections of the brain. Plasticity is necessary for learning to take place.

Question 2

What is Developmental Plasticity?

Answer 2

The development and consolidation of neural pathways in babies, children and adolescents

Question 3

What is Adaptive Plasticity?

Answer 3

The ability of brain to change, adapt and grow throughout life.

Question 4

What are the steps of Developmental Plasticity?

Answer 4

1. Proliferation
2. Migration
3. Circuit formation
4. Synaptic pruning
5. Myelination

Question 5

What is Proliferation?

Answer 5

unborn baby’s cells that will become neurons divide and multiply creating 250,000 new cells a minute.

Question 6

What is Migration?

Answer 6

the newly formed neurons move outward to their specified destination in the brain.

Question 7

What is Circuit Formation?

Answer 7

axons of the neurons branch out to target cells and form synapses with them

Question 8

What is Synaptic Pruning?

Answer 8

the loss of excess neurons and synapses usually formed in infancy and childhood

Question 9

What is Myelination?

Answer 9

the production of the white fatty covering that insulates a neuron’s axon preventing interference between neurons, speeds up neural transmission, and protects the axon.

Question 10

What is the Amygdala?

Answer 10

Responsible for autonomic responses associated with fear, emotional responses, hormonal secretion and processing and consolidation of memory

Question 11

What happens during Adolescence?

Answer 11

During adolescence in humans there is a large amount of development in the following structures in the brain:
1. There is an increase in the number of neurons and synapses in the cerebellum - the part of the brain responsible for balance, muscle tone and performance of motor skills.
2. Teens’ activities are mostly guided by a reactive amygdala – a specific region of the brain that allows for quick reactions owing to emotional changes and less by the frontal cortex, which accounts for reasoning and logical decisions.
3. The corpus callosum thickens and there is an increase in the number of connections (nerve fibres) between the two hemispheres.
4. The frontal lobe of the left hemisphere is the last part of the brain to undergo the process of myelination. The last part of the brain to develop is responsible for higher level problem solving, complex planning, impulse control, risk management and critical thinking.

Question 12

What are the main parts of the brain changed during adolescence?

Answer 12

1. Cerebellum
2. Amygdala
3. Corpus Callosum
4. Frontal Lobe (Left Hemisphere)

Question 13

What is Lifespan Development?

Answer 13

Lifespan development refers to the age-related changes that occur from birth to death.

Question 14

What are the stages of lifespan development?

Answer 14

1. Physical
2. Cognitive
3. Social and Emotional

Question 15

What is cognitive Development?

Answer 15

Changes in thinking, perceiving, remembering and language.

Question 16

What is Physical Development?

Answer 16

Changes in the body.

Question 17

What is emotional and Social Development?

Answer 17

Changes in the ability to perceive, understand and use emotions of ourselves and others as relationships form.

Question 18

What are the parts of Physical Development?

Answer 18

1. Fine Motor Skills
2. Gross Motor Skills

Question 19

What is Fine Motor Skills?

Answer 19

The coordination of small muscles, in movements. Usually involves the synchronization of hands and fingers with the eyes using the precision grip between thumb and fingers.

Question 20

What is Gross Motor Skills?

Answer 20

Large bodily movements made with the arms, legs, feet, or entire body.