Plasticity and Functional Recovery

Question 1

what is (neural) plasticity?

Answer 1

the ability of the brain to change and adapt its structures and processes as the result of experience and new learning

Question 2

what is functional recovery?

Answer 2

the way that certain abilities of the brain may be moved or redistributed rather than lost following damage or trauma to the brain

Question 3

how many synaptic connections are there in infancy?

Answer 3

peaks at approximately 15,000 at 2-3 years old (twice as many as in the adult brain)

Question 4

what is synaptic pruning?

Answer 4

when rarely used synaptic connections are deleted as we age, and frequently used connections are strengthened

Question 5

can changes to the brain occur at any time in life?

Answer 5

yes, existing neural connections can change, or new ones formed as a result of new learning and experience

not restricted to infancy

Question 6

plasticity: what did Eleanor Maguire et al (2000) study and find?

Answer 6

the brains of London taxi drivers

found significantly more volume of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus than in a matched control group. the result of new learning (taking the knowledge test of london streets) altered their brain structure

the longer they had been in the job, the more pronounced the structural correlation (positive correlation)

Question 7

plasticity: what did Dranganski et al (2006) study and find?

Answer 7

imaged the brains of medical students 3 months before and after their final exams

learning-induced changes were seen to have occurred in the posterior hippocampus and the parietal cortex

Question 8

what is the posterior hippocampus associated with?

Answer 8

the development of spatial and navigational skills

Question 9

plasticity: what did Mechelli et al (2004) study and find?

Answer 9

found a larger parietal cortex in the brains of people who were bilingual compared to a matched monolingual control group

Question 10

what is functional recovery?

Answer 10

when unaffected areas of the brain can adapt and compensate for damaged areas of the brain and the function they perform

Question 11

what is an example of neural plasticity?

Answer 11

functional recovery

Question 12

what is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 12

when function recovery takes place quickly after trauma and then slow down over several weeks or months, at which point someone may require rehabilitative therapy

Question 13

what happens to the brain during recovery?

Answer 13

new synaptic connections are formed close to the area of damage

secondary neural pathways that would not typically be used to carry out certain functions are activated to enable functioning to continue the same way as before

Question 14

what structural changes occur in the brain during recovery?

Answer 14

axonal sprouting

reformation of blood vessels

recruitment of homologous areas on the opposite side the of the brain to perform specific tasks

Question 15

what is axonal sprouting?

Answer 15

the growth of new nerve endings which connect with other damaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways

Question 16

what was danelli et al (2013)’s study?

Answer 16

patient EB

had majority of his left hemisphere removed at age 2 1/2 due to a tumour

lost all linguistic ability and had intensive therapy and started to improve at age 5

by age 8 no issues with language

when tested again at 17 it was found the right hemisphere compensated for the loss

still showed some grammatical issues and slower at naming objects in pictures

Question 17

what are the strengths of research into plasticity?

Answer 17

practical applications - use of therapy

Question 18

what are the weaknesses of research into plasticity?

Answer 18

can be maladaptive - prolonged drug use has been shown to reduce recovery

functional recovery reduces with age

unethical animal studies - Hubel and Weisel (1963) sewed one eye of kittens shut

concept of cognitive reserve - Schneider et al (2014)

Question 19

what was Hubel and Weisel (1963)’s reaearch?

Answer 19

sewed one eye of a kitten shut and analysed the brains cortical responses

found the area of the visual cortex associated with the shut eye was not idle but continued to process information from the open eye

Question 20

what was Schneider et al (2014)’s research?

Answer 20

discovered the more time brain injury patients had spent in education, the greater their chance of a DFR

2/5 of patients studied who achieved DFR had more than 16 years education, compared with 10% who had less than 12 years