Plasticity and Functional Recovery

Question 1

What is plasticity?

Answer 1

Ability of the brain to change and adapt its structures and processes as a 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 brain damage or trauma.

Question 3

What period of time do we have a rapid growth of synaptic connections?

Answer 3

Infancy

Question 4

What do we call it when the brain severs connections that are not used after the explosion of learning in infancy?

Answer 4

Synaptic pruning.

Question 5

The growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways.

Answer 5

Axonal Sprouting.

Question 6

What is the purpose of blood vessel reformation?

Answer 6

Facilitates the growth of new neural pathways

Question 7

This occurs when axons that do a similar job become aroused to a higher level to compensate for the ones that are lost. However, it can have the negative consequence of oversensitivity to messages such as pain.

Answer 7

Denervation supersensitivity

Question 8

Give an example of recruitment of homologous areas?’

Answer 8

An example would be if Broca’s area was damaged on the left side of the brain, the right-sided equivalent would carry out its functions. After a period of time, functionality may then shift back to the left side

Question 9

What was the findings of Maguires (2000) Taxi Driver study?

Answer 9

Found significantly more volume of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus than in a matched control group.