plasticity and functional recovery Flashcards
what is plasticity ao1
plastcity refers to the brains apparent ability to change and adapt both physically and functionally.
how many synaptic connections does an age 2-3 year old have
15,000 twice as many as an adult brain
what did Maguire et al study
studied the brains of London taxi drivers and found significantly more volume of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus than in a matched control group.
what is synaptic pruning
as we age, rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used connections are strengthened.
which part of the brain is associated with spatial and navigational skills in humans and other animals
the posterior hippocampus
why do taxi drivers have a larger grey matter in their hippocampus
as a part of their training London cabbies must take a complex test called ‘the knowledge’ which assesses their recall of the city streets and possible routes (incl all hotels, hospitals etc). it appears that this spatial learning alters the structure of the taxi drivers brains.
what did draganski et al (2006) discover
they 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, presumably as a result of studying for exams
what did mechelli et al (2004) discover
found a larger parietal cortex in the brains of people who were bilingual compared to matched monolingual controls.
what is functional recovery of the brain after trauma
following physical injury or trauma such as a stroke, unaffected areas of the brain are often able to adapt and compensate for those areas that are damaged.
what happens to the brain during recovery
the brain is able to rewire and reorganise itself by forming new synaptic connections close the area of damage
what structural changes in the brain are there
- axonal sprouting
- reformation of blood vessels
what is axonal sprouting
axonal sprouting is the growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways
what is the third structural change in the brain
recruitment of homologous areas. this is when a similar area of the brain on the opposite side is used to perform a specific task.
how has there been a practical application of plasticity ao3
understanding the processes involved in plasticity has contributed into the field of neurorehabilitation. following illness or injury spontaneous recovery tends to slow down after a few weeks so physical therapy may be required to maintain improvements in functioning.
what was negative plasticity ao3
the brains ability to rewire itself can sometimes have maladaptive behavioural consequences. Medina et al (2007) found that prolonged use of marijuana resulted in poorer cognitive functioning as well as an increased risk of dementia later in life.
