Plasticity and functional recovery Flashcards
What is plasticity also referred to as?
Neuroplasticity or cortical remapping
When does brain plasticity happen?
Brain plasticity happens continuously throughout an individual’s lifetime
What is a critical period for the brain?
There are ‘critical periods’ during which the brain is particularly sensitive to certain experiences (e.g. language acquisition, sensory development) - learning and adaptation occur more quickly during this time
What does Hebb’s theory of neuronal growth state?
That new neural connections are created in our brains as we learn
What are collections or groups of neurons that fire together called?
Cell assemblies
What does a repeated activation of a cell assembly do?
Strengthens connections between the cells forming a neural pathway.
If we repeatedly use a connection, there is repeated excitation - this stimulates the connection and makes the axon terminal grow.
This growth improves the efficiency of transmission.
What is synaptic pruning?
natural process that occurs in the brain between early childhood and adulthood. During this process, the brain eliminates rarely used connections
Why is synaptic pruning an important process?
It makes room for new connections to be made later
What did Maguire et al study?
The brains of London taxi drivers
What test must London taxi drivers take?
A complex test called ‘The Knowledge’, which assesses their recall of the city streets and possible routes
What were the findings from Maguire et al study?
It appears that this spatial learning from the test alters the structure of the taxi drivers’ brain
Found significantly more volume of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus than in a matched control group
What is the posterior hippocampus?
This part of the brain is associated with the development of spatial and navigational skills in humans and other animals
What is grey matter?
Contains cell bodies and dendrites
What positive correlation was found in Maguire’s study?
They found a positive correlation between time spent as a taxi driver and the volume of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus.
More time = more volume of grey matter
What did Kuhn study?
Studied the brains of participants playing 30 minutes of video games per day for 2 months
What were the findings from Kuhn’s study?
Increase in grey matter in the video game group - evidence to support plasticity in adulthood
No increase in grey matter in the control group
What do these studies show about brain plasticity?
These studies show that brain plasticity is a life-long ability. The knowledge that our brain is constantly adapting to our environment can be used to promote healthy ageing
What do scientists believe leads to decline in function seen in the elderly population?
Changes in plasticity and the loss of neurons
In older adults, what can happen to neural connections?
Neural connections may become less flexible. This can lead to slower cognitive processes, reduces memory formation, and difficulties in learning new things
What does research suggest a rich stimulating environment can do?
Can enhance and maintain brain plasticity and reduce the onset of dementia
