plasticity and functional recovery after trauma Flashcards
what is ‘brain plasticity’?
-brains ability to modify it’s own structure and function as a result of experience
what is ‘functional recovery’
-recovery of abilities and mental processes that have been compromised as a result of brain injury
what is ‘synaptic printing’?
- in infancy the brain experiences a rapid growth in the number of synaptic connections it has, peaking around 15,000 at 2/3
- as we age, rarely used connections are deleted
evaluate research into plasticity?
STRENGTH
-Eleanor Maguire studied the brain of London taxi drivers using MRI
-found more volume of grey matter in hippocampus than control group
-London cabbies must take a test which assess their recall of city streets
-the longer cabbies had been in the job, the larger the grey matter
+control group shows difference
+studies real life tasks
-cant be sure of brain b4 MRI, more grey area may mean they passed the cabbie test due to better memory
explain what happens in the brain during recovery?
-unaffected areas of brain sometimes able to adapt and compensate for damaged area’s=neural plasticity
-brain forms new synaptic connections close to damaged area
-structural changed occur
1.axonal sprouting: growth of
new nerve endings that
connect with undamaged
nerve cells to create new
neural pathways
-reformation of blood vessels
recruitment of homologous areas: on opposite side of brain to perform specific tasks
evaluate age and plasticity?
STRENGTH
-plasticity reduces with age.
-Bezzola showed how 40 hours of golf training produced changes in neural representation of movement in pp’s aged 40-60
-FMRI showed reduced motor cortex activity in golfers than control group
=neural plasticity occurs throughout life
evaluate negative effects of plasticity?
WEAKNESS
- rewiring of brain can have bad effects
- prolonged drug use=poorer cognitive functioning + increased risk of dementia
- amputees who develop phantom limb syndrome
- consequences due to cortical reorganisation
