Plasticity and Functional Recovery (Biopsychology) Flashcards
Plasticity
The brain adapts in both its function and structure as a result of a change in the environment
4 Reasons for Plasticity
- Learning new skills
- Result of developmental changes
- Response to direct trauma to the brain
- Response to indirect effects of damage such as brain swelling or bleeding
Functional Recovery
Where the functions that were performed by areas of the brain that are lost or damaged are performed by undamaged parts of the brain
Denervation Super Sensitivity
To compensate for the loss of axons in a pathway the remaining axons become more sensitive (more likely to fire)
Synaptic Pruning
Synapses that are used frequently become stronger over time
However unused synaptic connections are lost making the brain a more efficient communication system
Axonal Sprouting and neural regeneration
When existing neurons grow new axons to connect to adjacent neurons
NR- The growth of new neuronal cells
Recruitment of homologous areas
recruitment of homologous areas on the opposite hemisphere to do specific tasks,
e.g. if Broca’s area was damaged then an area on the right might take over
What 3 factors affect the functional recovery of the brain?
- Age - children have the best ability to recover
- Gender - women more able to recover
- Access to rehabilitive therapy - focused effort results in improvement
Constraint Induced therapy
Stops patients from using coping strategies (using undamaged limbs for tasks)
Positive Evaluation of Brain Plasticity
Maguire 2000 studied the brains of London taxi drivers using MRI
Found significantly more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus than in the matched control group
The longer they had been taxi drivers, the greater the structural difference
Suggests the brain is able to reconfigure itself to better adapt to pyschological demands
(Evaluations of plasticity and functional recovery) Negative Plasticity
the brain’s ability to rewire itself can have maladaptive behavioural consequences
prolonged drug use has been shown to result in poorer cognitive function as well as increased risk of dementia
60-80% of amputees have been known to develop phantom limb syndrome- the experience of sensations in the missing limb
these sensations are unpleasant, painful and are thought to be due to cortical reorganisation in the somatosensory cortex (Ramachandran and Hirstein 1998)
(Evaluations of plasticity and functional recovery) The concept of Cognitive Reserve
Schneider et al 2014
Discovered that the more time brain injury patients had spent in education (which was taken as their cognitive reserve), the greater their chances of disability free recovery (DFR)
Suggest a person’s educational attainment may influence how well the brain adapts after injury
