Plasticity and Functional recovery of the Brain Flashcards
Plasticity
Describes the brain’s tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and new learning.
Gopnik et al
During infancy the brain experiences a rapid growth in the number of synaptic connections it has.
Synaptic pruning
rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used connections are strengthened.
Research into plasticity
Maguire et al studied brains of London taxi drivers and found significant amount of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus than a control group. This part of the brain is associated with the development of spatial and navigational skills. Positive correlation with how long they were taxi drivers and the amount of grey matter found in their hippocampus
Other studies into plasticity (Draganski)
Draganski imaged the brains of medical students three month before their exams and after it. Learning induced changes in the hippocampus and parietal cortex as a result of the exam.
Other studies into plasticity (Mechelli et al)
Found larger parietal cortex in the brains of people who were bilingual compared to those who were monolingual
Functional recovery of the brain
Functional recovery is when unaffected areas if the brain are often able to adapt and compensate for those areas that are damaged.
Healthy brain areas take over the function of the areas which were damaged. this process occurs quickly after trauma (spontaneous recovery)
what happens in the brain during recovery
Brain rewires and reorganises itself by forming new synaptic connections close to the damaged area. These areas are then activated to enable functioning to continue
What structural changes occur when the brain is recovering
Axonal sprouting
Reformation of blood vessels
Recruitment of homologous areas on the opposite side of the brain to perform specific tasks.
Axonal sprouting
Growth of new nerve endings which connect with other damaged nerve cells to form a new neural pathway.
