plasticity + functional recovery

Question 1

brain plasticity

Answer 1

• refers to the brain’s ability to change + adapt as a result of experience
• allows the brain to cope with the indirect effects of brain damage

Question 2

plasticity

Answer 2

• life experience
• video games
• meditation

Question 3

life experience - plasticity

Answer 3

• nerve pathways that are used frequently develop stronger connections
• those that are rarely used eventually die
  = brain is able to adapt
• HOWEVER there is also a decline in cognitive functioning w/ age
• psych taught 60 year olds a new skill, juggling
  = increased grey matter in the visual cortex

Question 4

video games - plasticity

Answer 4

• psych compared a control group to a group who had been given video game training for atleast 30 mins a day/ 2 months
• found that playing video games caused a significant increase in grey matter in:
• visual cortex
• hippocampus
• cerebllum
  = results in new synaptic connections in brain areas involved in navigation, strategic planning etc..

Question 5

meditation - plasticity

Answer 5

• psych compared 8 Tibetan meditation practitioners
• w/ 10 students who had no previous meditation experience
• an EEG picked up greater gamma wave activity in the monks
• even before they started meditating
• gamma waves coordinate neural activity

Question 6

ads of plasticity

Answer 6

• rats
• taxi drivers

Question 7

rats - ads of plasticity

Answer 7

• psych found far more new neurons in the brains of rats in complex environments compared to those in basic cages
• this increase in neurons was most prominent in the hippocampus
  = involved in the forming of new LT memories + ability to navigate

Question 8

taxi drivers - ads of plasticity

Answer 8

• psych measures grey matter in the brains of London taxi drivers using an MRI scan
• the hippocampus in taxi drivers was significantly larger than a control group
• this positively correlated w/ the amount of time they had spent as a taxi driver aka life experience

Question 9

functional recovery

Answer 9

• form of plasticity
• following damage caused by trauma
• brain redistributes or transfers functions usually performed by damaged areas, to other undamaged areas
• neural reorganisation
• neural regeneration
• axon sprouting
• spontaneous recovery

Question 10

ads of functional recovery

Answer 10

• PLS
• kitten

Question 11

PLS - ads of functional recovery

Answer 11

• phantom limb syndrome
• PLS can be used as evidence of neural reorganisation
  = continued experience of an unpleasant + even painful sensation in a missing limb, as if it were still there

Question 12

kitten - ads of functional recovery

Answer 12

• psychs sewed one eye of a kitten shut
• analysed the brain’s cortical response
• found that eye was not idle + continued to process info from the open eye
  = further evidence that brain can reorganise themselves + adapt their functions

Question 13

neural reorganisation - functional recovery

Answer 13

• transfer of functions from damaged areas of the brain to undamaged ones can occur

Question 14

neural regeneration - functional recovery

Answer 14

• new nerve endings grow + connect w/ other undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways

Question 15

axon sprouting - functional recovery

Answer 15

• growth of neurons (axons + dendrites) to compensate for damaged areas
• part of neural regeneration

Question 16

spontaneous recovery - functional recovery

Answer 16

• spontaneous recovery from a brain injury tends to slow down after a number of weeks
• physiotherapy ,ay be required to maintain improvements in functions
• e.g. movement therapy/ electrical stimulation of the brain