Plasticity [FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY] Flashcards
What is plasticity?
The brains ability to change and adapt; it is able to redistribute function when damaged
What is functional recovery?
When the brain redistributes function from damaged areas to undamaged areas
What is the process of synaptic pruning?
As we age, rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used ones are strengthened
How does the brain’s plasticity change throughout life?
In infancy, it experiences a rapid growth in the number of synaptic connections (learning)
As we age synaptic pruning takes place
NEURAL CONNECTIONS CAN BE MADE AT ANY TIME
In what way did Maguire discover plasticity could be applied to real life learning?
He studied the brains of London taxi drivers and found that their amount of grey matter (associated with spatial and navigational skills) had been altered due to ‘The Knowledge’ test they had to take
What did Draganski find that was similar to Maguire?
Imaged the brains of medical students before and after their exams, found learning induced changes to the hippocampus
How did Mechelli find plasticity correlates to learning/education?
Bilingual people had a larger parietal cortex to those who were monolingual
How does functional recovery show the extent of plasticity?
Spontaneous recovery is an example of neural plasticity
What are the 2 stages of functional recovery in the brain?
REWIRING
STRUCTURAL CHANGES
What 2 things does the brain do when rewiring itself after trauma?
Forms new synaptic connections close to the damaged area
Secondary neural pathways not typically used for certain functions are activated
What 3 structural changes might the brain make in functional recovery?
AXONAL SPROUTING - new nerve endings are grown for new neuronal pathways
REFORMATION OF BLOOD VESSELS
recruitment of HOMOLOGOUS AREAS to perform specific tasks
How has research into plasticity been practically applied in a beneficial manner?
Understanding neural plasticity has developed neuro-rehabilitation to help improve recovery from brain trauma
What is the negative consequence of plasticity?
It can be maladaptive - for example drug abuse can rewire cognitive function
Why might research into functional recovery lack generalisability?
Research found that plasticity tends to reduce with age
BUT Bezzola demonstrated how plasticity can continue into old age, as he altered the neural pathways of old people using golf
= individual differences apply to plasticity
How is research into plasticity also criticised for not being holistic?
It can be affected by outside factors such as educational attainment, therefore context must be taken into account
