Plasticity & Functional Recovery Of The Brain After Trauma Flashcards
What is plasticity?
The ability for the brain to adapt/change in response to experiences.
What is formed when new information is taken in?
Neural pathway.
How can neural pathways be strengthened?
Synaptic pruning (e.g. repetition & consolidation).
Unlike plasticity, localisation and lateralisation are _________.
Fixed.
What do neural pathways form?
A memory tract.
The less one uses a neural pathway, the ________ it gets, until it eventually gets ________.
Weaker, deleted.
The brain is in a continuous state of ________ as we learn and experience.
Change.
What is functional recovery?
The transfer of functions from a damaged area of the brain to undamaged areas after trauma (e.g. a stroke).
How does functional recovery occur?
-Neuronal unmasking.
-Axonal sprouting.
-Recruitment of homologous (similar) areas.
How does neuronal unmasking occur?
Dormant (asleep) neurones open connections to compensate for a nearby damaged area of the brain. They receive higher input due to damage elsewhere, opening new pathways in surrounding areas.
How does axonal sprouting occur?
New nerve endings grow and connect with undamaged areas. New blood vessels and pathways are created around the damaged areas.
How does recruitment of homologous areas occur?
Similar areas on the opposite hemisphere are recruited to perform specific tasks (e.g. if Broca’s area was damaged, then an area on the right hemisphere might take over).
What case studies supports plasticity?
-Maguire (2000) scanned the brains of 16 London ‘black taxi’ drivers [who are to remember the streets of London].
The drivers showed a particularly large posterior hippocampus. It was the largest for drivers with 40 years experience.
-Danelli (2013) investigated EB, who had most of his left hemisphere removed at 2 1/2 years old.
With intensive therapy, EB’s right hemisphere took over the left hemisphere’s functions (e.g. language, speech) due to EB’s maximal plasticity, as he was young.
What three factors determine the speed of functional recovery?
-Age (younger = quicker).
-Gender, (women = quicker).
-Education (higher = quicker).
How does age determine the speed of functional recovery?
Hart (2014) found that functional recovery is slower as age increases, but is also influenced by the severity of the impairment caused by injury.
