everyday behaviours that alter structure/ function of brain

• hormones- can alter the structure of the brain, so taking the contraceptive pill could affect the brain. in a study conducted on 90 women, neuroscientists at UCLA found that two key brain regions, the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex, were thinner in women who used oral contraception than in women who did not
• learning can change the brain, e.g. learning another language or playing an instrument is possible through functional changes in the brain: the left inferior parietal cortex is larger in bilingual brains (e.g. Mechelli et al 2004)
• plasticity changes also occur in musicians' brains. Gaser and Schlaug (2003) compared professional musicians (who practice at least 1 hour per day) to amateur musicians and non-musicians. They found that grey matter (cortex) volume was highest in professional musicians, intermediate in amateur musicians, and lowest in non-musicians in several brain areas involved in playing music: motor regions, anterior superior parietal areas and inferior temporal areas