Plasticity & functional recovery of the brain

• Plasticity of the brain:

  • The brain's ability to modify its' own structure & function as a result of experience
  • The brain adapts by developing new nerve pathways & pruning weak ones
  • Playing video games: group that trained on super mario for two months showed an increase in grey matter in brain areas involved in spatial navigation, strategic planning, working memory & motor performance
  • Meditation: tibetan monks showed a much greater increase in gamma waves (which coordinate neuron activity) whilst meditating than the control group
• Plasticity of the brain AO3:

  • ✅ Research support from animal studies
  • ✅ Research support from human studies
• Plasticity of the brain AO3:

  • ✅ Research support from animal studies - increase in number of neurons in rats in complex environments compared to rats in labs ( because of experience )
  • ✅ Research support from human studies - london taxi drivers had increased hippocampi volume as a result of increased experience of spatial navigation
• Functional recovery of the brain:

  • The recovery of abilities & mental processes have been compromised as a result of brain injury or disease
  • Neuronal unmasking - dormant synapses can 'unmask' if surrounding area becomes damaged
  • Stem cells - may directly replace dead brain cells or secrete growth factors that rescue dying cells
• Functional recovery of the brain AO3:

  • ✅ Real life applications - therapies which promote remapping ( constraint induced movement therapy ) of the brain & stimulate neural activity
  • ❌ Educational factors - meta-analysis found that pts with a college education are 7x more likely to be disability-free one year after a brain injury
  • ❌ Negative outcomes - reorganisation can lead to phantom limb syndroms or unwanted movements due to abnormal neural connections
• Functional recovery of the brain AO3:

  • ✅ Real life applications
  • ❌ Educational factors
  • ❌ Negative outcomes