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Umas ALevel Psychology
Biopsychology
Plasticity and functional recovery
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Created by
Uma Zecevic
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Cards (29)
What does brain plasticity mean?
The brain can
change
and adapt over time
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What happens to synaptic connections in infancy?
The number of synaptic connections
increases
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What is synaptic pruning?
Deletion of
rarely used
connections
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What was originally thought about brain changes in adulthood?
Changes were restricted to
childhood
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What does research suggest about neural connections at any age?
They can change or form due to
learning
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What does plasticity refer to in the brain?
Ability to change
physically
and functionally
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What is an example of short-term plasticity?
The
rubber hand illusion
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What was the aim of Maguire et al. (2000)?
To examine
structural
changes in
taxi drivers'
brains
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What method did Maguire et al. (2000) use?
Structural MRI scans
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Who were the subjects in Maguire et al. (2000)?
London taxi drivers
with over
1.5
years experience
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What significant finding was reported in Maguire et al. (2000)?
More
grey matter
in the
posterior hippocampus
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What is the role of the posterior hippocampus?
Associated with
spatial
and navigational skills
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What did Draganski et al. (2006) study?
Brain changes
in medical students before and after exams
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What structural changes were observed in Draganski et al. (2006)?
Changes in the
posterior hippocampus
and
parietal cortex
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What did Mechelli et al. (2004) find about bilingual individuals?
Larger
parietal cortex
compared to
monolinguals
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What happens to the brain after physical injury or trauma?
Unaffected
areas adapt to compensate for damage
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What is functional recovery in the brain?
Adaptation of healthy areas to take over
functions
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How does the brain reorganize itself during recovery?
By forming new
synaptic connections
near damage
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What is axonal sprouting?
Growth of new
nerve endings
connecting
undamaged cells
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What is neural regeneration?
Undamaged
axons
grow new
nerve endings
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What is neural reorganization?
Adjacent areas take over functions of
damaged
areas
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What is neural unmasking?
Activation of dormant
synapses
due to damage
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What happens when homologous areas are recruited?
Similar areas on the
opposite
side take over tasks
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What is the practical application of understanding plasticity?
Contributes to
neurorehabilitation
techniques
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What is spontaneous recovery?
Natural recovery that slows after a few
weeks
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What techniques may be used in neurorehabilitation?
Movement therapy and
electrical stimulation
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What is an example of negative plasticity?
Phantom limb syndrome
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What did Hubel & Wiesel (1963) study?
Effects of
sewing
one
eye
shut
in
kittens
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What was found in Hubel & Wiesel's study?
Visual cortex
processed information from the
open eye
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