Plasticity and functional recovery

• What does brain plasticity mean?

  The brain can change and adapt over time
• What happens to synaptic connections in infancy?

  The number of synaptic connections increases
• What is synaptic pruning?

  Deletion of rarely used connections
• What was originally thought about brain changes in adulthood?

  Changes were restricted to childhood
• What does research suggest about neural connections at any age?

  They can change or form due to learning
• What does plasticity refer to in the brain?

  Ability to change physically and functionally
• What is an example of short-term plasticity?

  The rubber hand illusion
• What was the aim of Maguire et al. (2000)?

  To examine structural changes in taxi drivers' brains
• What method did Maguire et al. (2000) use?

  Structural MRI scans
• Who were the subjects in Maguire et al. (2000)?

  London taxi drivers with over 1.5 years experience
• What significant finding was reported in Maguire et al. (2000)?

  More grey matter in the posterior hippocampus
• What is the role of the posterior hippocampus?

  Associated with spatial and navigational skills
• What did Draganski et al. (2006) study?

  Brain changes in medical students before and after exams
• What structural changes were observed in Draganski et al. (2006)?

  Changes in the posterior hippocampus and parietal cortex
• What did Mechelli et al. (2004) find about bilingual individuals?

  Larger parietal cortex compared to monolinguals
• What happens to the brain after physical injury or trauma?

  Unaffected areas adapt to compensate for damage
• What is functional recovery in the brain?

  Adaptation of healthy areas to take over functions
• How does the brain reorganize itself during recovery?

  By forming new synaptic connections near damage

  
• What is axonal sprouting?

  Growth of new nerve endings connecting undamaged cells

  
• What is neural regeneration?

  Undamaged axons grow new nerve endings

  
• What is neural reorganization?

  Adjacent areas take over functions of damaged areas

  
• What is neural unmasking?

  Activation of dormant synapses due to damage
• What happens when homologous areas are recruited?

  Similar areas on the opposite side take over tasks
• What is the practical application of understanding plasticity?

  Contributes to neurorehabilitation techniques
• What is spontaneous recovery?

  Natural recovery that slows after a few weeks
• What techniques may be used in neurorehabilitation?

  Movement therapy and electrical stimulation
• What is an example of negative plasticity?

  Phantom limb syndrome
• What did Hubel & Wiesel (1963) study?

  Effects of sewing one eye shut in kittens
• What was found in Hubel & Wiesel's study?

  Visual cortex processed information from the open eye