plasticity and functional recovery of the brain after trauma

• what is plasticity?

  describes brains tendency to change and adapt as a result of experience and new learning. involves growth of new connections
• what is functional recovery?

  form of plasticity. following damage through trauma, the brains ability to redistribute or transfer functions usually performed by a damaged area to other undamaged areas.
• what was Maguire et al (2000) research?

  studied brains of Londons taxi drivers and found significantly more volume of grey matter in posterior hippocampus than in matched control group. this part pf brain associated with development of spatial and navigational skills in humans. London cabbies had to take a complex tests assessing their recall pf streets and routes. found that this learning process altered structure drivers brains. found the longer the drivers been in the job the more pronounced the structural difference.
• limitation of plasticity?

  p- may have negative behavioural consequences.

  e- evidence has shown that the brains adaptation to prolonged drug use leads r poorer cognitive functioning in later life and increases risk of dementia. and 60-80% of amputees develop phantom limb syndrome which is continued experience of sensations in missing limb as if it was still there.

  l- suggest that the brains ability to adapt to damage isn't always beneficial.
• strength if plasticity?

  p- brain plasticity may be a life long ability.

  e- bezzola et al demonstrated how 40 hours of golf training produced changes in neural representations of movement in participant aged 40-60. using fMRI researchers observed reduced motor cortex activity in novice golfers compared to control group, suggesting more efficient neural representations after training.

  l- so neural plasticity can continue throughout lifespan.
• strength of functional recovery research?

  p- real world application

  e- understanding processes involved in plasticity contributed to neurorehabilitation. simply understanding axonal growth is possible encourages new therapies to be tried. constraint induced movement therapy used with stroke patients.

  l- shows that research into functional recovery is useful as helps medical professionals know when interventions need to be made.