functional recovery of the brain

• P: Tajiri provided evidence for the role of stem cells in recovery from brain injury

  E: Randomly assigned rats with traumatic brain injury to one of two groups. one group received transplants of stem cells into the region of the brain affected by traumatic injury. the control group received a solution infused into the brain containing no stem cells. the brains of stem cell rats showed clear development of neuron like cells in the area of injury.
• link for animal studies

  L: this development of new neuronal cells was not evident in the control group, supporting the important role played by stem cells in recovery from brain injury.
• P: it is commonly accepted view that functional plasticity reduces with age

  E: only option following traumatic brain injury beyond childhood is to develop compensatory behavioural strategies to work around the deficit. studies have suggested that even abilities commonly thought to be fixed in childhood can still be modified in adults with intense retraining
• link for age differences

  L: despite these indications of adult plasticity, elbert concluded that the capacity for neural reorganisation is much greater in children than in adults, as demonstrated by the extended practice that adults require in order to produce changes