Functional Recovery

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Created by
Sarah

Cards (6)

  • Functional Recovery is an example of plasticity where healthy brain areas take over functions of areas damaged, destroyed or missing. Neuroscientists suggest this process occurs quickly after trauma (spontaneous recovery) and then slows down - at which point the person may require rehabilitative therapy.
  • The brain is able to rewire and reorganise itself by forming new synaptic connections close to the area of damage. Secondary neural pathways that wouldn’t typically be used to carry out certain functions are activated or ‘unmasked’ to enable functioning to continue.
  • Structural Changes
    • axonal sprouting - growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged cells to form new neural pathways
    • denaturation supersensitivity - axons that do a similar job become aroused to a higher level to compensate for the ones that are lost
    • recruitment of homologous areas - the opposite side of the brain takes over specific tasks eg. language production
  • +understanding plasticity has led to neurorehabilitation. Understanding axonal growth encourages new therapies. Constraint induced movement therapy involves massed practice with an affected arm while the unaffected arm is restrained. This shows that research into functional recovery helps medical professionals know when interventions can be made.
  • -Schneider looked at the time brain injury patients had spent in education and their chances of a disability-free recovery. 40% of patients who achieved DFR had more than 16 years education compared to 10% of patients who had less than 12 years education. This suggests that cognitive reserve is a crucial factor in determining how well the brain adapts after trauma.
  • +-Banerjee showed that recovery from stroke using stem cells / treatment was more effective in comparison to normal recovery. However the study was based on 5 participants and there was no control group, this is typical in research on functional recovery. This research lacks validity but waiting for larger samples may prevent the development of valuable treatment.