AO3

• Support - Contributes to field of neurorehabilitation 

  movement therapy, electrical stimulation – counters deficits to cognitive functioning 

  • Explain: shows process of recovery requires further intervention to be successful in brain’s capacity to fix itself 
  • Link: practical application of plasticity and recovery research 
• Supporting evidence for neuroplasticity - animal studies 

  Hubel & Wiesel 1963 – analyse brain’s cortical responses to one kitten eye shut 

  • Explain: visual cortex area of the kitten’s shut eye wasn’t inactive but continued to process the info from the kitten’s open eye 
  • Link: though animal brain operates differently to humans (our brains more complex), evidence can be used to confirm that it applies to animals too therefore demonstrates how loss of function leads to compensatory activity in the brain – evidence of neural plasticity 
• Limitation - Negative plasticity has negative consequences 

  Medina 2007; Ramachandran and Hirstein 1998

  • Explain: maladaptive suggests that it hinders functional and mechanical ability therefore, it compensates and performs actions at a lower standard; and reorganisation of the somatosensory cortex causes pain 
  • Link: suggests structural and physical processes not always beneficial 
• Medina 2007


  neural plasticity can have maladaptive behavioural consequences such as poorer cognitive functioning and increased risk of dementia.
• Ramachandran & Hirstein 1998


  60-80% suffer from phantom limb syndrome due to amputations - painful sensations caused by cortical reorganisation of somatosensory cortex
• Support - Educational attainment influences brain’s adaptation functionality post-trauma 


  Schneider 2014 – increased cognitive reserve increases the likelihood of making a disability-free recovery (DFR) after trauma  

  • Explain: time spent in education indicates cognitive reserve; Ps in education for a longer time may have developed the ability to form neuronal connections at a high rate, and therefore experience high levels of functional recovery, demonstrating positive plasticity therefore cognitive reserve may increase rate of functional recovery