Plasticity and functional recovery

• Brain plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change and adapt because of experience.
• Research has demonstrated that the brain continues to create new neural pathways and alter existing ones in response to changing experiences.
• Functional recovery is the transfer of functions from a damaged area of the brain after trauma to an undamaged area.
• Functional recovery can be done by neuronal unmasking where ‘dormant’ synapses, open connections to compensate for a nearby damaged area of the brain.
• Following neuronal unmasking, new connections in the brain can be activated, recovering any damage occurring in specific regions.
• Kuhn et al (2014) found a significant increase in grey matter in regions of the brain responsible for key behaviour such as working memory and motor performance. After participants played video games for 30 minutes a day over a two-month period.
• Kuhn et al (2014) found that video gaming could have caused synaptogenesis because more grey matter developed in those areas.
• Brain plasticity, also known as neuroplasticity, is the brain’s biological, chemical, and physical capacity to reorganise its structure and function.
• Learning and having new experiences causes new neural pathways to strengthen .
• Neural pathways used infrequently become weak and eventually die. This process is called synaptic pruning.
• Functional recovery can be helped by rehabilitation following injury or trauma.
• Maguire et al (2000) demonstrates brain plasticity using London taxi drivers and found an increase in the volume of grey matter in their posterior hippocampus compared to a control group.
• Maguire et al (2000) found more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus of the taxi driver group. This areas is associated with better spatial and navigation skills.
• Maguire et al (2000) also found a positive correlation between the time spent as a taxi driver and the volume of grey matter.
• One limitation of plasticity is there could be negative behavioural consequences as seen in dementia patients.
• Neurogenesis is the process of generating new neurons in the brain, which can contribute to learning and memory.
• Functional plasticity can occur through axonal sprouting, where undamaged axons grow new nerve endings to reconnect the neurons, whose links were severed through damage.
• Axonal sprouting is the growth of new nerve endings which connect to damaged ones to form new pathways.
• Age has been associated with the ability to show brain plasticity, younger brains appear to show greater responses to treatment and rehabilitation.
• Experience expectant plasticity is that changes in the brain only take place during infancy and childhood.
• Experience dependent plasticity is that the brain creates new neural pathways and alters existing ones as a result of learning and life experiences.
• Synaptogenesis is where new synapses are formed.
• Neural reorganisation is when the brain transfers functions from the damaged area to undamaged sections of the brain.
• For example Danelli (2013) investigated a case of an italian boy EB who has most of his left hemisphere removed aged 2 1/2 years to remove a tumor.
• Danelli (2013) found that with intensive therapy his right hemishphere was able to take over almost all of the functioning (language , speech etc) that the left normally would have done. This is because EBs brain would have shown maximum brain plasticity..