PLASTICITY AND FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY

• What are the evaluation points for plasticity?

  Strength - plasticity does not always decline sharply with age ( Bezzola et al )

  Weakness - plasticity may have negative behavioural consequences
• EVALUATION OF PLASTICITY - STRENGTH

  A strength of plasticity is that it does not always decline sharply with age. Bezzola et al demonstrated how 40 hours of golf training produced changes in the neural representations of movement in participants aged 40 - 60. Using fMRI, the researchers observed increased motor cortex activity in the novice golfers compared to a control group , suggesting that they had more efficient neural representations after training. This shows that neural plasticity can continue throughout a lifetime.
• EVALUATION OF PLASTICITY - WEAKNESS

  A weakness of plasticity is that it may have negative consequences. Evidence has shown that the brain's adaptation to prolonged drug use leads to poorer cognitive functioning in later life. Additionally, 60 - 80% of amputees develop phantom limb syndrome. These sensations are usually unpleasant and painful. They are thought to be due to cortical reorganisation in the somatosensory cortex that occurs as a result of limb loss. This suggests that the brain's ability to adapt to damage is not always beneficial.
• What are the evaluation points for functional recovery?

  Strength - real world application

  Weakness - level of education may influence recovery rates ( Schneider et al )
• EVALUATION OF FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY-STRENGTH

  A strength of functional recovery is its real world application. Understanding the processes involved in plasticity has contributed to neurorehabilitation. Understanding that axonal growth is possible encourages new therapies to be tried , such as constraint induced movement therapy is used with stroke patients where they repeatedly practise using the affected part of their body while the unaffected part is restrained. This shows that research into functional recovery is useful as it helps medical professionals know when interventions need to be made.
• EVALUATION OF FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY - WEAKNESS

  A weakness of functional recovery is that level of education may influence recovery rates. Schneider et al found that the more time people with a brain injury had spent in education, the greater their chances of a disability free recovery. 40% of those who achieved disability free recovery had more than 16 years of education compared to about 10% of those who had less than 12 years of education. This suggests that people with brain damage who have insufficient disability free recovery are less likely to achieve a full recovery.