Plasticity + functional recovery

• Medina (et al. 2007)


  Plasticity and Functional recovery - limitation: Negative plasticity - Prolonged drug use can result in poorer cognitive functioning and an increased risk of dementia.
• Ramachandran and Hirstein (1998)


  Plasticity and Functional recovery - limitation:

  Negative plasticity - 60-80% of amputees experience phantom limb syndrome; which is thought to be due to cortical remapping of somatosensory area which occurs after limb loss. Usually unpleasant and painful.
• Bezzola (et al. 2012)


  Plasticity and Functional recovery - strength:

  Demonstrated how 40 hours of golf training in 40-60 year olds could change neural representations of movement in brain; fMRI showing reduced motor cortex activity - refined/efficient neural pathways.
• Hubel and Wiesel (1963)


  Plasticity and Functional recovery - strength:

  Early evidence of plasticity and functional recovery; sewed 1 eyelid of kitten shut, analysing cortical response. Found visual cortex connected to shut eye had not become useless, but now processed visual info. from open eye.
• Schneider (et al. 2014)


  Plasticity and Functional recovery - strength:

  Concept of cognitive reserve supports this; found that more time patients had spent in education, more likely to have disability-free recovery (DFR).

  2/5 of those with 16 years education

  10% of those with 12 years education