AO1

• Plasticity - neural connections can change by experiences and learning
• Between 2-3 years there are approx 150,000 new synaptic connections, but as we age, synaptic pruning occurs where rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used connections are strengthened.
• Maguire et al studied the brains of London taxi drivers, and found significantly more grey matter in the hippocampus than in a matched control group.
• The posterior hippocampus is involved in spatial memory and navigation.
• Maguire et al also found that the longer they had been in the job, the more pronounced was the structural difference (a positive correlation).
• Functional recovery of the brain after trauma is another example of neural plasticity.
• Functional recovery - healthy brain areas may take over the functions of those areas that are damaged, destroyed or even missing: neuroscientists suggest that this process can occur quickly after trauma and then slow down after several weeks or months.
• Spontaneous recovery - functionality is restored immediately but then may require rehabilitation
• Recovery occurs by: axonal sprouting, reformation of blood vessels and recruitment of homologous areas.
• Axonal sprouting - the growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways.
• Recruitment of homologous areas on the opposite side of the brain to perform specific tasks eg if Broca's area was damaged on the left side of the brain, the right-sided equivalent would carry out its functions. After a period of time, functionality may then shift back to the left side.