Plasticity and functional recovery

• What are the weaknesses of brain plasticity and functional recovery?

  In McGuire's quasi experiments, the participant variables are not controlled, and the iv wasn't directly manipulated making a cause and effect relationship difficult to establish. Furthermore, the sample does not include females or other cultured taxi drivers so conclusions may not generalise to the wider population, meaning it lacks ecological validity.
• What are the strengths for brain plasticity?

  Maguires taxi study. In a quasi experiment maguire compared taxi drivers who had memorised a map of London to a control group of non taxi drivers. Maguire found that taxi drivers had an increased brain volume in the hippocampus (a part of the brain involved in spatial navigation and memory. She also found a positive correlation between the Amur of time spent as a taxi driver and hippocampus size. Concluding that the experience of being a taxi driver led to changes like rewiring caused the hippocampus to grow in volume.

  
  

  Additionally, Kuhn et al (2014) found a significant increase in grey matter in various regions of the brain after participants played video games for 30 minutes a day over a two-month period.

  
  

  Research into brain plasticity and functional recovery has useful practical applications for people who have suffered brain injuries which helps us understand how to aid them in regaining function.
• What are the three main mechanisms for functional recovery?

  The three main mechanisms of functional recovery all involve the function being transferred from a damaged region to an undamaged region.

  
  

  Synapse strengthening when the likelihood of nerve impulses being transmitted between two neurones increases. It occurs when there is an increase in the number of neurotransmitters or nearby post synaptic receptors. With strengthened synapses other nearby brain regions can take on the function of the damaged brain.

  
  

  Rewiring is when new neuronal connections are formed between two neurons that weren't previously connected by a synapse.

  
  

  Neuronal unmasking is when silence synapses become active again revealing connections between brain regions.
• What is the importance/use of brain plasticity?

  We use it to learn new information and for functional recovery, which is how the brain regains function after damage.
• What is brain plasticity?

  The ability of the brain to change and adapt.
• What is brain plasticity?

  The brains ability to adapt throughout life and replace functions lost through anatomical damage
• What are the 3 ways the brain can heal itself after trauma?

  Increased brain stimulation, axon sprouting and denervation sensitization
• Axon sprouting

  The idea that when an axon is damaged and the connection is lost, neurons may sprout other axons to other neurons to compensate
• Denervation sensitivity

  Axons which do a similar job to the axons lost will compensate and become more aroused, which can lead to oversensitivity in sensations like pain
• Case study demonstrating brain plasticity

  The case of EB - Daneli et al describes how they lost an entire hemisphere of the brain yet managed to regain near normal function
• Brain injury protection research

  Schneider et al compared 3 groups - one who did not finish school, one who had 12-15 years of education and those with degrees and found those who had the highest level of education had a higher percentage of people (39%) who had been left disability free compared to 10% who didn't finish school. Suggests those with a greater cognitive ability are more likely to recover from brain injury