Plasticity and functional recovery
Plasticity of the brain: This describes the brains tendency to change and adapt as a
result of experience of new learning
Functional recovery: refers to the recovery of abilities and mental processes that
have been compromised as a result of brain injury or disease
Plasticity
During infancy, the brain experiences a rapid growth in the number of synaptic
connections it has, peaking at approximately 15,000 by the age of 2-3 years
old.
As we age, rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used connections
are strengthened in a process known as cognitive pruning.
This shows that the brain is in a continual state of change, from growth in
early years to change and refinement in adulthood as we learn and experience.
It has become clear that not only neural organization is changed as a result of
experience, but also that there are many different types of experience that can
do this.
Areas investigated have included engagement in video games and
meditation.
Plasticity can be negative – examples of this would include prolonged drug
use, leading to poor cognitive functioning and old age being associated with
dementia – both are due to changes in the brain.
Plasticity research
Maguire studied the brain of London taxi drivers using an MRI and found
significantly more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus (spatial LTM) than
in the matched control group.
This part of the brain is associated with the development of spatial and navigation
skills in humans and other animals.
As part of their training, London Cabbies must take a complex test called ‘the
knowledge’, which assesses their recall of the city and street and possible routes.
Also, the longer they had been doing the job the more pronounced the
structural difference was, suggesting further evidence that the changes were a
RESULT of the training, rather than the CAUSE. We could therefore conclude that it
seems to support the idea that experience changes the brain.
WEAKNESS of this research
P – Correlation does not equal cause and effect
E – We cannot be sure that the difference is due to the ‘knowledge’ as the pps were
not tested beforehand. They could have been taxi drivers because of their already
existing differences.
E – For example, individuals who have more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus
are more likely to become taxi drivers due to their ‘natural’ skills in navigation.
L – Therefore, we cannot conclude that their job as a taxi driver (experience) caused
this plasticity.
Plasticity of the brain: This describes the brains tendency to change and adapt as a
result of experience of new learning
Functional recovery: refers to the recovery of abilities and mental processes that
have been compromised as a result of brain injury or disease
Plasticity
During infancy, the brain experiences a rapid growth in the number of synaptic
connections it has, peaking at approximately 15,000 by the age of 2-3 years
old.
As we age, rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used connections
are strengthened in a process known as cognitive pruning.
This shows that the brain is in a continual state of change, from growth in
early years to change and refinement in adulthood as we learn and experience.
It has become clear that not only neural organization is changed as a result of
experience, but also that there are many different types of experience that can
do this.
Areas investigated have included engagement in video games and
meditation.
Plasticity can be negative – examples of this would include prolonged drug
use, leading to poor cognitive functioning and old age being associated with
dementia – both are due to changes in the brain.
Plasticity research
Maguire studied the brain of London taxi drivers using an MRI and found
significantly more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus (spatial LTM) than
in the matched control group.
This part of the brain is associated with the development of spatial and navigation
skills in humans and other animals.
As part of their training, London Cabbies must take a complex test called ‘the
knowledge’, which assesses their recall of the city and street and possible routes.
Also, the longer they had been doing the job the more pronounced the
structural difference was, suggesting further evidence that the changes were a
RESULT of the training, rather than the CAUSE. We could therefore conclude that it
seems to support the idea that experience changes the brain.
WEAKNESS of this research
P – Correlation does not equal cause and effect
E – We cannot be sure that the difference is due to the ‘knowledge’ as the pps were
not tested beforehand. They could have been taxi drivers because of their already
existing differences.
E – For example, individuals who have more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus
are more likely to become taxi drivers due to their ‘natural’ skills in navigation.
L – Therefore, we cannot conclude that their job as a taxi driver (experience) caused
this plasticity.
