Draganski et al (2004)

Aim:

To investigate whether the human brain can change structure in response to environmental demands

Participants

21 girls and 3 boys (non-jugglers) - self-selected sample with no prior experience

Method

Lab experiment. Sample was then allocated into 'jugglers' and 'non-jugglers' : Non-jugglers were the control group and never practised it.

The 'jugglers' had 3 months to learn a classic juggling routine with 3 balls and after this time, a second MRI scan was performed

For the next 3 months, the 'jugglers' were asked not to juggle. Then, a third MRI scan was performed

Results

1st MRI - no difference in brain structure

2nd MRI - jugglers had more grey matter in some areas of the cortex (mostly mid-temporal area of the cortex). These are areas known to be responsible for coordination of movement.

3rd MRI - difference decreased, but jugglers still had denser gray matter compared to the first scan.

Conclusion

Grey matter grows in the brain in response to environmental demands such as learning. However, it shrinks in the absence of stimulation to show there is a cause and effect relationship between learning and brain structure.

Link to Neural networks (and what they are)

Neural networks are a series of connected neurons that allows the processing and transmitting of information, where specific networks are responsible for specific tasks - Neural networks are developed through repetition

Grey matter is an indication of the number of neural networks!