Plasticity and functional recovery

0.0(0)
Studied by 0 people
call kaiCall Kai
learnLearn
examPractice Test
spaced repetitionSpaced Repetition
heart puzzleMatch
flashcardsFlashcards
GameKnowt Play
Card Sorting

1/8

encourage image

There's no tags or description

Looks like no tags are added yet.

Last updated 3:19 PM on 5/16/26
Name
Mastery
Learn
Test
Matching
Spaced
Call with Kai

No analytics yet

Send a link to your students to track their progress

9 Terms

1
New cards

Brain plasiticity

brains ability to modify own structure and function as experience of learning.

  • children have higher plasticity.

2
New cards

Synaptic pruning

when old connections are deleted, and frequently used connections are strengthened.

3
New cards

Maguires research

  • compared brain of taxi drivers to a control group (non taxi drivers)

  • Findings: found more time in job lead to larger posterior hippocampuses.

  • shows learning new skills can lead to physical changes in brain. (supports brain plasticity )

4
New cards

Draganski research

  • Researched brain of medical students who were studying for an exam.

  • Findings: intense studying led to brain adapting and grown in memory areas.

  • Shows brain can change as a result of learning and growing.

5
New cards

functional recovery

  • When Brain experiences trauma and damage, functional recovery is brains way of fixing itself.

  • forming new connections

  • parts of brain taking over roles

6
New cards

How brain recovers

  • axonal sprouting: new branches form near damaged area. Restore lost communication pathways.

  • Reformation of blood vessels: new blood vessels form to improve O2 flow

  • Recruitment of homologous: same area on opposite side takes over role.

7
New cards

Strengths - practical application

  • helped improve treatment for those suffering brain injuries.

  • brain can change/make new connections so can be relearnt

  • rehabilitation programmes offer exercises like physiotherapy and help brain form new connections

  • helps improve quality of life

8
New cards

strength - support by animal studies

  • Hubel and wiesel: sewed the eye of a kitten to see if they would adapt

  • visual cortex didnt stop working but instead the kitten adapted to process info out of the one eye

  • proves that the brain is flexible and able to adapt

9
New cards

limitation - age and plasticity

  • plasticity is not limited to younger people

  • bezzola et al - studying 40 hours of golf training in ppt aged 40-60. neuroimaging revealed increased motor cortex activity in trained than control

  • adults brain retain ability to adapt ij response to learning

  • does continue throughout lifespan