Crossmodal Plasticity and Sensory Substitution

Flashcards focusing on key vocabulary terms related to crossmodal plasticity and sensory substitution.

Crossmodal Plasticity

Adaptive reorganization of neurons to integrate the function of two or more sensory systems.

Critical Period

A specific time window in development during which the brain exhibits heightened plasticity.

GABA

An inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system that influences the timing of critical periods.

Retrograde Degeneration

The process through which visual tracts die from inactivity after prolonged visual deprivation.

Neurons that fire together, wire together

A principle stating that simultaneous activation of cells leads to stronger connections between them.

Tactile Perception

The ability to identify objects through touch, which in blind individuals activates areas of the brain typically used for processing visual information.

Sensorimotor Integration

The process by which the brain integrates sensory information from different modalities to produce a cohesive perception.

Sensory Substitution

Technology that compensates for a sensory disability by converting information from one sense into a format that can be processed by another sense.

Visual Cortex

The part of the brain responsible for processing visual information, which exhibits plasticity in the absence of sight.

Anatomical and Functional Changes

Alterations in structure and function of the brain related to experience and deprivation.