Functional Recovery & Brain plasticity

Brain plasticity AO1

• Refers to the fact that the brain can change & develop due to experiences, learning & recover after trauma

• During infancy, brain experiences rapid growth. With age, unused connections are deleted, used connections are strengthened - synaptic pruning

• Majority of changes occur during childhood, but adult brains can change on smaller scale due to learning & experience

Maguire et al: Procedure & Findings

• Studied brains of london taxi drivers

• Found significantly greater volume of grey matter in posterior hippocampus than in matched control group (associated with spatial & navigational skills)

• Shows that learning that drivers undertake for training alters their brain structure

• Positive correlation between volume of grey matter & length of time they’d been in the job

• Correlational evidence for structural differences in brain due to extensive experience in spatial navigation

Draganski et al

• Imaged brains of med students 3 months before and after their final exam

• Found learning induced changes in posterior hippocampus & parietal cortex, presumably from the exam

Kuhn et al

• Found a significant increase in grey matter in people who played video games 30 minutes a day for 2 months, compared to a control group

• Showing that experience changes brain structure

Mechelli et al

Larger parietal cortex in brains of bilingual people compared to those who aren’t bilingual

Functional Recovery AO1

• Healthy brain areas may take over functions of areas that may have been affected by physical injury or illness

• Brain reorganises itself by forming new synaptic connections close to damaged areas

• Secondary neural pathways are activated to enable functioning to continue

• Multiple changes in brain structure including:

• Axonal sprouting - growth of new nerve endings which connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neuronal pathways

• Reformation of blood vessels

• Recruitment of similar areas - on other side of brain to take over specific tasks

Laura Danelli

• Investigated EB, 17 yr old Italian boy, who had entire left hemisphere removed at 2 years old

• By 5 yrs, language fluency improved due to intensive rehabilitation

• By 17 yrs with minor grammar problems, his language appeared virtually normal

• Suggesting language abilities can still function even after severe trauma e.g removal of a whole hemisphere

Evaluation AO3

• Person’s education level influences how well brain recovers from trauma - more time spent in education, the better the recovery - cognitive reserve is an important factor

• Brain’s ability to rewire itself can be negative - leads to poorer cognitive functions & increased dementia risk. 60-80% amputees experience phantom limb

• Functional recovery reduces with age affecting speed of recovery. Marquez de la plata et al found older patients gain less function and more likely to decline in function after first 5 yrs. Women recover better from braian injury as their function is not as lateralised

• Increased understanding has helped treating brain trauma - know when to start physical therapy to maintain function & electrical stimulation following injuries - brain can fix itself to an extent but intervention is needed