plasticity and functional recovery after trauma

What is neural plasticity?

The brain's ability to change and adapt its structure and processes in response to experience and new learning.

What is functional recovery in the brain?

The brain's ability to redistribute functions from damaged areas to undamaged areas after trauma.

What is synaptic pruning?

The process of deleting rarely-used connections and strengthening frequently-used ones in the brain.

What does the research of Eleanor Maguire (2000) suggest?

London taxi drivers have more grey matter in their posterior hippocampus, associated with spatial and navigational skills, due to their learning experience.

What is axonal sprouting?

The growth of new nerve endings that connect with other undamaged nerve cells to form new neural pathways after brain damage.

What is denervation supersensitivity?

When axons do a similar job to lost ones and become more sensitive to compensate for the lost axons, possibly leading to oversensitivity (e.g., pain).

How can the brain reorganize after injury?

By recruiting homologous areas on the opposite side of the brain or activating secondary neural pathways to take over lost functions.

What did Bezzola et al. (2012) demonstrate about brain plasticity?

Even adults aged 40-60 can experience neural plasticity, as shown by increased motor cortex activity after golf training.

What is the real-world application of functional recovery research?

It has led to therapies like constraint-induced movement therapy for stroke patients, encouraging axonal growth.

How does cognitive reserve influence recovery from brain damage?

Higher levels of education (cognitive reserve) improve the chances of a disability-free recovery after brain injury.

What are the limitations of research into functional recovery?

Some studies, like Ranerie et al. (2014), use small sample sizes and lack control groups, which may limit generalizability.

What changes in the brain can meditation cause?

Meditation can increase grey matter in areas like the hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex, linked to learning, memory, and self-regulation.

How did Gabby Giffords demonstrate brain plasticity?

Despite a serious brain injury, Giffords showed remarkable recovery with rehabilitation, regaining speech, movement, and cognitive functions.

What are strengths of the case study approach?

Provides in-depth understanding of individual recovery processes (e.g., Gabby Giffords’ case), highlighting plasticity.

What are limitations of the case study approach?

Limited generalizability due to small sample sizes and the uniqueness of individual cases (e.g., Gabby Giffords’ recovery).