Chapter 2 - Harnessing Adaptability

Cells

________ require a stable environment if they are to function effectively.

Homeostasis

the tendency of a system to act in a way that maintains its own stability

Bent-twig effect

training at early ages can actually shape the course of later development, leading to significant changes

larger

==Study:==

The more time that a person had spent as a taxi driver, the ____ the posterior hippocampi (not the same for bus drivers), which is related to the navigational skills that the job require

overlap

==Study:==

3-fingered Braille readers saw the brain areas of the brain devoted to those fingers grow and eventually ____ so that they couldn't tell which of the 3 fingers had been touched

brain

==Study:==

By training their brain, older people with presbyopia could read letters that were 60% smaller than they could before due to changes in _____ parts that interpret visual signals which de-blurred images

larger, palm

==Study:==

* The region of the brain controlling the left hand was _____ in the musicians than in the nonmusicians
* The brain regions controlling the fingers had taken over a section of the brain region that was normally devoted to the ____

less

==Study:==

Retired London taxi drivers had _____ gray matter in their posterior hippocampi than did active taxi drivers

no

There is _____ easy way to observe the resulting changes in your brain as it adapts to the increasing demands being placed on it

change

Both the function and the structure of the brain ______ in response to various sorts of mental training

larger

Species of birds that store food in different places and must be able to remember the location of these various caches have relatively _______ hippocampi

rewire

The brains of blind or deaf people _____ themselves to find new uses for the parts of the brain that are normally dedicated to processing sights or sounds

visual

Blind people’s ____ cortex lights up when reading Braille, helping them interpret the fingertip sensations

neurons

If you practice something enough, your brain will repurpose _____ to help with the task even if they already have another job to do

use

The brain’s structure and function are not fixed since they change in response to ____

stability

The human body has a preference for _______

homeostasis

When a body system is stressed to the point that homeostasis can no longer be maintained, the body responds with changes that are intended to re-establish ______

improving

If you don’t keep pushing and pushing some more, the body will settle into homeostasis, and you will stop ______

new

Learning a ______ skill is much more effective at triggering structural changes in the brain than simply continuing to practice a skill that one has already learned

ineffective

Pushing too hard for too long can lead to burnout and _______ learning

larger

The cerebellum is _____ in musicians than in nonmusicians

more

Musicians have _____ gray matter than nonmusicians

skill

Long-term training results in changes in those parts of the brain that are relevant to the particular _____ being developed

mathematicians

The inferior parietal lobule (mathematical calculations + visualization of objects in space) has significantly more gray matter in ______ than in nonmathematicians

greater

Cortical thickness is ______ in competitive divers than in nondivers in 3 brain regions that play a role in visualizing and controlling the movements of the body

younger

Younger brains are more adaptable than adult brains so training can have larger effects in ______ people

white

The earlier a child get started on the piano, the more _____ matter that pianist will have as an adult

regressed

In many cases, people who have developed one skill or ability to an extraordinary degree seem to have _____ in another area

upkeep

The cognitive and physical changes caused by training require ______

challenge

The traditional approach to learning is not designed to _______ homeostasis

deliberate

Using _____ practice, you can challenge homeostasis