13.3 Flashcards
What did Charles Sherrington speculate?
That the synaptic alterations might be the basis of learning
What does neuroplasticty do?
It’s changes in the structure and function of synapses
What does changes in the increase or decrease of released neurotransmitter and neurotransmitter receptors do to synapses?
The postsynaptic increases and grows in the size and shape of the dendrite and synapses
What does synaptic influenced by inputs from other neurons cause?
Extra depolarization/hyperpolarization of the axons terminal which increases the axonal release of neurotransmitter
What can active neural pathways do to synapses?
They can increase or decrease the number of synapses; new synapses for, or old ones may die
A more active neural pathway can take over synapses that are less active
What are the 3 housing conditions?
Standard condition (SC)
Improvised conditions (IC)
Enriched conditions (EC)
What is improvised conditions?
Animals housed individually in cage
What is standard conditions?
Animals housed in small groups in cages
What is enriched conditions?
Animals housed in large social groups with various toys and features in cage
What has been found about animals housed in EC?
They have heavier and thicker cortex
They enhanced cholinergic activity
Have more dendritic and spines on cortical neurons
Have larger cortical synapses
More neurons in the hippocampus
Enhanced recovery from brain damage
What is Nonassociative learning?
Learning that involves one stimulus
What is Habituation in nonassociative learning?
A decrease in response to a repeated stimulus; studied in Aplysia
What is an example of Habituation in humans?
Sitting in a café, you may stop noticing the door chime when someone enters. Your ears still detect the chime, and your body is perfectly capable of looking up to see what happened, but you’ve habituated to the sound
What is short term Habituation?
caused by changes in the synapse between the sensory cell that detects the squirt of water and the motor neuron that retracts the gill; less transmitter is released at the synapses (when the water is sprayed) so the I’ll withdrawal starts to fade
