CHAP 6 AND 7

Question 1

Why is plasticity necessary and how long is it present

Answer 1

Plasticity is necessary for learning to take place and is present throughout a healthy person’s lifetime.

Question 2

Developmental plasticity

Answer 2

the development and consolidation of neural pathways in babies, children and adolescents

Question 3

Adaptive plasticity

Answer 3

the ability of the brain to change, adapt and grow throughout life (but does diminish with age)

Question 4

5 stages of developmental plasticity

Answer 4

Proliferation, migration, circuit formation, synaptic pruning myelination

Question 5

Plasticity

Answer 5

Plasticity of the brain refers to the way it changes in response to stimulation from the environment. The process of plasticity occurs at the synaptic connections in the brain

Question 6

Proliferation

Answer 6

Foetal neurons divide and multiply, creating about 250 000 cells per minute.

Question 7

Migration

Answer 7

Once formed, neurons move to their final location in the CNS and the locations determine what their function will become.

Question 8

Circuit formation

Answer 8

The axons of the new neurons move outwards towards adjacent cells and circuits are completed.

Question 9

Synaptic pruning

Answer 9

Pruning occurs in childhood and a second phase during adolescence. Far more neurons are created than will eventually be needed. During circuit pruning extra neurons are removed.

Question 10

Myelination

Answer 10

Gradually, throughout childhood and adolescence and into young adulthood (about age 23), myelin sheathing grows around the axons of many neurons, insulating them and making neural transmission more efficient.

Question 11

Brain development during adolescence

Answer 11

Cerebellum, amygdala, frontal lobe, corpus callosum

Question 12

Brain development of corpus callosum during adolescence

Answer 12

the corpus callosum thickens and there is an increase in the
number of connections (or nerve bres) between the two hemispheres

Question 13

Brain development frontal lobe

Answer 13

motor movement and higher order
thinking. The prefrontal cortex is the last to undergo myelination as it is responsible for the highest brain functions (including problem- solving, risk management and critical thinking).

Question 14

Brain development amygdala

Answer 14

the amygdala becomes more active in adolescence

Question 15

Brain development cerebellum

Answer 15

there is an increase in the number of neurons and synapses in the
cerebellum, the part of the brain responsible for balance, muscle tone, and the performance of motor skills. This might explain why some teenagers are more physically uncoordinated than older adults.

Question 16

Sensitive periods

Answer 16

periods in time which are particularly suited to learning things due to the nature of the growing brain

Question 17

What does adaptive plasticity allow older brains to do

Answer 17

Adaptive plasticity enables older brains to be modified through experience or learning

Question 18

Reorganisation

Answer 18

This process of reorganisation refers to a shift in connections that might alter the function of a particular area of the brain (Garrett, 2009). Adults continue to develop more synapses as they have new experiences and learn.

Question 19

How do we keep our brain plastic

Answer 19

The more di erent cognitive activities a person undertakes and the more active the brain remains, the more plastic it stays throughout life.

Question 20

Which hemisphere is predominantly dominant for language

Answer 20

Left

Question 21

Aphasia

Answer 21

Aphasia (pronounced a-FAZE-yuh) is the impairment of language caused by damage to the brain (usually by stroke). Aphasia can a ect talking, reading, writing and understanding others, but it does not a ect intelligence.

Question 22

Location of function

Answer 22

linking a location of the brain with a speci c function

Question 23

Describe Brocas Aphasia and what is it AKA. 4 characteristics

Answer 23

Broca’s aphasia is a result of damage to Broca’s area (located in the left frontal lobe), and often surrounding areas, and is referred to as expressive aphasia. A person with Broca’s aphasia has di culty expressing themselves in words or sentences but their ability to comprehend speech is largely una ected. Typically, little speech is produced and what is produced tends to be slow; words are generated with considerable e ort and are poorly articulated, short words are often left out. Difficult writing. Can be mild comprehension issues

Question 24

anomia

Answer 24

partial or complete loss of the ability to recall names (anomia). The person may have trouble nding and naming the right words

Question 25

Agrammatism

Answer 25

speech lacks grammar (agrammatism). Speech does not follow the grammatical rules – it lacks syntax. Speech tends to contain nouns (naming words) and verbs (action words) but lacks other words that give grammar or function. For example ‘Drive car’ is spoken instead of ‘I want to drive the new car’ and ‘Send money’ instead of ‘Can you please send me some money?’ Speech is severely limited but not necessarily to just one word – Tan’s case was especially extreme. Depending on the severity of the damage, the meaning of the speech can often still be grasped despite sentences being grammatically incorrect. This is similar to the telegraphic speech used by the average child at 24 months of age – it sounds like basic information given in a short note (for example ‘give toy’)

Question 26

Is the ability to vocalise lost, Brocas aphasia

Answer 26

No, patients can still vocalise but the ability to translate information into speech patterns and express meaning is compromised.

Question 27

How can adaptive plasticity allow those with Brocas aphasia to improve

Answer 27

Despite irreversible damage to Broca’s area, there was improvement in these participants’ ability to communicate using language because di erent areas of the brain took over the task of communicating language. This shows that function can develop in a di erent region of the brain following injury and is known as plasticity of the brain, a concept discussed in Chapter 6.

Question 28

Describe Wernickes Aphasia and what is it AKA. 4 characteristics

Answer 28

Wernicke’s aphasia results from damage to Wernicke’s area, located in the left temporal lobe near the parietal lobe boundary. A person with Wernicke’s aphasia has di culty understanding written and spoken language, and in producing written and spoken language that makes sense to others. It is often referred to as receptive aphasia, a misleading term because the di culty is not just limited to understanding language. Speech is uent, but does not make sense. The words are articulated and ow one after another, but combinations of words are nonsensical. Unlike Broca’s aphasia, people with Wernicke’s aphasia talk freely and rapidly but, while they utter many words, they say very little that makes sense. They are tragically cut o by language – what they hear is gibberish to them and what they say sounds like gibberish. Anomia. Difficulty understanding and producing written and spoken language,

Question 29

Spatial neglect, anosognosia, anosodiaporia

Answer 29

Spatial neglect, also known as neglect syndrome, is a disorder in which the person a ected systematically ignores stimuli on one side of their body. There is usually spatial neglect after brain injury. In most cases, there is damage in the rear of their right parietal lobe which results in the person ignoring stimuli on their left side. Spatial neglect mainly relates to visual stimuli. They are ‘blind’ but this is no ordinary blindness because the eyes function normally. Curiously, most su erers are blissfully unaware that they have a de cit (a condition known as anosognosia). Others may know they have this problem, as did Mrs S, but seem unconcerned about it (a condition known as anosodiaphoria).

Question 30

Split brain studies and what is the operation called and what does it do

Answer 30

In split-brain studies, patients undergo surgery to sever the corpus callosum, the thick band of about 200 million nerve bres connecting the right and left hemispheres. This operation is called a commisurotomy and prevents communication between the two hemispheres high up in the cortex.

Question 31

Why was commisurotomy done

Answer 31

This invasive method is undertaken as a last resort to prevent the spread of severe epileptic seizures from one side of the brain to the other. Not many patients had this surgery in the past and it is rarely done today because of improved medications and other, less extreme, forms of treatment; even so, split-brain surgery has been a positive, life- changing experience for some people.

Question 32

Split brain experiments, what was found out, + go over split brain studies p158

Answer 32

Sperry and Gazzaniga’s experiments suggest that the left and right hemispheres have di erent language skills. The left hemisphere is able to read, identify and name items while the right hemisphere is able to read and identify items but not name them. Sperry’s work recon rms the specialised language abilities of the left hemisphere rst proposed by Broca and Wernicke over a hundred years earlier, although the right hemisphere can still process information and express itself non-verbally.

Question 33

Go over 2 psychology photos from this morning 22/3

Answer 33

Hi 👍🏻