draganski et al 2004

Question 1

aim

Answer 1

My study on neural pruning, to check whether learning and ceasing juggling would lead to structural changes in the brain.

Question 2

participants

Answer 2

24 adults (21 female, 3 male) aged 20-24 years and with no prior experience with juggling and they were self selected

Question 3

method

Answer 3

field experiment

Question 4

procedure

Answer 4

-participants get randomly allocated to either of the two groups, non-jugglers (control group) and jugglers

-they all undergo an MRI scan

-participants in the juggling condition get taught juggling with three (3) balls, later they were told to master and practice this for three (3) months

-second MRI performed

-the participants were told to stop juggling COMPLETELY for three (3) months

-third MRI performed

Question 5

results//findings

Answer 5

The MRI scans showed no significant difference in the grey matter of jugglers and
non- jugglers (the control group) at the first scan

-On the second MRI scan the jugglers showed a significantly greater volume of grey matter in their mid-temporal cortex in both hemispheres (the area of the brain associated with visual memory, coordination and movement)

-On the third MRI it appeared that the jugglers lost a lot of grey matter, it decreased significantly since the 2nd MRI however it was still larger than in the 1st MRI
The control group (non jugglers) showed no significant differences at all from 1st to last scan.

Question 6

conclusion

Answer 6

This study demonstrates how a repeated action can lead to the growth of neural networks - and then in the absence of that activity can lead to neural pruning, loss of grey matter, providing us with both the evidence for neuroplasticity as well as neural pruning.

Question 7

strengths

Answer 7

-The study has good internal validity as it took baseline measurements of the participants before the process and the learning begun to ensure that real changes could be observed
- Can be replicated
-Cause and effect relationship
-This study has rather useful applications

Question 8

weaknesses

Answer 8

-The self-selecting sample is not really reliable, it is not representable as the majority of the self sample population shares the same characteristics
-The participants spent most of the study at home, not in controlled conditions so we dont really know what was going on and that makes it unreliable and not internally valid, they might have under-practicesd, might have been doing a different skill which resulted in the growth of the grey matter,
-rather small sample size