plasticity and functional recovery ao3

Question 1

Research support - maguire 2000

Answer 1

P: Supporting evidence for the impact of experience on neural connections is provided by Maguire et al.
(2000)
E; In her research it was found that London taxi drivers have significantly more grey matter in their posterior hippocampus, which is an area involved in the development of spatial and navigational skills than in a matched control group.
E: whereby the ex group - 16 right handed male london taxi drivers w an av 14 years of experience
control group - 50 right handed non male taxi drivers
- scanned brains of both groups w mri
- positve correlation the more time ppt was a london taxi driver the larger the posterior hippocampus was
L:This suggests that as a result of this learning experience the brain structure of the cab drivers was altered, which provides research support for brain plasticity.

Question 2

Practical applications

Answer 2

P: Understanding the processes involved in plasticity and functional recovery has practical applications in the the field of neurorehabilitation.
E: Following illness or injury to the brain, spontaneous recovery tends to slow down after a number of weeks. Due to this, a form of physical therapy may be needed to maintain improvements in functioning
E: Techniques may include movement therapy and electrical stimulation of the brain to counter the deficits in motor and/or cognitive functioning that may be experienced following a stroke, for instance.
L: Although this shows that the brain sometimes needs help if it to “fix itself completely and successfully. it also shows that the research has been used to improve treatment for people who have suffered trauma to their brain, thereby increasing their chances of disability free recovery. - link to economy

Question 3

Research support for plasticity

Answer 3

P: research support for plasticity comes from Kuhn et al 2014
E: ppts split into 2 groups, the experimental group was instructed to play Mario kart for 30 mins everyday for 2 months and the control group were instructed to not play video games in this time. Their brains were scanned before and after the study
E: it was found that the experimental group had more grey matter in the areas of the brain responsible for brain navigation, fine movement and planning
L: this shows how repeated practice of the video game acted as the change in environment which lead to plastic changes in the brain responsible for navigation and movement supporting the idea of Brain plasticity. As if this wasn’t the case their would be no difference in grey matter in these specific areas when comparing the 2 groups

Question 4

Strength ; RS for age as a factor

Answer 4

EB (danielle et al 2013) was very young (2.5 years) when he had his LH removed due to tumour, the had dramatic plastic changes (fmri showing RH w brain patterns for lang typically found in LH 2 years post surgery) was bc the younger you are the more plastic the brain is. thus the more likely you are able to recover functions following brain trauma.

Question 5

RS for education as a factor affecting brain plasticity

Answer 5

• schneider et al 2014 found that the brains of patients with a university education showed greater recovery compared to those who didnt finish high school.
• one year after brain injury they were more likely to be disability free.

Question 6

RS for gender as a factor affecting functional recovery

Answer 6

• ratcliff et al 2007 examined the relationship between gender and cog recovery after traumatic brain injury in 352 patients
• tested them on cog ability eg problem solving and working memory
• females did sig better than males on tests of attention and working memory whereas males outperformed males on visual analytical skills

Question 7

RS from animal studies

Answer 7

• kemperman 1997, studied affect of diff environments in brain plasticity of rats
• • 12 rats in ex group in complex environment w snacks (cheese popcorn) and obj to play with (tunnels, wheel)
• 12 rats in control group placed in labatory cages with as much food and water as they wanted
  increase in number of neurons in hippocampus in ex group vs no change in con group.
  thus supporting brain plas as experinces have changed brain struc. whereby new nerve pathways become stronger upon repeated exposure to expirence

Question 8

issue w kemperman

Answer 8

his ev is based on animals
it can be argued there is significant differences between humans and rats, diff in terms of beh w humans having more complex beh and more complex life expiernces specifcally in terms of language, emotion and social interaction
so must take caution when drawing conclusions ab brain plasticity from animal research