Plasticity And Functional Recovery Of The Brain After Trauma

Question 1

Brain plasticity

Answer 1

The brains ability to change and grow new connections as the result of experience and new learning

Question 2

Brain plasticity in infants

Answer 2

-The brain experiences rapid growth in the number of synaptic transmissions
-Peaking at 15,000 synapses per neurone aged 2-3 (Gopkin)

Question 3

Brain plasticity in old age

Answer 3

-As we age, we go through ‘synaptic pruning’
-Unused synaptic connections are deleted and frequently used synaptic connections are strengthened

Question 4

Who did research into brain plasticity

Answer 4

Maguire

Question 5

Maguire’s procedure

Answer 5

-Studied the brains of London taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers using fMRI
-London taxi drivers have to memorise all of the routes and roads in London to be able to drive

Question 6

Maguire’s findings

Answer 6

-The taxi drivers had significantly more grey matter in their posterior hippocampus
-The hippocampus is associated with spatial and navigational skills
-Those who were taxi drivers for longer had more grey matter
-There brains adapted and strengthened the more frequently used connections

Question 7

Functional recovery

Answer 7

An example of brain plasticity which occurs after a trauma where healthy brain tissue is damaged

Question 8

What are the two things the rain does immediately after trauma

Answer 8

-Spontaneous recovery speeds up after trauma but then slows down
-Brain reorganises itself having healthy areas take over functions

Question 9

What are the 4 structural changes the brain does after trauma

Answer 9

1-Devernation super sensitivity
2-Axonal sprouting
3-Reformation of blood vessels
4-Recruitement of homologous areas

Question 10

Practical application of brain plasticity / functional recovery

Answer 10

-Understanding the processes of brain plasticity has contributed to the field of neurorehabillitation
-Spontaneous recovery slows down after a few weeks so physical therapy is required to maintain brain function
-Movement therapy and electrical brain stimulation

-Educate in the effects of brain plasticity
-Treat/manage using therapy
-Improve QoL
-Usefulness

Question 11

There are potentially negative effects of brain plasticity and functional recovery

Answer 11

-The brain’s ability to rewire itself can have maladaptive behavioural consequences
-Prolonged drug use has been shown to lead to poorer cognitive function and dementia
-60-80% of amputees have phantom limb syndrome where they experience painful sensations in their missing limb
-Due to cortical reorganisation in the somatosensory cortex

-May lead to negative psychological/behavioural effects instead of positive ones

-Maladaptive to recovery

Question 12

Supporting research for age and plasticity

Answer 12

-Functional plasticity tends to reduce with age since the brain has a greater ability to reorganise and adapt itself in childhood due to constant adaptations to new experiences
-Bezzola showed how 40 hours of golf training a week produced changes in the neural representations of movement in participants aged 40-60
-An fMRI revealed reduced motor cortex activity in novice golfers compared to the control group, suggesting more efficient neural pathways after training

-Supports how neural plasticity still occurs through our lifespan and frequently used pathways strengthen whilst others are cropped