Plasticity and Lifelong Learning Flashcards
What does plasticity mean?
Changeable
Reacting to what we are doing
The brain is constantly forming new synapses and pruning others
What is the determining factor of plasticity?
Use is or lose it - experience is so important
synapses that are active are maintained and strengthened, those that aren’t use are eliminated
Who came up with the idea of plasticity?
Donald Hebb
Hebb - rats at home vs laboratory
Reared rats in a lab or their natural environment
got them to complete a maze
ones who were kept in a house were faster, better able to solve the problems
our experiences are impacting our ability to learn
What do rats raised in an enriched environment develop?
A thicker cortex and have increased dendritic branching
much of the enhancement was due to physical activity
increased dendritic branching was correlated with improved ability to learn
What do brain adaptations refer too?
In people who are blind since infancy, there is enhanced tactile (finger sensitivity) and auditory ability
deaf people have a better sense of touch and vision
the brain adapts accordingly
Blindness - Burton et al
Researchers asked sighted and blind people to feel Braille letters or other items and say whether they were the same or different
blind people performed better
PET and fMRI scans indicted more activity in occipital cortex of blind people when performing
auditory stimuli also increased responses in visual areas of cortex
due to reorganisation of the brain
Music training
Musicians have larger brain areas responsible for hearing and finger control
MRI scans reveal:
termporal cortex is 30% larger
thicker grey matter in part of the brain responsible for hand control and vision of professional keyboard players
larger than normal area of post central gyrus in the right hemisphere for the movements of the left hand
