Plasticity and functional recovery of the brain after trauma

Brain plasticity

The brain is plastic in the sense that it has the ability to change throughout life
During infancy, the brain experiences a rapid growth in the number of synaptic connections it has, peaking at around 15,000 at 2-3 years (twice as many as there are in the adult brain)
As we age rarely used connections are deleted and frequently used connections are strengthened- this is called synaptic pruning
Originally thought this only occurred in the developing brain. Adult brain was believed to be fixed and static in terms of function and structure
More recent research suggests that at any time in life existing neural connections can change, or new neural connections can be formed from learning and experience (plasticity)

Research into plasticity

Eleanor Maguire
- Studied the brains of London taxi drivers and found significantly more voulme of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus than in a matched control group.
- This part of the brain is associated with the development of spatial and navigational skills
- The longer they had been in the job, the more pronounced was the structural difference
Draganski
- Imaged the brains of medical students three months before and after their final exams
- Learning induced changes were seen to have occurred in the posterior hippocampus and the parital cortex

Functional recovery of the brain after trauma

Following injury or trauma, unaffected areas of the brain are often able to adapt and compensate for those areas that are damaged
The functional recovery that may occur in the brain after trauma is another example of neural plasticity
Healthy brain areas may take over the functions of those areas that are damaged…

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