PSYC3338 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Synaptic Pruning, Occipital Lobe, Parietal Lobe
Document Summary
If you change the input (behavior, physical skill, etc. ) the brain changes accordingly. The ability of the brain to reconfigure itself. Regions of the brain can be taught to do different tasks, if need be. Mri shows that different areas actually light up physical changes! Shows that adjacent brain areas can take over function of damaged ones. Greenough shows that rats in enriched environments established new synapses gave rise to better motor function and memory. Creation of blood vessels and brain cells; enhanced myelin sheaths. Merzenich showed mental maps taking over through monkey experiments. Amputated a finger took over/conveyed info from adjacent finger mental map. Merzenich believes that we are too obsessed with throwing medication at a problem, and that if we shift our focus to machine focused brain exercises, it will be much more effective! (brain plasticity: what is it?) Plasticity is how experiences reorganize neural pathways in the brain. Neuroplasticity changes in neural connections resulting from experience.
