Neuroplasticity
What is neuroplasticity?
- Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to adapt to change, be that from injury, damage done due to illness or changes brought about due to learning and experience
- Structural plasticity refers to changes within brain structures (e.g. the hippocampus) due to learning experienced over time i.e. this does not happen immediately
- Functional plasticity (also known as functional recovery) refers to the brain’s ability to replace lost or damaged functions by using existing brain regions in their place
- Plasticity simply means that the brain is not a static, concrete mass: it is a flexible organ that responds and adapts to environmental stressors
What are some examples of neuroplasticity?
- A child who has had half of her brain removed (hemispherectomy) to control her epilepsy is able to function almost completely normally as her remaining hemisphere takes over the tasks of the hemisphere which has been removed
- London black cab taxi drivers spend years navigating and learning routes through central London: their brains adapt by increasing grey matter in the region of the brain linked to spatial navigation (see Maguire, 2000)
- A person in their 60s who has been practising meditation for decades will have increased grey matter in their prefrontal cortex as a result of their practice
It’s never too late to learn something new
Which research studies support neuroplasticity?
- Maguire (2000) showed that years spent as a black cab driver in London may result in increased grey matter in the posterior hippocampus
- Luby et al. (2013) showed that poverty in childhood was associated with reduced grey matter in the hippocampus and amygdala but this was mediated by the type of care given i.e. loving or hostile
- Rauscher et al.’s (1993) ‘Mozart effect’ research linked listening to a specific Mozart sonata with functional recovery
Maguire and Luby’s studies are available as separate Key Studies – just navigate the Brain and Behaviour section of this topic to find them.
Examiner Tip
If you use Maguire (2000) to answer a question on neuroplasticity remember to keep the focus on neuroplasticity rather than on localisation of function (which is another theory that Maguire’s study can be used in support of). Make sure that you emphasise the details of neuroplasticity relevant to her study rather than focusing on the brain structure (posterior hippocampus) that are more relevant to localisation of function.
Mozart: a stonkingly good composer and, apparently, he has the power to heal your brain…
Evaluation of neuroplasticity research:
- Maguire (2000)
- Strength: The use of a blind (unbiased) researcher to count the pixels on the MRI scans increase the study’s validity
- Limitation: A sample size of 16 is too small to generate robust results
- Luby et al. (2013)
- Strength: The findings have a useful application as they can be used to inform interventions and strategies for families living in poverty
- Limitation: Some of the children in the study had pre-existing depression which could confound the results as this could have influenced brain development outside of the variable of poverty
- Rauscher et al.’s (1993)
- Strength: Replications of the original study have shown that it is very successful in functional recovery when applied to the field of visual art
- Limitation: The improvement in spatial reasoning in the original study only lasted for about 15 minutes with no long-term effects reported
Worked example
Describe one study of neuroplasticity. [9]
Here is part of a response to the above question. The focus of this paragraph is on description of the procedure. Note the level of detail in the response, the use of terminology and the fact that this paragraph focuses only on procedure:
Luby et al. (2013) investigated the effect of childhood poverty on brain development and its implications once the child reached school age. The study also took into account the behaviour of the main caregiver: the mediating effect of their care on the child and, by inference, the child’s developing brain. The participants underwent social and cognitive assessments every year for 3 to 6 years before having two MRI scans, one of the whole brain and one of the amygdala and hippocampal areas. The support or hostility of their caregivers was also recorded during this pre-MRI period. The MRI scans measured the brain volumes of white matter and cortical grey matter, as well as volumes of the hippocampus and the amygdala.
