1. Lesson 4&5: Plasticity of the brain

2. From the last lesson.....
Identify and outline the role of three neurotransmitters
involved in learning

3. From the last lesson.....
Identify and outline the role of three neurotransmitters
involved in learning
NT’s involved in learning:
Glutamate: Strengthens connections at the synapse
during learning
Dopamine: May be involved through rewarding
‘pleasure’ experience.
Acetylcholine: Present in some learning experiences
but specific role unclear

4. Plasticity: The ability of the brain to change structure and
function through experience

5. Developmental Plasticity
Developmental Plasticity: changes in the brain’s neural structure in
response to experience during its growth and development
Generally, an infant or a child’s brain will have more plasticity than an
adult’s brain. This is referred to as developmental plasticity—the ability of
these synapses to be modified
Developmental plasticity refers to changes in the brain’s neural structure in
response to experience during its growth and development. This type of
plasticity is predetermined and therefore influenced by the genes we inherit, but
it is also subject to influence by experience.

6. Adaptive plasticity refers to changes occurring in the brain’s neural
structure to enable adjustment to experience, to compensate for lost function
and/or to maximise remaining functions in the event of brain damage.

8. Case Study
The case of a 25-year-old adult female who was an accomplished
pianist supports the idea of plasticity.
The patient had a stroke that damaged the left hemisphere of her brain.
Consequently, she was unable to speak and had lost complete use of her right
hand. It was a devastating loss at a young age, and her inability to play the
piano only added to the tragedy.
She was placed in a rehabilitation program that involved repeated attempts to
engage the right side of her body, including speech therapy and piano
playing. After several months of rehabilitation, she regained nearly full use of
her right hand, and she was again able to speak.
Furthermore, she also demonstrated exceptionally rapid finger movements in
both hands, displaying speed and coordination beyond those of the average
(non-stroke-affected) person. Today she has resumed her piano playing and has
fully recovered her abilities to the virtuoso levels
attained before the stroke (Azari & Seitz, 2009).

9. Implications of Brain Plasticity

10. Sensitive or Critical Periods
Certain periods in an individual’s development are particularly well suited to
learning certain skills and gaining knowledge. These periods are called
sensitive or critical periods. A sensitive period is a specific period of time in
development when an organism is more responsive (or ‘sensitive’) to certain
environmental stimuli or experiences.

12. Language
Sensitive periods are sometimes described as ‘windows of opportunity for
learning’ because they are the optimal, or ‘best possible’, times for the
relevant learning to occur.
For example, certain skills and knowledge, such as those of language
acquisition, are believed to be more easily acquired during a sensitive
period in development. If these skills and knowledge are not acquired
during the sensitive period, they may be acquired at a later time but it will
usually take more time, be more difficult and the learning may not be as
successful.
In relation to language learning, psychologists are not in complete
agreement about the age limits for the sensitive period. Generally, the
sensitive period for our native language is up to the age of about 12
years, with the window gradually closing from about age seven.

13. The use of imaging Technologies
Neuroimaging technologies, particularly MRI, PET, fMRI, and TMS
enable researches to study changes in the brain associated with learning.
Research by Elbert (1995) used MRI recordings to reveal that experienced violinists who
do elaborate movements on the strings with their left hands had a larger right
hemisphere somatosensory area devoted to these fingers than did non-musicians.