Our plastic brains

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Holiday Homework, Term 2 Holidays, 2011

Applications and comparisons of learning theories – homework

Comparison between CC and OC holiday homework

Of course our brains are not actually made of plastic – not even after a late night, a caffeine binge or an after-party party. But they are able to change, develop, rewire themselves and create new pathways in response to the experience of their owners, which is why  the term “plasticity” is used to describe this remarkable adaptive ability. Here are some quotations on the topic from experts in the field:

“When we say the brain is plastic, what we mean is that the brain can actually change how it processes information based on the information it has already processed. So in other words your brain is rewiring itself based on prior experiences.”

Professor Earl Miller – click here to view more: Genes to Cognition Online Website

“The idea is that synapses, which are the sites of connections between nerve cells and other nerve cells, have a plastic property. That is they’re changeable, they…change either their shape or their function over periods of time that could last for a few seconds, a few minutes, a few hours, or perhaps even for a lifetime.”

Professor Jeff Lichtman – click here to view more: Genes to Cognition Online Website

“Long-term potentiation is a form of synaptic plasticity. Plasticity refers to change in the strength of synaptic connections. Long-term potentiation is a form of synaptic plasticity whereby activity in neurons gives rise to a change in synaptic strength. It can persist for many minutes, to hours, and even days in the mammalian brain.”

Eric Kandel – click here to view more: Genes to Cognition Online Website

Doctor Gul Dolen points out how important this “plastic” quality of the brain is for our ability to learn. It means that while we have the genetic programming, for instance, that enables us to learn a language, which language (or languages) we actually learn depends on our auditory experiences. Dolen also describes how researchers have explored the brain’s plasticity by investigating the visual cortex.

Click here to hear more: Genes to Cognition Online Website

The topic of how learning changes the brain is explored at this website: http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/02/26/brain-plasticity-how-learning-changes-your-brain/

The story of Jodie Miller is an example of the plasticity of the brain. Despite having had one hemisphere of her brain surgically removed, an operation that was required to save her life, she is able to live a normal life with minimal effects on her movement and other abilities. The plasticity of our brains lasts through life, but in childhood the brain is especially able to react to trauma by rerouting to new, undamaged neurons and through creating new neural circuits. Jodie’s experience provides evidence of this.