Brain plasticity

Question 1

What is Prenatal tuning?

Answer 1

By prenatal tuning is meant the internal generation of tuning signals. These signals are of three types:

1. motor circuits = feedback and control network of basic physical actions
2. visual circuits = systematic moving patterns of activity spontaneously generated prenatally in the retina
3. auditory circuits = preference for sounds of native language over others

In the first 10 years of life, the brain is twice as active as in adulthood; in the first year 60% of nutrition is used by the brain, which is then reduced to 30% by age 3.

By age 3, 80% of synaptic connections are made, which are going to be pruned by the second decade of life.

Question 2

How does the brain mature?

Answer 2

Phylogenetically older regions mature first , while higher-order association areas mature last. Between the age 4 and 20, the cortex thickens.

Question 3

How can the brain regenerate?

Answer 3

The brain is able to reorganize itself rapidly through pathways and connections, in three main ways:
I. practice
II. stimulation
III. recovery from damage = healthy neurons make new connections, causing them to assume new functions

Question 4

What are some brain damages?

Answer 4

• tumors
• infections
• exposure to toxins
• degenerative diseases
• head traumas = trauma that occur when a sharp blow to the head drives brain tissue against the inside of the skull
• cardiac arrest = temporary loss of blood flow to the brain
  * ischemis = blood clot that cause the neurons to lose supply
  * hemorrhage = excess of calcium ions and oxygen

Question 5

How can the brain be recovered?

Answer 5

Survivors of brain damage show significant behavioural recovery: some recovery mechanisms are similar to brain development.