Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Evidence AGAINST Brain Localisation - Coggle Diagram
Evidence AGAINST Brain Localisation
LASHLEY
suggest higher cognitive functions are distributed in a more holistic way
removed areas of the cortex (between 1-50%) in rats that were learning a maze
found that no area was more important than another, all parts of the cortex were required
BRAIN PLASTICITY
When the brain is damaged, through illness/accident, and a particular function is compromised or lost, the rest of the brain appears to reorganise itself in an attempt to recover the lost function
sometimes recorded in stroke victims
Maguire et al. 2000
studied brain of London taxi drivers found more volume of grey matter in the posterior hippocampus than in a matched control group
this part of the brain is associated with the development of spatial and navigational skills
cab drivers do the 'knowledge test' it appears this alters the structure of the taxi drivers brains
the longer they were in the job, the more pronounced the structural differences
Dranganski et al. 2006
studied brains of medical students 3 months before their final exam, and after
learning induced changes seen to occur in the posterior hippocampus and the parietal cortex presumably as a result of the exam
any time in life existing neural connections can change or new connections be formed, as a result of learning and experience
INCREASED BRAIN STIMULATION
as neurons are damaged there is an effect on the neighbouring neurons as they no longerr have input, this happens with the hemisphehres too
damaged may only be on one side, but the other hemisphere functions at a lower level too
Takatsura et al (2009) demonstrates that if the undamaged hemisphere is stimulated recovery from a stroke can be improved
AXON SPROUTING
when an axon is damaged, its connection to a neighbouring neuron is lost
in some cases, other axons connected to that neuron already, sprout new connections, replacing the ones that have been destroyed
compensates for a lost neighbour
occurs two weeks after the damaged happens, helps replace functions but only if the damaged axon and compensatory axon do the same thing
DENERVATION SUPERSENSITIVITY
when axons that do a similar job rise to a higher level to compensate for the ones that are lost, but can lead to oversensitivity to messages such as pain
FUNCTIONAL RECOVERY OF THE BRAIN AFTER TRAUMA
recovery after trauma due to anatomical compensation, brought by intensive rehabilitation
brain can be taught to compensate for the lost function