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BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING - Coggle Diagram
BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING
1) THE BRAIN: BUILDING BLOCKS
2) BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
First stage: cell proliferation and migration
First two years
Second stage: connecting and reorganization
Growth of axons and dendrites
After the complete migration
Synaptogenesis
Why initial overproduction?
Opportunity for a rich variety of experience
Onset of cognitive function
Reaching of gray matter density peak
Synaptic pruning
The synapsis elimination depends on experience
Made the other synapses stronger
Chinese Monolingual VS Chinese Bilingual (Contrast L and R)
Myelination
Speeding in signal trasmission
We can study it with:
Structural MRI
Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Functional MRI
Regional differences in brain development
Cortical thinning (pruning) associated with improved verbal task performance
Example of longitudinal MRI study
Neurons (dendrites and axon)
Connected each others with synapses
Brain
Gray Matter
Dendrites and synapses
White Matter
Axons (myelin)
Different lobes
3) THE DEVELOPING BRAIN
Stronger and faster pathways defined by experience
Our brain is able to learn
Age-related differences
Children (more easy)
More experience-expectant
Ability to change in response to experiences
Let possible by surplus of synapses
Determines a sensitive period
Adults (less easy)
More experience-dependent
Effort to make possible changes due to experiences
Let possible by brain plasticity
Neurons have flexible connections modulable by experiences
Ex. modulation of neurotransmitters amount released
Demonstrated by MRI studies
Blind visual areas activation for auditory and tactile messages
Fast effects (blindfolded people after five days)
Sensory Substitution Devices
From auditory or tactile imput to visual output
Example of cross-modal plasticity