Brain Plasticity & Functional Recovery

Which of the following statements about brain plasticity is FALSE?

• Brain plasticity is limited to early childhood
• Brain plasticity involves changes in neural connections due to experiences
• Brain plasticity can occur in response to learning new skills
• Brain plasticity enables recovery of function after trauma

What did Kemperman et al.’s (1997) study on rats demonstrate about brain plasticity?

• Rats in control cages had a larger hippocampus
• A complex environment increased the number of neurons in the hippocampus
• Rats in both environments showed the same brain structure
• Rats cannot demonstrate brain plasticity due to their simpler brain structure

What key limitation applies to Kemperman et al.'s study on brain plasticity?

• It did not include a control group
• The results cannot be directly generalized to humans
• The study did not measure brain activity
• The rats in the control condition were not given food or water

Which part of the brain was found to be larger in London taxi drivers according to Maguire et al. (2000)?

• Prefrontal cortex
• Anterior hippocampus
• Posterior hippocampus
• Cerebellum

What correlation did Maguire et al. (2000) identify in their study on taxi drivers?

• The longer the time as a taxi driver, the smaller the hippocampus
• The longer the time as a taxi driver, the larger the posterior hippocampus
• No correlation was found between experience and brain structure
• Taxi drivers had smaller hippocampi than non-taxi drivers

Which of the following did Kuhn et al. (2014) find in their study on video games?

• The control group showed increased brain plasticity
• Playing Super Mario increased grey matter in the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and cerebellum
• Grey matter changes were unrelated to cognitive or motor skills

What conclusion was drawn from Bezzola et al.’s (2012) study on golf practice?

• The motor cortex showed reduced activity after practice due to increased efficiency
• Golf practice increased motor cortex activity due to new neural connections
• Golf practice only affected participants under 40 years old
• The study failed to demonstrate evidence of brain plasticity

Which of the following is NOT a process involved in functional recovery after trauma?

• Axonal sprouting
• Neuronal unmasking
• Recruitment of homologous areas
• Synaptic pruning

What factor most strongly influenced the brain’s ability to recover in the case of Jody Miller?

• Gender
• Age
• Education
• Type of brain injury

What did Ratcliff et al. (2007) find about gender differences in functional recovery after brain trauma?

• Males performed better in working memory tests
• Females performed better in attention and working memory tasks
• Females had no cognitive advantages in recovery
• Males performed worse in visual analytical skills after trauma