Plasticity and Functional Recovery

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about the plasticity of the brain and the recovery of brain function after trauma, focusing in particular on: (i) a definition of ‘brain plasticity’ as a term describing the brain’s ability to change, e.g. to develop from the brain of a newborn into an adult brain; (ii) a classic study by Blakemore and Cooper (1970) which investigated the effect of plastic changes in the brain of young kittens on their later development; (iii) how the brain’s plasticity can help to counteract certain birth defects; (iv) functional recovery in the brain after trauma; (v) four factors which may contribute to the recovery of brain function being the reduction of swelling, axonal sprouting, neurogenesis and constraint induced therapy.

About the lecturer

Mr Kevin Silber is a senior lecturer at the University of Derby where he primarily teaches biological psychology modules. Mr Silber is also an AQA A-Level examiner and is involved in authoring texts for A-Level psychology. Having started life as a neuroscientist, Mr Silber’s research interests still lie in biologically oriented topics. However, his main research interest is now focused on body image. Some of Mr Silber’s recent publications include ‘Working memory in children: A developmental approach to the phonological coding of pictorial material’ (2011) and ‘Sexual orientation and the sleep-wake cycle: A preliminary investigation’ (2000).