Discus Two Effects of the Environment on Physiological Processes

1426 Words6 Pages
Discuss two effects of the environment on physiological processing (22marks) Neuroplasticity is the changing of neurons and the structure of their networks, and their function due to new experiences. Allowing neurons in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities to suit changes in enviroment or new situations. Neuroplasticity is useful for brain damages and treatment for traumatic injuries and strokes. I will now discuss what effects of the environment can affect and influence neuroplasticity to take place using studies and examples. Macquire (2000) carried out an experimement to investigate the role of the hippocampus and whether the brain has plasticity (change based on experience) as well as wanting to find out the difference in the brain between people with navigational memory and having to rely on there spacial awareness everyday for their job or lifestyle and other people who don't. He had a sample of two groups; an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group consisted of 16 male London taxi drivers aged 32-62yrs who're right-handed and had been driving for between 1.5years and 42years and are medically and psychologically healthy. The control group consisted of MRI scans from 50 right-handed males aged 32-62yrs. The taxi drivers brain was scanned using an MRI scanner. An MRI scan shows the structure of a brain without having to undergo surgery. The scans were then observed and compared to the control group's scans. They were observed in two ways; firstly through Vortex Based Morphometry (VBM), which measures the volume of Grey Matter in the brain and then pixel counting; which measures the size of the amount of grey matter in the brain. The pixel counting was carried out by a blind person to avoid bias. Overall, the VBM shows there was an increase in the amount of grey matter in the brains of the taxi

More about Discus Two Effects of the Environment on Physiological Processes

Open Document