Active learning ideas
Plasticity and functional recovery challenge the old belief that the adult brain is a static organ. Students learn how the brain can reorganise itself by forming new neural connections throughout life (plasticity) and how it can compensate for damage following trauma (functional recovery). Key concepts include axonal sprouting, recruitment of homologous areas, and the impact of age and education on recovery.
Activity 01
Groups analyse Maguire et al.'s study on taxi drivers. They must create a 'before and after' visual representation of the hippocampus and explain how 'The Knowledge' physically changed the drivers' brain structure.
How does the brain adapt physically to new experiences?
Activity 02
Students use string or pipe cleaners to model neural pathways. When the teacher 'damages' a primary pathway, the group must demonstrate 'axonal sprouting' or 'recruitment of homologous areas' by creating new connections with their materials.
What mechanisms allow for functional recovery after brain trauma?
Activity 03
Students are given factors like age, gender, and level of education. They work individually to predict how each affects brain recovery, pair up to compare their logic, and share their conclusions based on psychological research.
How does age affect the brain's neuroplasticity?
A few notes on teaching this unit
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Brain plasticity only happens in children.
While plasticity is more rapid in childhood, the brain retains the ability to rewire itself throughout adulthood. Using case studies of adult stroke victims helps students see that recovery and change are lifelong processes.
Functional recovery means the brain grows new lobes to replace damaged ones.
The brain doesn't grow new 'parts'; it reorganises existing neurons or uses similar areas on the opposite side of the brain. Hands-on modelling of 'recruitment' helps students understand this subtle but important distinction.
Methods used in this brief
Localisation of Function in the Brain
Students map the motor, somatosensory, visual, and auditory centres of the brain. They also study Broca's and Wernicke's areas and the effects of specific brain damage.
8 methodologies
Ways of Studying the Brain
Students evaluate various scanning techniques used to investigate brain activity. This includes functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalogram (EEG), event-related potentials (ERPs), and post-mortem examinations.
8 methodologies
Biological Rhythms
An exploration of circadian, infradian, and ultradian rhythms. Students will examine the crucial roles of endogenous pacemakers and exogenous zeitgebers in regulating these cycles.
8 methodologies