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Module 1.4a

The Power of Neuroplasticity

1.4-2 How do biology and experience together enable neuroplasticity?
oplasticity?
How do biology and experience together enable neur
1.4-2
Your brain is sculpted not only by your genes but also by your life. Under the surface
of your awareness, your brain is constantly changing, building new pathways as it
adjusts to little mishaps and new experiences. This change is called neuroplasticity .
Neuroplasticity is greatest in childhood, but it persists throughout life ( Lindenberger &
Lövdén, 2019 ).
To see neuroplasticity at work, consider London’s taxi driver trainees. They spend years neuroplasticity the brain’s
learning and remembering the city’s 25,000 street locations and connections. For the half ability to change, especially
® Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Not for redistribution.
who pass the difficult final test, big rewards are in store: not only a better income but also an during childhood, by reorganizing
enlarged hippocampus, one of the brain’s memory centers that processes spatial memories. after damage or by building new
London’s bus drivers, who navigate a smaller set of roads, gain no similar neural rewards pathways based on experience.
Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
( Maguire et al. , 2000 , 2006 ; Woollett & Maguire, 2012 ).
We also see neuroplasticity in well-practiced pia-
nists, who have a larger-than-usual auditory cortex area, The mind’s eye Daniel Kish, who

a sound-processing region ( Bavelier et al., 2000 ; Pantev is completely blind, enjoys going for
et al., 1998 ). Practice likewise sculpts the brains of bal- walks in the woods. To stay safe,
he uses echolocation — the same
lerinas, jugglers, and unicyclists ( Draganski et al., 2004 ; navigation method used by bats and
Hänggi et al., 2010 ; Weber et al., 2019 ). dolphins. Blind echolocation experts
Your brain is a work in progress. The brain you were such as Kish engage the brain’s visual
centers to navigate their surroundings
born with is not the brain you will die with. Even lim- ( Thaler et al. , 2011 , 2014 ). Although
ited practice times may produce neural benefits. If you Kish is blind, his flexible brain helps
spend 45 minutes learning how to play the piano, as did World Access for the Blind him “see.”
non-piano-playing participants in one study, you may
grow your motor learning–related brain areas ( Tavor
et al., 2020 ). Even an hour of learning produces sub-
tle brain changes ( Brodt et al., 2018 ).
Remember that the next time you Marian Diamond (1926–2017)
attend class! This ground-breaking neuroscientist
Neuroplasticity is part of what makes explored how experience changes the
brain.
humans exceptional ( Gómez-Robles et al.,
2015 ). Think of how much the world has
changed over the past 50 years, and how
much more it will change in the next 50.
Our neuroplasticity enables us, more than
other species, to adapt to our changing
Luna Productions
world ( Roberts & Stewart, 2018 ).

AP Science Practice Check Your Understanding

Examine the Concept Apply the Concept
▶ Explain neuroplasticity . ▶ Which skills did you practice the most as a child — sports,
▶ Explain how learning a new skill affects the structure of our music, cooking, video gaming? Explain how this affected your
brain. brain development and how your brain will continue to develop
with new learning and new skills.

Answers to the Examine the Concept questions can be found in Appendix C at the end of the book.

The Brain: Neuroplasticity and Tools of Discovery Module 1.4a 57

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