Brain plasticity

Prof. Dr. Hussein Abd EL Dayem

 CNS begins from 2  At birth, brain weighs weeks gestation 350 g, at one year 1000 g 10% of the cells are  Uses 20% of the body neurons ( 100 billion) energy Neurons makes 1,000 to  Consume 20 % of the 20,000 connections body oxygen There is no inferiority or  All parts of brain are superiority between involved in learning, male and female brains some more than other

ORGAN TRANSPLANTSNOT ONE NERVE CELLS • Kidney • Heart • Liver • Lung • Pancreas • Intestine • Cornea • Skin • Bone • Bone Marrow

 •The number of neurons that a child is born with is largely fixed around four months before birth •The most important mechanisms involved in the massive brain spurt that occurs in the early years of life are: –Myelination –Production of glial cells –Synaptogenesis: creation of synapses

Answer: Brain reacts and adapts in response to challenge.Brain Plasticitythe capability of the brain to alter its functional organization as a result of experience.

 Plasticity in physics : propensity of a material to undergo permanent deformation under load Entire brain structure can change to better cope with the environment. Specifically when an area of the brain is damaged and non- functional another area may take over some of the function

 Plasticity includes the brains capacity to be shaped or moulded by experience, the capacity to learn and remember, and the ability to reorganize and recover after injury

 Plasticity : the brain ability to change… Neurogenesis: new neurons migrate to different areas Synaptogenesis: development of connections with neurons This means that the brain is actually physically changing in response to information we receive! “ creation of synapses”

 adaptive plasticity that enhances skill development or recovery from brain injury impaired plasticity associated with cognitive impairment; as in fragileX syndrome excessive plasticity leading to maladaptive brain circuits as in focal dystonia plasticity that becomes the brains `Achilles Heel because makes it vulnerable to injury. As in SE

The brain can change in many ways such as: A change in the internal structure of the neurons, particularly at the area of synapses. An increase in the number of synapses between neurons.

FACT 1: FACT 2:Neuroplasticity includes several Neuroplasticity has a clear age-different processes that take place dependent determinant throughout a lifetime FACT 4: FACT 3: The Neuroplasticity occurs in the brain under twoenvironment primary conditions: plays a key 1. During normal brain development when the role in immature brain first begins to process sensory influencing information through adulthood (developmental plasticity. plasticity and plasticity of learning and memory). 2. As an adaptive mechanism to compensate for lost function and to maximize remaining functions in

 Neurons develop rapidly before birth. At birth, infants have all, or most, of the brain cells they will ever have. Connections or "wiring" between these cells is incomplete - connections have to be built. Between birth and 8 months synapses form rapidly. One neuron can connect with 15,000 other neurons. In the first 3 months of life, the synapses multiply more than 20 times. At 3 months, the baby has more than 1,000 trillion synapses.

Over the first few years of life, the brain grows rapidly. As each neuron matures, it sends out multiple branches (axons, which send information out, and dendrites, which take in Nerve cells information), increasing the number Impulse Sensory of synaptic contacts and laying the makes transmitted toinformation specific connections from neuron to connections with neuron. At birth, each neuron in the the brain one another cerebral cortex has approximately 2,500 synapses. By the time an infant is two or three years old, the number of synapses is approximately 15,000 synapses per neuron (Gopnick, et al., 1999).

it is responsible for deleting old connections as frequently as it enables the creation of new ones. synaptic pruning

 Connections that are not used are removed by "pruning" After the first birthday, pruning occurs more quickly. A 3-year-old child has twice as many connections as an adult. By 10 years, a child has nearly 500 trillion synapses, which is the same as the average adult.

As we age, old connections are deletedSynaptic pruning eliminates weaker synaptic contactswhile stronger connections are kept and strengthened.Experience determines which connections will bestrengthened and which will be pruned; connectionsthat have been activated most frequently are preserved

Neurons must have a purpose tosurvive. Without apurpose, neurons die through aprocess called apoptosis in whichneurons that do not receive ortransmit information becomedamaged and die.

 Early childhood experiences physically determine how the brain is "wired." Early sensory experiences create new synapses. Repetition of experiences strengthen them. The number of connections can go up or down by 25 % or more, depending on the enrichment of the environment. Those synapses that arent used are pruned.

 At about age 10, the brain begins to dramatically prune extra connections and make order of the tangled circuitry of the brain. Pruning occurs for about 12 years but the brain maintains flexibility for future learning New synapses grow throughout life Adults continue to learn, but they do not master new skills so quickly Learning language is an example of this principle.

 At 3 months the brain has the potential to distinguish several hundred spoken sounds. Over the next few months the brain organizes itself to recognize only the sounds it hears. During early childhood the brain retains plasticity for this information  The ability to discriminate sounds it has discarded After age ten, this plasticity is lost This is why young children can easily learn foreign languages accent-free.  Older children & adults can still learn language, but more effort is required.

 Touch, sound, sight, taste, smell, all build connections . Some researchers, believe "the number of words an infant hears each day is the single most important predictor of later intelligence, school success, and social competence." Touch also is key to brain development  Research on infant massage suggests that in preemies, massage causes faster growth and development.

 Infants in environmentally deprived facilities have brains smaller than those of children who grow up in sensually rich environments Studies of over 1,000 abused and neglected children found that children who were rarely touched or spoken to had brains 20-30% smaller than most children their age. In some cases the brains of children from deprived environments resemble the brains of Alzheimers patients. Animals raised in zoos have brains that are 20-30% smaller than animals raised in the wild.

Children have an enhanced capacity for brain plasticity compared to adults : 1- their superior ability to learn a second language or 2-their capacity to recover from brain injuries as in stroke or radical surgery such as hemispherectomy for epilepsy

 neuroplasticity is the lifelong ability of our brains to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences as learning Period of heightened plasticity during ontogeny. Critical periods: limited time during which the nervous system displays heightened sensitivity to environmental stimuli and develops in particular directions as a result of these stimuli.

 Neurons that fire together wire together! When cells are active together synapses are strengthened and preserved. The neurons & synapses that are activated repeatedly are preserved while those who aren’t are pruned.

 • Cortical maps • Synaptic morphology • Dendritic morphology • Synaptic strength • Receptor binding • Neurogenesis • others

 Challenges to the brain create change throughout our lifetime. Intention can change our brain. Intention to move the eyes has an effect even if you cannot move the eyes Exercise and Fun Increase Brain Function Physical Touch Brings Healing

 The plasticity of the brain is maximal during the first 2 years of life; the critical period. In this period crucial experiences will have its peak effect on development or learning. After the critical period, the brain may never again show the same ability to make big changes in neuronal connectivity.

Normal ChildrenRewiring Learning,Repairing Storing,Recovering Adapting BENEFITS Early Intervention Delayed Program

Synaptic turnoverExperience dependent changesAge related changes

 EIP is a program that aims at saving kids who are at risk of developing a handicapping condition or other special need that may affect their development.

 Children are eligible for the Early Intervention Program if they are under three years old AND have a disability OR developmental delay.

 Child development research has established that the rate of human learning and development is most rapid in the preschool years. Timing of intervention becomes particularly important when a child runs the risk of missing an opportunity to learn during a state of maximum readiness

 The Early Intervention Program offers a variety of therapeutic and support services to eligible infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families, including:

family education and counseling, home visits, and parent support groupsspecial instructionspeech pathology and audiology

occupational therapyphysical therapypsychological services

Nursing ServicesNutrition ServicesSocial work studiesAnd other services ….

 Early intervention services have a significant impact on the parents and siblings of an exceptional infant or young child. The family of a young exceptional child often feels disappointment, social isolation, added stress, frustration, and helplessness. The compounded stress of the presence of an exceptional child may affect the familys well- being and interfere with the childs development.

 Families of handicapped children are found to experience increased instances of divorce and suicide, and the handicapped child is more likely to be abused than is a non- handicapped child. Early intervention can result in parents having improved attitudes about themselves and their child, improved information and skills for teaching their child, and more release time for leisure and employment.

Only qualified professionals – individualswho are licensed, certified, or registered intheir discipline and approved by the State –can deliver early intervention services. Allearly intervention services can be given usingany of the following service models:

 Home- and community-based visits. Facility or center-based visits. Parent-child groups. Family support groups. Group developmental intervention.

 there are a few factors which are present in most studies that report the greatest effectiveness. These program features include: (a) the age of the child at the time of intervention; (b) parent involvement ; and (c) the intensity and/or the amount of structure of the program model

After nearly 50 years of research, there isevidence--both quantitative (data-based) andqualitative (reports of parents and teachers)--that early intervention increases thedevelopmental and educational gains for thechild, improves the functioning of the family,and reaps long-term benefits for society.

 recovery is remarkable when the brain is damaged early in life

DS GDD

CP SPASTIC DIPLEGIA

 IN cortical blindness IN cortical deafness

FINE MOTOR

GROUP THERAPY

 Auditory discrimination ability better in blind than sighted adults Better sound localization ability??? Altered center, ? Altered peripheral?

 BRAIN INJURY Brain plasticity helps in recovery from brain injuries such as that caused from stroke or head trauma. Recent studies showed that brain cells surrounding the damaged area undergo changes in their function & shape that allow them to take on the function of the damaged cells.

 Brain plasticity helps in recovery from brain injuries such as that caused from stroke or head trauma Recent studies showed that brain cells surrounding the damaged area undergo changes in their function & shape that allow them to take on the function of the damaged cells.

New brain cells (neurons) can be grown our entire life in the hippocampus

 BY making new learning a priority activity in your everyday life BY regularly exercising your brain : exposing your brain to the kinds of information, images, concepts, relationships that you would like the majority of your thoughts to be made up of, these are activities that can truly change your brain!

 If you can devote some time to new learning and experiences as well as exercising your brain and acquiring new skills….. >>>>>>>>>>>>> DO IT Dont let age serve as an excuse, either: as the research has shown, your brains plasticity is largely intact and waiting, even into old age. So sorry, no saying "Im too old to learn Japanese" or "Im no good at even simple math equations anymore".

 FACT 1: Neuroplasticity includes several different processes that take place throughout a lifetime. FACT 2: Neuroplasticity has a clear age-dependent determinant. Although plasticity occurs over an individual’s lifetime, different types of plasticity dominate during certain periods of one’s life and are less prevalent during other periods

 FACT 3: Neuroplasticity occurs in the brain under two primary conditions: 1. During normal brain development when the immature brain first begins to process sensory information through adulthood (developmental plasticity and plasticity of learning and memory). 2. As an adaptive mechanism to compensate for lost function and/or to maximize remaining functions in the event of brain injury.

THANK YOU> AHMED M. GHAZAL> AHMED M. BILTAGY> AHMED M. TAHA> AHMED M. SAAD> AHMED M. YOUNES

Brain plasticity

by Hussein Abdeldayem

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