Plasticity

Plasticity In psychology, when we talk about plasticity we're referring to "brain plasticity", which refers to the ability for nerve cells to change through new experiences. The process of changing nerve cells is learning, and it was once believed that the only kind of change that could take place after childhood was related to strength in nerve cell connection, not the ability for the cells to actually change. Most psychologists now believe that nerve cells actually can continue to change and function well into adulthood. What does this mean for you? Well, it seems that the old saying is wrong - you really can teach an old dog new tricks.

Abstract Phenotypic plasticity is defined as the property of organisms to produce distinct phenotypes in response to environmental variation. While for more than a century, biologists have proposed this organismal feature... Phenotypic plasticity is defined as the property of organisms to produce distinct phenotypes in response to environmental variation. While for more than a century, biologists have proposed this organismal feature to play an important role in evolution and the origin of novelty, the idea has remained contentious. Plasticity is found in all domains of life, but only recently has there been an increase in empirical studies. This contribution is intended as a fresh view and will discuss current and future challenges of plasticity research, and the need to identify associated molecular mechanisms. After a brief summary of conceptual, theoretical, and historical aspects, some of which were responsible for confusion and contention, I will formulate three major research directions and predictions for the role of plasticity as a facilitator of novelty. These predictions result in a four-step model that, when properly filled with molecular mechanisms, will reveal plasticity as a major factor of evolution. Such mechanistic insight must be complemented with comparative investigations to show that plasticity has indeed created novelty and innovation. Together, such studies will help develop a true developmental evolutionary biology. Pristionchus, Spea, Ontophagus, ...

Educator, Researcher BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester Saul Mcleod, Ph.D., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years experience of working in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology. Learn about our • Brain plasticity, also known as neuroplasticity, is the biological, chemical, and physical capacity of the brain to reorganize its structure and function. • Neuroplasticity occurs as a result of learning, experience, and memory formation or as a result of damage to the brain. • Learning and new experiences cause new neural pathways to strengthen, whereas neural pathways which are used infrequently become weak and eventually die. This process is called synaptic pruning. • Although traditionally associated with changes in childhood, recent research indicates that mature brains continue to show plasticity due to learning. • Neuroplasticity provides protective effects in managing traumas during human development (Cioni et al., 2011). Also, learning music or second languages can increase neuroplasticity (Herholtz & Zatorre, 2012). • Plasticity allows the brain to cope better with the indirect effects of brain damage resulting from inadequate blood supply following a stroke. • Fundamentally, the nervous system needs to rearrange itself to adapt to the unfolding situation that it faces. The genes program the body to have neuroplasticity so that animals can survive ...

Geotechnical characteristics of a soil related to its water content The Atterberg limits are a basic measure of the critical water contents of a fine-grained shrinkage limit, plastic limit, and liquid limit. Depending on its These limits were created by Distinctions in soils are used in assessing soil which is to have a structure built on them. Soils when wet retain water, and some expand in volume ( Laboratory tests [ ] Shrinkage limit [ ] The shrinkage limit (SL) is the water content where further loss of moisture will not result in more volume reduction. Plastic limit [ ] The plastic limit (PL) is determined by rolling out a thread of the fine portion of a soil on a flat, non-porous surface. The procedure is defined in The plastic limit is defined as the Liquid limit [ ] The liquid limit (LL) is conceptually defined as the water content at which the behavior of a clayey soil changes from the Casagrande's method [ ] Atterberg's original liquid limit test involved mixing a pat of clay in a round-bottomed porcelain bowl of 10–12cm diameter. A groove was cut through the pat of clay with a spatula, and the bowl was then struck many times against the palm of one hand. Casagrande subsequently standardized the apparatus (by incorporating a crank-rotated cam mechanism to standardize the dropping action) and the procedures to make the measurement more repeatable. Soil is placed into the metal cup (Casagrande cup) portion of the device and a groove is made down at its center with ...

Our brains are famously flexible, or “plastic,” because neurons can do new things by forging new or stronger connections with other neurons. But if some connections strengthen, neuroscientists have reasoned, neurons must compensate lest they become overwhelmed with input. In a new study in Science, researchers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT demonstrate for the first time how this balance is struck: when one connection, called a synapse, strengthens, immediately neighboring synapses weaken based on the action of a crucial protein called Arc. Senior author Mriganka Sur said he was excited but not surprised that his team discovered a simple, fundamental rule at the core of such a complex system as the brain, where 100 billion neurons each have thousands of ever-changing synapses. He likens it to how a massive school of fish can suddenly change direction, en masse, so long as the lead fish turns and every other fish obeys the simple rule of following the fish right in front of it. “Collective behaviors of complex systems always have simple rules,” says Sur, the Paul E. and Lilah Newton Professor of Neuroscience in the Picower Institute and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. “When one synapse goes up, within 50 micrometers there is a decrease in the strength of other synapses using a well-defined molecular mechanism.” This finding, he said, provides an explanation of how synaptic strengthening and weakening combine in neurons to prod...

Geotechnical characteristics of a soil related to its water content The Atterberg limits are a basic measure of the critical water contents of a fine-grained shrinkage limit, plastic limit, and liquid limit. Depending on its These limits were created by Distinctions in soils are used in assessing soil which is to have a structure built on them. Soils when wet retain water, and some expand in volume ( Laboratory tests [ ] Shrinkage limit [ ] The shrinkage limit (SL) is the water content where further loss of moisture will not result in more volume reduction. Plastic limit [ ] The plastic limit (PL) is determined by rolling out a thread of the fine portion of a soil on a flat, non-porous surface. The procedure is defined in The plastic limit is defined as the Liquid limit [ ] The liquid limit (LL) is conceptually defined as the water content at which the behavior of a clayey soil changes from the Casagrande's method [ ] Atterberg's original liquid limit test involved mixing a pat of clay in a round-bottomed porcelain bowl of 10–12cm diameter. A groove was cut through the pat of clay with a spatula, and the bowl was then struck many times against the palm of one hand. Casagrande subsequently standardized the apparatus (by incorporating a crank-rotated cam mechanism to standardize the dropping action) and the procedures to make the measurement more repeatable. Soil is placed into the metal cup (Casagrande cup) portion of the device and a groove is made down at its center with ...

Plasticity In psychology, when we talk about plasticity we're referring to "brain plasticity", which refers to the ability for nerve cells to change through new experiences. The process of changing nerve cells is learning, and it was once believed that the only kind of change that could take place after childhood was related to strength in nerve cell connection, not the ability for the cells to actually change. Most psychologists now believe that nerve cells actually can continue to change and function well into adulthood. What does this mean for you? Well, it seems that the old saying is wrong - you really can teach an old dog new tricks.

Abstract Phenotypic plasticity is defined as the property of organisms to produce distinct phenotypes in response to environmental variation. While for more than a century, biologists have proposed this organismal feature... Phenotypic plasticity is defined as the property of organisms to produce distinct phenotypes in response to environmental variation. While for more than a century, biologists have proposed this organismal feature to play an important role in evolution and the origin of novelty, the idea has remained contentious. Plasticity is found in all domains of life, but only recently has there been an increase in empirical studies. This contribution is intended as a fresh view and will discuss current and future challenges of plasticity research, and the need to identify associated molecular mechanisms. After a brief summary of conceptual, theoretical, and historical aspects, some of which were responsible for confusion and contention, I will formulate three major research directions and predictions for the role of plasticity as a facilitator of novelty. These predictions result in a four-step model that, when properly filled with molecular mechanisms, will reveal plasticity as a major factor of evolution. Such mechanistic insight must be complemented with comparative investigations to show that plasticity has indeed created novelty and innovation. Together, such studies will help develop a true developmental evolutionary biology. Pristionchus, Spea, Ontophagus, ...

Our brains are famously flexible, or “plastic,” because neurons can do new things by forging new or stronger connections with other neurons. But if some connections strengthen, neuroscientists have reasoned, neurons must compensate lest they become overwhelmed with input. In a new study in Science, researchers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT demonstrate for the first time how this balance is struck: when one connection, called a synapse, strengthens, immediately neighboring synapses weaken based on the action of a crucial protein called Arc. Senior author Mriganka Sur said he was excited but not surprised that his team discovered a simple, fundamental rule at the core of such a complex system as the brain, where 100 billion neurons each have thousands of ever-changing synapses. He likens it to how a massive school of fish can suddenly change direction, en masse, so long as the lead fish turns and every other fish obeys the simple rule of following the fish right in front of it. “Collective behaviors of complex systems always have simple rules,” says Sur, the Paul E. and Lilah Newton Professor of Neuroscience in the Picower Institute and the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. “When one synapse goes up, within 50 micrometers there is a decrease in the strength of other synapses using a well-defined molecular mechanism.” This finding, he said, provides an explanation of how synaptic strengthening and weakening combine in neurons to prod...

Educator, Researcher BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester Saul Mcleod, Ph.D., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years experience of working in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology. Learn about our • Brain plasticity, also known as neuroplasticity, is the biological, chemical, and physical capacity of the brain to reorganize its structure and function. • Neuroplasticity occurs as a result of learning, experience, and memory formation or as a result of damage to the brain. • Learning and new experiences cause new neural pathways to strengthen, whereas neural pathways which are used infrequently become weak and eventually die. This process is called synaptic pruning. • Although traditionally associated with changes in childhood, recent research indicates that mature brains continue to show plasticity due to learning. • Neuroplasticity provides protective effects in managing traumas during human development (Cioni et al., 2011). Also, learning music or second languages can increase neuroplasticity (Herholtz & Zatorre, 2012). • Plasticity allows the brain to cope better with the indirect effects of brain damage resulting from inadequate blood supply following a stroke. • Fundamentally, the nervous system needs to rearrange itself to adapt to the unfolding situation that it faces. The genes program the body to have neuroplasticity so that animals can survive ...