Neuroplasticity - Biological Level Of Analysis

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Nathalie Zheng IB2        Psychology HL 20101019

Discuss two effects of the environment on physiological processes.

Introduction to neuroplasticity and how the environment affects the brain

It is assumed that human beings learn through their sensory inputs when situated in a new environment. The key to this theory is that the brain can determine and change a person’s behavior, but that the environment and one’s behavior can also change the brain. The term neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to rearrange its neural connections – that is through learning and experience, new traces in the brain are created through neurons.

Prior to experiments and studies involving neuroplasticity and environmental enrichment, it was thought that only genetics influenced the brain and it was therefore believed that the brain is unalterable. However, for the past few decades, researchers have found through experimental studies that the environment plays a significant role in the development of the brain. One of the earliest studies conducted by Hubel and Wiesel in 1965 implied that the brain can be altered by environmental inputs. Though, it was not until the 1970s that a clear demonstration of this type of experiment was presented.

The research psychologist Mark Rosenzweig proposed the idea that the brain continues to develop after infancy through human life experiences and that one’s behavior is heavily influenced by one’s environment. In the early 1970s, Mark Rosenzweig and his colleagues conducted an experiment in order to find to what extent the environment affects the development of neurons in the cerebral cortex. Rosenzweig and his colleagues were interested in how high levels of simulation would affect the chemistry of the brain as well as brain growth.

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The experimental features of the study

The experiment conducted by Rosenzweig and his colleagues involved male rats from different litters, which were randomly placed into two different environments; enriched and deprived. The rats placed in an enriched and stimulating environment were presented with several toys to play with, whereas rats placed in the enclosed deprived environment were exposed to no toys and a smaller cage. The rats spent from 30 to 60 days in their assigned environment before they were sacrificed. The brains of the rats were then dissected in order to analyze, weigh and measure the various sections of ...

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