What Is Meant By Plasticity On The Context Of Neural...

SOWK 506 Quiz 1 Part 1: Explain what is meant by plasticity in the context of neural development and briefly describe how it occurs as a lifelong process. The term plasticity is commonly defined as â€Å"the quality of being easily shaped or molded.† But when this term is used in the context of neural development, one may refer to this as brain plasticity and/or neuroplasticity, which means that the brain has the ability to change over a lifespan. Changes in one’s brain can occur by gaining knowledge (â€Å"exercising the mind†), memorization, stress, genes, hormones, and one’s environment. Neuroplasticity is a process. As individuals go through the stages of life, he/she experiences the different stages of neuroplasticity (Nelson, 2011). These stages include prenatal and postnatal events that give rise to human brain functioning. The major prenatal events include neural induction, neurulation, cell proliferation and migration, followed by differentiation, apoptosis , and axonal outgrowth. Myelination and synaptogenesis fall into both categories of prenatal and postnatal (Nelson, 2011). Up until the 1960s, researchers believed that the brain could change only during the infancy to childhood period, and that the brain structure was permanent through adulthood. However, modern research tells us that the brain continues to create new neural pathways and alter existing ones in order to adapt to new experiences, learn new information and create new memories. Four Key Facts The