Neuronal Plasticity
$1.95
2 word format
document in english
psychology
research papers
date published 13/11/2007
review : not yet assessed
level : Advanced
requested 0 times
SummarySynaptic plasticity is a property of adult as well as developing or young cortex, and reflects how synaptic strength changes with experience. Its relevance to psychiatry is seen in the course of the illnesses psychiatrists treat. Clinical research supports the notion that psychiatric illnesses progress and become more refractory to treatment over time. This has been demonstrated most clearly in bipolar disorders and schizophrenia. The expression or severity of an illness changing over time implies an underlying change in the neurobiology of the illness. Neuroscience studies of learning and memory have helped to illuminate the plasticity of adult cortex, which can be used as a blueprint for brain changes associated with psychiatric illnesses. What evidence is there for structural brain changes with learning?
Table of Contents
- Cortical Remodeling Human functional neuroimaging studies demonstrate changes in neural activity patterns as a behavior or a response is learned.
- Neurotransmitters modulate the changes associated with learning and synaptic strengthening.
- Following activation of protein kinases, LTP depends on RNA transcription and protein synthesis and cAMP plays a central role in this process.
- GAP-43 is another molecule important in adult cortical plasticity.
- Progression of Illness In schizophrenia, the longer a person goes without seeking treatment, the more refractory the illness becomes, requiring more time on and higher doses of medication before symptoms remit.
- Not surprisingly, antipsychotic medications induce the expression of c-fos and c-jun.
- These recent observations on the intracellular effects of psychiatric medications have potentially far-reaching implications for the understanding of mental illness and approaches to their treatments.
Latest in the category psychology From the same author
knowledge network