PSY 333D Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Synaptic Pruning, Frontal Lobe, Synaptogenesis
Document Summary
Adult human brain - 100 billion brain cells (neurons) Neurogenesis - most generated before birth (first 3 months of pregnancy) Division of stem cells (neurons and glia) - migrate away from other stem cells and only survive. Cerebellum and hippocampus large increase in cells after birth. Brain rearranges wiring development between dendrites and synapses. Pruning - cutback of initial growth connections. Many people argued policies to facilitate brain stimulation for young children before and during the first few years of schooling to promote optimal learning. Arguments based on 3 major findings in developmental neurobiology based on. In infancy there are dramatic increases in brain cell connections. Early in postnatal development (right after childbirth) - synaptic density (# of synapses per unit volume of brain tissue) increases enormously. Synaptogenesis - growth of dendrites and new synapses. Synaptic pruning - frequently used connections strengthened, infrequently used ones are eliminated.
