What is the term for the brain's capacity to change and reorganize in response to experience?

What is the term for the brain's capacity to change and reorganize in response to experience?

• A. Neuroplasticity
• B. Neurogenesis
• C. Synaptic Pruning
• D. Lateralization

Answer: (A)

The brain's ability to change and reorganize in response to experience is called neuroplasticity. This means learning new skills, practicing, or recovering from injury can alter how neurons connect and communicate, strengthening some pathways while weakening others, and sometimes even shifting functions to different brain areas. For example, becoming proficient at a musical instrument can grow the neural networks involved in hearing and motor control, and after a stroke, other parts of the brain can adapt to take over lost functions. Neurogenesis, by contrast, is the birth of new neurons, which is a specific process within the broader idea of plasticity but does not by itself describe the brain's overall capacity to reorganize. Synaptic pruning refers to the elimination of synapses to make neural networks more efficient, mainly during development. Lateralization is about certain functions being dominant in one hemisphere. Neuroplasticity encompasses the wide-ranging, experience-driven changes that these other terms touch on in particular ways.

The brain's ability to change and reorganize in response to experience is called neuroplasticity. This means learning new skills, practicing, or recovering from injury can alter how neurons connect and communicate, strengthening some pathways while weakening others, and sometimes even shifting functions to different brain areas. For example, becoming proficient at a musical instrument can grow the neural networks involved in hearing and motor control, and after a stroke, other parts of the brain can adapt to take over lost functions.

Neurogenesis, by contrast, is the birth of new neurons, which is a specific process within the broader idea of plasticity but does not by itself describe the brain's overall capacity to reorganize. Synaptic pruning refers to the elimination of synapses to make neural networks more efficient, mainly during development. Lateralization is about certain functions being dominant in one hemisphere. Neuroplasticity encompasses the wide-ranging, experience-driven changes that these other terms touch on in particular ways.