Neuroplasticity: How the Brain Changes
Neuroplasticity: How the Brain Changes
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Neuroplasticity: How the Brain Changes
Open with the idea that the brain is not fixed. The attached true/false material supports correcting common myths: we do not use only 10 percent of the brain, brain development is not finished at puberty, and the brain can rewire itself after damage.
Learning goal
I can explain neuroplasticity as the brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to experience, learning, and injury.
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What words come to mind when you hear ‘neuroplasticity’ ?
Use this to surface prior ideas such as learning, change, brain, memory, recovery, injury, practice, or rewiring. Briefly address any myths that appear, such as the brain being fixed.
What neuroplasticity means
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change over time.
It can change because of experience, learning, practice, and injury. These changes may affect the brain’s structure or the way brain areas function.
Keep the definition broad first, then narrow to the two types of plasticity. If useful, connect to the attachment that describes neuroplasticity as change resulting from experience or injury.
The brain is not fixed
Brain change continues across the lifespan
Neural connections can be formed, strengthened, weakened, or reorganised
Some change supports normal development
Some change supports learning and memory
Some change supports recovery after damage
This slide addresses the common misconception that the brain is fully finished early in life. Emphasise that plasticity does not mean every function can fully recover, only that change is possible.
Two types of neuroplasticity
Physical change in the brain
New or altered synaptic connections
Often linked to learning, practice, and environment
Functional plasticity
Change in how brain areas work
Functions can shift to undamaged areas
Often discussed after injury or stroke
Structural plasticity
Make the distinction explicit: structural plasticity is about changes in physical organisation, while functional plasticity is about changes in the roles performed by brain regions or networks.
Neurogenesis as one form of change
Neurogenesis = creation of new neurons
Shows that some brain change involves new cells, not only new connections
Often discussed as part of the brain’s wider plasticity
Use this carefully as a supporting example, since the lesson focus is broader neuroplasticity rather than neurogenesis alone. The attachment notes that exercise may increase neurogenesis and social isolation may decrease it.
Which description best matches structural plasticity?
Physical brain change
Emotion regulation
Hormone release
Sleep patterns
Checks the distinction introduced across slides 2 to 5. The key idea is physical change in connections or organisation, not general brain activity.
Complete the summary
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change over time. Structural plasticity refers to physical change in the brain, such as altered synaptic connections. Functional plasticity refers to changes in how brain areas work, especially after injury. One broader form of change is neurogenesis, the creation of new neurons.
All three blanks are load-bearing terms from the first subtopic: the two types of plasticity and neurogenesis.
How would you explain structural vs functional plasticity?
Expected elements: neuroplasticity means the brain can change; structural plasticity involves physical changes such as new or altered synaptic connections; functional plasticity involves changes in how brain areas work, often after injury. Ask students to articulate the contrast in their own words.
How experience changes synapses
Experience changes communication between neurons at the synapse.
Repeated use can strengthen a pathway, while lack of use can weaken it. In this way, learning does not just add information; it changes how efficiently neurons signal together.
This begins the mechanism section. Define synapse briefly if needed as the junction where one neuron communicates with another.
Long-term potentiation
Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a long-lasting increase in synaptic strength
Repeated firing makes a neural pathway more efficient
Often summarised as: cells that fire together, wire together
LTP is a key biological basis for learning and memory
Attribute the phrase to Donald Hebb if you mention it aloud. Stress that AP Psychology uses LTP as a major explanation for how repeated activity can strengthen neural communication.
What strengthens a pathway
Repeated activation of the same network
More efficient neurotransmitter release
Greater responsiveness at the receiving neuron
Faster, smoother signalling over time
The attachment on LTP shows more neurotransmitter released and a larger concentration of receptors after repeated firing. You can explain these as examples of why signalling becomes easier.
Strengthening, weakening, reorganising
Neuroplastic change does not go in only one direction.
Strengthened connections support well-practised skills
Weakened connections may follow disuse
Reorganised networks can support new learning or compensation after damage
Students often remember strengthening but forget weakening and reorganisation. Keep all three visible because the prompt specifically asks for them.
What does long-term potentiation mainly do?
Blocks all signalling
Weakens all synapses
Strengthens pathways
Creates new lobes
Targets the mechanism block on slides 6 to 9. Students may confuse strengthening with neurogenesis or general growth.
Complete the mechanism
Experience changes communication between neurons at the synapse. Repeated use can strengthen a pathway, while lack of use can weaken it. Networks can also be reorganised to support new learning or compensation after damage.
Reinforces the key vocabulary students often miss: synapse, strengthen, weaken, reorganised.
Learning a new skill
At first, performance is slow and effortful
Practice repeatedly activates the same neural circuits
Synaptic connections strengthen through LTP
The skill becomes more accurate and more automatic
Use one clear example such as learning piano, typing, or a sport movement. Keep the emphasis on brain change through repeated activation rather than on the skill itself.
Why repetition matters
Practice and repetition help stabilise neural pathways.
Repeated use → stronger synaptic connections → more efficient signalling → better retention and performance
This is a good moment to connect learning with memory: repetition helps make pathways durable enough to support later recall and smoother performance.
Real-world example: London cab drivers
Learning complex city routes requires extensive spatial memory
Heavy practice is linked to structural brain change
This case is often used as evidence that experience can reshape the brain
You can mention that studies of London taxi drivers found differences associated with navigation experience, commonly discussed in relation to the hippocampus. Keep the point tied to structural plasticity from practice.
Plasticity and memory
Memory depends on changes in neural networks.
When experience repeatedly activates particular circuits, the brain becomes better able to recreate that pattern later. This is why neuroplasticity is central to both learning and memory.
Keep the explanation psychological rather than biochemical. The key link is that memory is supported by lasting changes in synaptic efficiency and network organisation.
Why does repetition improve a skill?
It stops brain change
It weakens circuits
It stabilises pathways
It removes neurons
Based on slides 10 to 13. The correct idea is that repeated practice strengthens and stabilises neural pathways, supporting performance and retention.
Complete the practice example
When learning a new skill, performance is slow at first. Practice repeatedly activates the same neural circuits, and synaptic connections strengthen through LTP. Over time, signalling becomes more efficient, supporting better memory and more automatic performance. The London cab driver example is often linked to structural plasticity from heavy navigation practice.
Uses only examples and wording already taught: practice, LTP, memory, and London cab drivers as evidence of structural change.
How can practice change the brain when learning a skill?
Expected elements: repeated practice activates the same circuits, strengthens synaptic connections through LTP, makes signalling more efficient, and improves retention or automatic performance. A good example could be piano, typing, sport, or route learning.
Functional plasticity after injury
Functional plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to shift functions when damage occurs.
Undamaged areas may take over some work previously done by damaged areas, helping a person regain abilities or develop compensatory strategies.
Clarify that recovery varies depending on age, severity, location of damage, and rehabilitation. Avoid suggesting that the brain simply replaces all lost function.
Recovery and compensation
Damage to one area does not always mean total loss forever
Other networks may reorganise to support the function
Recovery can be partial and gradual
Rehabilitation often relies on repeated practice to encourage reorganisation
This slide links the learning mechanism back to recovery: repetition matters in rehabilitation too, because practice can help strengthen alternative pathways.
Case study: Jody Miller
Had the right hemisphere removed at age 3
The left hemisphere compensated for many lost functions
This is a striking example of functional plasticity
The attached notes state that compensation occurred within weeks and that the left side almost completely compensated. Use the case to show the brain’s capacity to shift function, especially in early development.
Recovery after stroke
Stroke can damage brain tissue and impair movement or language
Recovery may involve functional reorganisation
Therapy uses practice to help rebuild or compensate for lost abilities
You may connect this to the attachment about Gabby Giffords as another functional plasticity example involving language difficulty and later recovery of abilities.
What neuroplasticity explains
Why children and adults continue to develop
Why practice improves performance
Why memory depends on lasting neural change
Why some recovery is possible after brain injury
Why the brain is adaptable rather than static
This is the landing slide for the lesson arc. It brings together development, learning, memory, and recovery under one idea.
Which is the best example of functional plasticity?
New spatial memory
Undamaged areas adapt
Extra sleep after study
Faster hormone release
Checks understanding of slides 14 to 18. Functional plasticity is about shifting function to undamaged areas, especially after injury or stroke.
Complete the recovery summary
After brain injury or stroke, functional plasticity may allow undamaged areas to take over some work. Recovery is often partial and gradual, and rehabilitation uses repeated practice to encourage reorganisation. The case of Jody Miller is a striking example of the brain’s ability to compensate for lost functions.
Anchors the subtopic’s key ideas: functional plasticity, partial recovery, rehabilitation, and compensation.
Which example best shows neuroplasticity in real life?
Expected elements: neuroplasticity explains ongoing development, improvement through practice, memory as lasting neural change, and some recovery after injury. Strong answers may connect repetition to both learning and rehabilitation.
What is one idea from this lesson you will remember?
Reflection only. Invite brief personal summaries such as one key concept, example, or connection they will remember.
What helped you understand neuroplasticity best today?
Reflection only. Encourage students to mention a slide, example, or explanation that helped, such as LTP, London cab drivers, or recovery after stroke.
Glossary
neuroplasticity - the brain’s ability to change its structure or function in response to experience, learning, or injury
structural plasticity - physical change in the brain, such as altered or new synaptic connections
functional plasticity - reorganisation of brain functions so undamaged areas can support lost abilities
synapse - the junction where one neuron communicates with another
long-term potentiation (LTP) - a long-lasting strengthening of synaptic connections after repeated activity
neurogenesis - the creation of new neurons
neural pathway - a route of communication formed by connected neurons
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