Plastic Brain 2 Video Analysis

The videos “Plastic Brain 1” and “Plastic Brain 2,” illustrate how the brain is malleable and that it is critical to foster neural connections with respect to vision at an early age, otherwise those necessary connections may never be made. The patient depicted in the videos, Holly, is an infant with a cataract that was subsequently surgically removed. This example was employed in order to illustrate how the brain forms visual processing and the importance of early intervention should visual abnormalities be detected in infants.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s malleability. In other words, the human brain is constantly forming new neural pathways, adapting and changing as a result of learning and experience. These connections are refined through an individual’s experience with the environment. Although these new connections are certainly forming at an accelerated rate during the formative years, they …show more content…
The reason this was done is that if the “good” eye was not patched following the surgery, Holly’s weaker eye would be continually battling with the “good” eye for brain space and to form the necessary cortical connections to function properly. With the “good” eye patched, Holly’s weaker eye has the opportunity to form the necessary neural connection without negatively impacting the “good” eye. The textbook supports this standpoint. It relates that if a child is born blind at birth, brain space that would ordinarily be utilized to form visual processing is taken up by other senses, such as hearing and touch (Belsky, 2016, p.75). In other words, the brain “uses it or loses it” if brain space is not utilized to build and strengthen neural connections for its given purpose, in this case visual processing. Evidence suggests that the neurons and neural space that are not engaged are subsequently acquired in order to heighten other sensory activities (Belsky, 2016,