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| Format: | Artículo científico |
| Language: | en |
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Academia Brasileira de Ciências
2001
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| Online Access: | https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=32773206 |
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Table of Contents:
- Response of the Brain to Enrichment Marian C. Diamond Multidisciplinaria (Ciencias Naturales y Exactas) aging dendrites enrichment hippocampus cerebral cortex Before 1960, the brain was considered by scientists to be immutable, subject only to genetic control. Inthe early sixties, however, investigators were seriously speculating that environmental influences might becapable of altering brain structure. By 1964, two research laboratories proved that the morphology andchemistry or physiology of the brain could be experientially altered (Bennett et al. 1964, Hubel andWiesel1965). Since then, the capacity of the brain to respond to environmental input, specifically enrichment,has become an accepted fact among neuroscientists, educators and others. In fact, the demonstration thatenvironmental enrichment can modify structural components of the rat brain at any age altered prevailingpresumptions about the brains plasticity (Diamond et al. 1964, Diamond 1988).The cerebral cortex, the area associated with higher cognitive processing, is more receptive than other partsof the brain to environmental enrichment. The message is clear: Although the brain possesses a relativelyconstant macrostructural organization, the ever-changing cerebral cortex, with its complex microarchitectureof unknown potential, is powerfully shaped by experiences before birth, during youth and, in fact, throughoutlife. It is essential to note that enrichment effects on the brain have consequences on behavior. Parents,educators, policy makers, and individuals can all benefit from such knowledge. 2001 artículo científico 0001-3765 https://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=32773206 en http://www.redalyc.org/revista.oa?id=327 Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências application/pdf Academia Brasileira de Ciências Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências (Brasil) Num.2 Vol.73