Study for the Nightingale Psychology Exam with our quiz. Get ready with flashcards and multiple choice questions, each with hints and explanations. Boost your psychology knowledge!

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of neuroplasticity?

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize its structure and function in response to experience, learning, or injury. Synaptic pruning exemplifies this because it is the process by which the brain trims away weaker or less-used synaptic connections, strengthening the remaining pathways and refining neural networks. This pruning is driven by activity and experience, so the brain’s wiring actually changes over time. It’s a clear example of how neural circuits are sculpted to become more efficient. Other options don’t show this adaptive rewiring: memory decay describes forgetting rather than structural change in connections; fixed neural connections imply no plasticity at all; peripheral nerve degeneration indicates tissue loss rather than the brain refining its wiring (though recovery can involve plastic changes, degeneration itself isn’t an example of plastic reorganization).

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to reorganize its structure and function in response to experience, learning, or injury. Synaptic pruning exemplifies this because it is the process by which the brain trims away weaker or less-used synaptic connections, strengthening the remaining pathways and refining neural networks. This pruning is driven by activity and experience, so the brain’s wiring actually changes over time. It’s a clear example of how neural circuits are sculpted to become more efficient.

Other options don’t show this adaptive rewiring: memory decay describes forgetting rather than structural change in connections; fixed neural connections imply no plasticity at all; peripheral nerve degeneration indicates tissue loss rather than the brain refining its wiring (though recovery can involve plastic changes, degeneration itself isn’t an example of plastic reorganization).