Brain plasticity in learning and neurophysiological mechanisms of learning
Project description
Our ability to acquire new skills and learn new information depends upon our brains’ capacity to change. This phenomenon, referred to as Neuroplasticity, occurs during normal development and exposure to new environments, and as a result of learning in adulthood.
One of the manifestations of neuroplasticity are structural modifications of brain tissue. In recent years such modifications in gray matter regions were detected after short learning periods (weeks, days and even hours), by comparing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) brain images between two time-points: before and after learning.
In this study we intend to characterize learning-induced neuroplasticity as a continuous process, rather than taking ‘snapshots’ of the brain before and after learning. To achieve that, we have developed a unique protocol that takes a micro-structural image every few seconds while participants perform different learning tasks within the MRI scanner. Using this protocol, we will collect a dataset depicting continuous structural changes in the learning brain. By exploring these novel data, we aim to uncover new aspects of neuroplasticity and human learning capacity.
About me
Naama received her BSc in Psychobiology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her MSc in Neuroscience from the Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University. She is currently a PhD student at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. During her MSc studies, Naama developed a model for single subject-based analysis of learning-induced structural changes in the human brain, working with diffusion MRI. In her PhD, Naama investigates different types of learning, focusing mainly on motor and spatial learning, and the structural changes that accompany them. Specifically, she adapts several tasks (for example, navigating a race track or playing the piano) to be performed within the MRI scanner. To measure the continuous structural changes, she develops a novel MRI protocol that enables the detection of continuous structural changes that occur in participants’ brains while learning these tasks.