Question 4 - Practice 1

Question 4

Practice 1

Reading and Lecture

Now listen to a related lecture. Fill in the missing information.

W: Although it once wasn’t that possible, neuroscientists now believe that there are at least two different ways that a damaged adult brain can achieve some amount of recovery.

First, in certain areas of our brain… cells that have been lost through damage can be replaced by new ones.

In a 1998 study of dead human brain tissue, researchers discovered that neurons, or brain cells can actually re-grow themselves after they had suffered damage. Neurons that have not been damaged can divided into multiple neurons.

This ability to regenerate can occur throughout our lives, allowing areas of the adult brain to recover to a certain degree after serious brain damage.

Unfortunately, this ability can only occur in two areas of the brain. The adult brain also has the unique ability to reorganize itself so that other parts assume the tasks of the damaged area.

Take adults who have suffered from strokes, for instance, when the brain is damaged by stroke, patients often lose such functions as motor control, memory, or the ability to speak and understand language.

However, researchers have found that often what happens after a stroke is that uninjured − or healthy − areas of the brain will organize themselves to perform the same – or nearly the same − functions of the damaged areas.