Plasticidad cerebral a gran escala cuantificada con Resonancia Magnética

DELLA MAGGIORE V

Bariloche

Conferencia; Conferencia plenaria; 2017

Instituto Balseiro

One of the most striking properties of the adult central nervous system is its ability to undergo plastic changes in cerebral function and structure. In mammals, learning is in fact a major inducer of adaptive plasticity. My lab specializes in Human motor learning. In particular, most of our work has focused on the type of learning that takes place daily, when dealing with external -or internal- perturbations, such as those experienced when using a tool, walking on an irregular or icy surface, wearing new prescription glasses or simply adapting to a hip replacement. In this talk, I will present experimental evidence from longitudinal studies conducted at different time scales, aimed at identifying markers of plasticity both at the psychophysical and neuroanatomical level. I will present data obtained from structural MRI showing that a relatively brief period of training is enough to impact on the structure of the motor system. On the other hand, I will discuss the results from a few psychophysical and functional MRI studies, showing that the stabilization of these motor memories takes place within a relatively short period, during which the motor memory may be passively reactivated. This pattern of results, are now being used to guide a series of studies aimed at potentiating motor performance and increasing memory persistence during wake and sleep, some of which may be discussed in this talk. Lastly, I will mention the results from applying a state-space model to understand the interference observed when learning conflicting motor material.