Does the human experience, interaction with the environment, produce physical changes in the brain?
C. History i. 1785- Italian anatomist, Malacarne, studied a sample of dogs and birds, each from their respective populations 1. He studied each species in pairs 2. Of the pairs, one would be trained and cared for while the other would be equally cared for but not trained 3. In an autopsy performed upon the deaths of the animals, he discovered that the brains of the trained animals appeared more complex, with a greater amount of folds and fissures ii. 1960- Technology for measuring brain changes with great precision were developed, allowing scientists at Berkeley to test the proposed question, does experience produce physical changes in the brain? D. Methods i. Due to ethics and cost effectiveness, human subjects were not an option ii. Rosenzweig and colleagues chose to use laboratory rats because: 1. Part of the brain of focus has a smooth texture, therefore making any physical changes easy to see and measure 2. Rats are inexpensive and small 3. Rats are born in large litters, allowing
