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Signature Assignment Resiliency and Neuroplasticity Do They Make a Difference? Ashley Chambers Ketcham Salt Lake Community College

SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT Define the terms resiliency and neuroplasticity. When someone faces unimaginable circumstances and still strives on, they have what is called resiliency. Resilience is the ability to overcome adversities such as trauma, tragedy, and significant amounts of stress. It means bouncing back from difficult experiences (The Road

to Resilience). Resilience is also defined as a positive adaption to stress (Berger, 2013, p. 276). So say a child is rejected by one peer and in turn builds a stronger relationship with another peer, this would make that child resilient. Neuroplasticity is the tendency our brains have, in a sense, to rewire themselves in reaction to new information and experiences. In more professional words, neuroplasticity is capacity of neurons and neural networks in the brain to change their connections and [behavior] in response to new information, sensory stimulation, development, damage, or dysfunction (Rugnetta, n.d.). This means that our traits can be molded, yet at the same time, hold a certain durability. What does it mean to say that the human brain shows neuroplasticity & resiliency over the lifespan? Michael Merzenich of the University of California at San Francisco studied neuroplasticity in the elderly and found that through training his subjects were able to recover plasticity equivalent to the brains of people up to 25 years younger (Nelson, 2006). In other words, we do not have to lose our minds with old age as long as we train our brains. Children use plasticity with every new experience, every new sight, sound, thought, smell Alison Gopnik of the University of California, Berkeley calls them little scientists, making predictions, testing them, comparing data, and forming new theories (Nelson, 2006). Plasticity has also been linked to the phenomena of delaying gratification which is then linked to coping abilities later in life. It

SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT is as adults that we develop selective attention control which gives plasticity more purpose by [sorting] and [focusing] on preferred input (Nelson, 2006). Resiliency, according to some, can change throughout life by shaping and molding and that people are not born either with or without it. Others, however, believe that we are born with a gene of two forms that, depending on which type we have, can affect our level of resiliency. Both views can be right. People can learn to overcome traumatic events and become more resilient or they can dismiss the ability they may have once had to be resilient and become less resilient in the face of tremendous adversity. People can also be resilient to one situation but not to another. This gene, however, changes how susceptible we are to the consequences of traumatic events. Discuss the ways in which resiliency is an adaptive characteristic for humans to possess. As mentioned earlier, one shows resiliency when the loss of one thing leads to the building of another. A child who is abused is commonly expected to find little success later in life, but oftentimes abused children defy those expectations due to resiliency as a positive

adaption. My grandmother is a perfect example of this, when she was abused and shut out by her mother, she found a stronghold in people like her grandmother, teacher, and future husband. My grandmother adapted to her situation, became resilient to the abuse, and overcame adversity. Another way resiliency shows as an adaptive characteristic is when a student who is diagnosed with a learning disability faces their challenge and adapts to their new circumstances. An example of this is that child learning to take tests in a way they had never done before in order to accommodate their circumstances and begins to receive outstanding scores when maybe before they were exceptionally low. This student would have been resilient to their difficult circumstances and adapted to how they then had to do things differently.

SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT Describe the evidence for the genetic basis of resiliency. The gene that has been related to resiliency is called 5-HTT. 5-HTT has two alleles, which are alternative forms of the same gene (Bailey, n.d.), one short and one long. The long version is believed to be the protective allele, giving people with two of these the ultimate resiliency to traumatic or stressful events. Many studies have then shown a correlation between the short version of this gene and depression. Simon Suomi studied 500 rhesus monkeys, dividing them into two groups, one who live with their mothers, and one live with their peers, never getting to see their mother. Suomi used DNA to track which monkeys had which combination of alleles and found the following: [The] motherless, peer-raised monkeys who have a copy of the short 5-HTT allele are more likely to experience fear, panic and aggression (accompanied by low levels of serotonin acid in spinal fluid) when a strange monkey in a cage is placed next to them.

Motherless, peer-raised monkeys with two long alleles, on the other hand, are more likely to take the presence of the stranger in stride, as mother-raised monkeys do. (Bazelon, 2006, p. 4) Many other studies have been done showing a correlation between the short version of 5HTT and depression. One frequent finding is that the combination of alleles a person has makes no difference if there is no trigger such as being abused. Kaufmanss abused children with two short 5-HTT alleles had a higher mean score for depression than the abused children with two long alleles and the non-abused children, no matter what their alleles (Bazelon, 2006, p. 5). Also, children who have one or two short alleles and have a strong, healthy relationship with at least one adult generally show no outward signs of having a short 5-HTT allele. In relation, children with the long version are less affected by a lack of relationship with an adult.

SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT What impact did this assignment have on your understanding of your own development? One thing I thought of while going over neuroplasticity was how the brain decides what shape, for lack of a better word, to take in response to an event. I was one of those children who saw what others did around me and learned from it, rather than needing to experience it myself like many of my peers did. So say a friend and I witness a peer getting in trouble for ditching school, while my brain was molding in response to that to remember not to ditch, my friends brain was apparently in la la land as she had a good track record of ditching school after that. Why does the same event trigger such different reactions? I do not know that one. But what I do

know from this is that my neurons were going crazy making new roadmaps to the world outside. When it comes to resiliency, I simply became curious as to which combination of alleles I possess. I never faced abuse or extremely traumatic or stressful situations, so if I have one or two short alleles, I would not know because they were never triggered. I would like to believe that I am resilient simply to know that I will be okay when going through challenges I know will come down the road. I guess I will have to wait and see.

SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT References Bailey, R. (n.d.). Allele - A Genetics Definition. About.com Biology. Retrieved November 15, 2013, from http://biology.about.com/od/geneticsglossary/g/alleles.htm Bazelon, E. (2006, April 30). A question of resilience. The New York Times, pp. 1-8. Retrieved December 2, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/magazine/30abuse.html Berger, K. (2013). Invitation to the Lifespan. New York: Worth Pub.

Nelson, L. (2006, August). A learning machine: Plasticity and change throughout life. Observer, 19. Retrieved November 14, 2013, from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2006/august-06/alearning-machine-plasticity-and-change-throughout-life.html The road to resilience. (n.d.). http://www.apa.org. Retrieved November 14, 2013, from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience.aspx Rugnetta, M. (n.d.). neuroplasticity (biology). Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved November 14, 2013, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/410552/neuroplasticity