Newly honed juggling skills show up as a transient feature on a brain-imaging scan.
Abstract
Does the structure of an adult human brain alter in response to environmental demands1,2? Here we use whole-brain magnetic-resonance imaging to visualize learning-induced plasticity in the brains of volunteers who have learned to juggle. We find that these individuals show a transient and selective structural change in brain areas that are associated with the processing and storage of complex visual motion. This discovery of a stimulus-dependent alteration in the brain's macroscopic structure contradicts the traditionally held view that cortical plasticity is associated with functional rather than anatomical changes.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Draganski, B. et al. Nature Med. 8, 1186–1188 (2002).
Maguire, E. A. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 97, 4398–4403 (2000).
Kempermann, G., Gast, D. & Gage, F. H. Ann. Neurol. 52, 135–143 (2002).
Trachtenberg, J. T. et al. Nature 420, 788–794 (2002).
Grutzendler, J., Kasthuri, N. & Gan, W. B. Nature 420, 812–816 (2002).
Ashburner, J. & Friston, K. J. Neuroimage 11, 805–821 (2000).
Good, C. D. et al. Neuroimage 17, 29–46 (2002).
Bisley, J. W. & Pasternak, T. Cereb. Cortex 10, 1053–1065 (2000).
Sereno, M. I., Pitzalis, S. & Martinez, A. Science 294, 1350–1354 (2001).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Draganski, B., Gaser, C., Busch, V. et al. Changes in grey matter induced by training. Nature 427, 311–312 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/427311a
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/427311a
This article is cited by
-
Influence of acculturation and cultural values on the self-reference effect
Scientific Reports (2024)
-
Virtual reality applications based on instrumental activities of daily living (iADLs) for cognitive intervention in older adults: a systematic review
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation (2023)
-
Mapping the neuroanatomical abnormalities in a phenotype of male compulsive rats
Behavioral and Brain Functions (2023)
-
Characteristic cortico-cortical connection profile of human precuneus revealed by probabilistic tractography
Scientific Reports (2023)
-
Comparing retinotopic maps of children and adults reveals a late-stage change in how V1 samples the visual field
Nature Communications (2023)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.