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Neural Plasticity and Regeneration: Myths and Expectations

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Brain Damage and Repair

Summary

In this chapter, we will make a short revision of the concepts of neural plasticity and regeneration, and their relationships with processes such as motor learning and functional recovery following a lesion of the central or peripheral nervous systems. Particular attention will be paid to the actual morphological and physiological limits between plastic and regenerative processes in the adult mammal’s brain, as well as to their potential functionality and adaptability. A precise delimitation will be trace between regenerative phenomena and compensatory mechanisms and other cognitive activities, which are sometimes confused with neural plastic processes. As a practical support to the concepts proposed here, some illustrative examples, collected from animal experimentation carried out in our laboratory, will be described briefly.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neuroscience, University Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain

    J. M. Delgado-García & A. Gruart

Authors
  1. J. M. Delgado-García
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  2. A. Gruart
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Pharmacology, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    T. Herdegen

  2. Department of Neurosciences, University Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain

    J. Delgado-García

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© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Delgado-García, J.M., Gruart, A. (2004). Neural Plasticity and Regeneration: Myths and Expectations. In: Herdegen, T., Delgado-García, J. (eds) Brain Damage and Repair. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2541-6_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-2541-6_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-6538-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-2541-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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