What Is Meant by the "Blooming and Pruning" Analogy of Brain

question 40

Multiple Choice

What is meant by the "blooming and pruning" analogy of brain development?

• A) The brain produces many more dendrite and synapse connections than it uses (blooming). Unused connections disappear or are replaced (pruning).
• B) Early brain function is not specialized by location (blooming). Lateralization (pruning) occurs around 2 years of age.
• C) Myelination produces the brain's bumpy surface (blooming). Brain activity and learning smoothes this surface (pruning).
• D) Areas of the brain mature gradually and uniformly during the first half of life (blooming) and decline in the same manner during the second half of life (pruning).

---

Definitions:

Psychoanalytic Theory

A theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development that guides psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology, developed by Sigmund Freud.

Freud

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist best known for developing the theories and techniques of psychoanalysis.

Free Association

A psychoanalytic process in which the patient verbalizes thoughts as they occur, without censorship or filtering, to uncover hidden feelings and desires.

Psychoanalysis

A therapeutic approach founded by Freud that aims to explore unconscious motivations and conflicts.