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What is Brain Plasticity?
What is Brain Plasticity?
Brain plasticity, also called neuroplasticity, is the brain’s ability to change throughout life—at any age. It means that the brain is not static, and that it responds to its environment and can be shaped by our experiences. It means that by changing the input the brain receives, it can change the organization of the brain. Knowing this helps us understand that maintaining a healthy and highly functional brain is a consequence of how we use it.
Brain Plasticity is a physical process. Grey matter (neuron's cell bodies and dendrites) can shrink or thicken; connections can be forged and refined or weakened and severed. Brain plasticity refers to these changes in neural pathways and synapses due to changes we make in our behavior, environment, thinking, and emotions. The brain can also change with injury or disease. When we talk about brain plasticity, we can be considering cellular changes (from learning), to larger, more complete changes in mapping (due to injury).
Brain plasticity occurs at the beginning of life, after brain injury occurs (to compensate for lost functions), and whenever anything new is learned or memorized throughout our lives (Michelon 2008).
Changes in the Brain from Learning
Changes in the Brain from Learning
When we learn something new, such as a new dance, it physically changes the brain by providing new neural pathways that instruct the body how to perform the step. Dr. Michael Merzenich found that with each newly learned skill, brain connections are remodeled—nerve cells form connections and create new neuronal pathways. Like a map, your brain can change and acquire more and more detail as you learn and challenge it.
A short, easy explanation video about what neuroplasticity is and how it remodels the brain.
Changes in the Brain from Injury or Illness
Changes in the Brain from Injury or Illness
Not only does learning change the brain, illness or injury can also change the brain. Traumatic head injuries, strokes, and severe or prolonged illnesses can cause changes, depending on where in the brain the injury occurs. These changes may be manifested in vision, cognitive, or motor function. In order to best prevent these changes from becoming permanent, rehabilitation must occur as soon after injury as possible.
For an amazing look at plasticity in action, view this inspiring video about young Jody who had dramatic brain surgery to ease epileptic seizures, and and update of her story.
Positive Plasticity
Positive Plasticity
As mentioned earlier, positive plasticity occurs as the brain is challenged, learns, and responds to stimuli from its environment that causes neurons and neural pathways to be strengthened, and even new neurons to grow. Positive plasticity is occurring when a person, after a stroke, regains motor skills as a result of dedicated therapy and the proper amount of time and attention. It occurs when a person with brain injury is able to regain lost functioning because the brain has rewired itself to compensate for damage.
Negative Plasticity
Negative Plasticity
Not all changes in the plastic brain are positive, however. Negative plasticity refers to changes that may result in an excessive level of neuronal growth that is not beneficial to the brain. For example, a drug addict who exhibits an excessive release of neurotransmitters due to the addiction may be an example of negative plasticity, where stronger neural connections occur due to the repeated addictive behavior, which then encourages that behavior even further.
Posit Science notes four factors that may contribute to negative plasticity. They are:
Brain disuse: Most of us have heard the term, “Use it or lose it.” When we live a sedentary lifestyle and don’t exercise our brains, we can lose brain volume. This is negative plasticity.
Noisy processing: This means that the input of what we hear, see, smell, taste, and feel degrades as our peripheral sensory organs don’t function as well as they used to. This is negative plasticity.
Weakened neuromodulatory control: We tend to produce fewer brain chemicals (neurotransmitters and neuromodulators) as we age due to disuse and noisy processing. This is negative plasticity.
Negative learning: This is when we adapt a behavior to make up for the above three factors. For instance, if you forget how to do a simple math calculation and use a calculator instead of practicing the forgotten skill. This encourages negative plasticity.
What is Plasticity on the Neuronal Level?
What is Plasticity on the Neuronal Level?
In past lessons, you have learned about axons and dendrites and the electrical impulses that carry messages throughout the body. We have learned of the glial cells that insulate the axon, making it easier to send impulses. And we have learned that when the neuron is successful and the impulse is fired, the axon fires neurotransmitters, which fill the synaptic cleft before joining with receptors on the post-synaptic neuron.
Here is how plasticity works. Successful electrical signals result in the growth of neurons. And it is these neurons that form the gray matter of the brain, which then causes the brain to increase in volume. If communication continues among neurons, they continue to fire and produce neurotransmitters. This is plasticity.
If communication slows or stops, the dendrites are no longer effective and die off. The process of removing those connections that you no longer use is called synaptic pruning. It is much like a gardener pruning and trimming away dead and dying branches on a tree or bush. This brings meaning to the familiar saying, “neurons that fire together, wire together; neurons that fire apart, wire apart.” Synaptic pruning is an important process in the brain as it makes more room for positive plastic changes in the form of new connections (Merzenich, 2010).
Do you know which glial cell is responsible for pruning unused dendrites?
Synaptic Plasticity
Synaptic Plasticity
Although plasticity can occur in several ways, the most important way is called synaptic plasticity. This involves the release of neurotransmitters that then activate specific receptors. Synaptic strength is the amount of an electrical impulse necessary to stimulate the release of neurotransmitters. For brain change to occur, neurotransmitters must bind to their cognate (related) receptors, which will then allow the impulse to continue. With a stronger signal, there may be an increase in the number of receptors expressed on the post-synaptic neuron and with more receptors, this increases synaptic efficiency - allowing a smoother and more efficient transmission. This is called "Long-term potentiation" or LTP, also known as the strengthening of synapses (see figure below). With stronger signals and more receptors, more impulses are fired, and brain growth occurs.
Thus, brain plasticity relies on strong signals, which releases neurotransmitters that are picked up by their corresponding receptors expressed on a postsynaptic neuron. When a neurotransmitter is bound to its receptor, this causes a signaling cascade to occur downstream toward the cell body (soma) which houses the neuron's genetic information. This signaling cascade regulates the turning on and off of certain genes in the nucleus that will keep the neuron in good health and maintain the production of new neurons. This is brain plasticity.
What Does Plasticity Look Like?
What Does Plasticity Look Like?
Since positive brain plasticity includes the growth of new neurons, each connected to existing neurons, brain plasticity could be thought of as an intricate web. Each new connection would exist alongside the original connections. Think of a forest, and how new pathways are formed when you visit a location within the forest on many occasions and take different paths. The actual forest remains the same, but there are more pathways.
Changing the Brain
Changing the Brain
There is a joke: “How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?” The answer is: “One, but the light bulb really has to want to change.” And so it is with the brain. Your brain will not grow passively. It doesn’t just wake up one day and say, “I am going to change.” No, for your brain to change, you need to invest time and attention. You need to adopt a plan, and you need to stick with it for a period of time. The more time you put into this plan to change your brain, the more likely it is that you will be successful.
Dr. Michael Merzenich, co-founder of Posit Science and creator of BrainHQ, is a pioneer in the field of neuroplasticity and has done extensive work that has changed how we think of brain plasticity. In his work, he has indicated that there is an element that is very important to plasticity. This element is reward. With reward, our brain enjoys the change, and it will continue to change. The bigger the feat, the bigger the reward; the bigger the reward, the bigger the change in the brain (Merzenich 2014).
Research and Plasticity
Research and Plasticity
One interesting area of plasticity research involves phantom limbs. This is the phenomenon where a person continues to feel pain or sensation in a limb after it has been amputated; this actually occurs in 60–80% of amputees. Research with amputees has suggested that the brain remaps, or changes itself, following amputation (plasticity). Some studies suggest that we might be able to treat phantom limb pain by treating that brain-map.
There is ample research that confirms the ability of the brain to change. Following is just some of that research (Contributers 2015):
Sensory changes: In children who receive cochlear implants, an ability to rewire the brain to achieve acoustic communication occurs.
Studies have linked meditation to cortical thickness or density of gray matter.
Studies suggest that exercise induces neuroplasticity in different brain regions, depending on the exercise.
Research with blind people shows they can be trained to navigate using echoes, suggesting that this skill is processed in areas of the brain related to vision and not audition.
Changes have been found to occur in animal brains as a result of changing seasons.
London taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus than bus drivers (until they installed GPS, at which time, their hippocampi shrunk!).
Bilingual speakers had a larger left inferior parietal cortex than monolingual speakers.
Professional musicians (those who practice over one hour a day) had a higher volume of grey matter than non-professionals, with the lowest amount of grey matter in non-musicians.
Medical students' brains showed changes in the parietal cortex and posterior hippocampus (areas used for retrieval and learning).
An example from “The Brain That Changes Itself” describes a surgeon in his 50s who suffers a stroke. His left arm is paralyzed. During his rehabilitation, his good arm and hand are immobilized, and he is set to cleaning tables. Slowly, over time, the bad arm remembers how to move. He learns to write again and even to play tennis. The functions of the brain areas killed in the stroke have transferred themselves to healthy regions of the brain.
What Can We Do About It?
What Can We Do About It?
Can we affect our own brain plasticity? Yes! Basically, we simply need to take matters into our own hands and develop our brainpower! According to neuroscientists, any activity that you undertake for better brain health and building positive plasticity should fit the following criteria for maximum effectiveness:
1. It should teach you something NEW.
2. It should be CHALLENGING and demand your full and close attention.
3. It should be PROGRESSIVE so you can keep your effort on the edge of your ability--at the threshold.
4. It should ENGAGE YOUR GREAT BRAIN PROCESSING SYSTEMS. Make distinctions between what you see, hear, or feel and use this information to achieve goals, which helps your brain to grow.
5. It should be REWARDING. This releases brain chemicals that contribute to learning, memory, and good spirits.
6. It should be NOVEL OR SURPRISING.
So yes, you have EVERYTHING to do with your own brain plasticity. Your brain is in your hands!
Max Cynader is Director of the Brain Research Centre and provides a detailed and informative discussion called, “Enhancing the plasticity of the Brain.”
The BrainHQ Connection
The BrainHQ Connection
The BHQ Connection: The BHQ website has a great deal of information about brain plasticity, in fact, it’s what the whole program and the exercises were based on. Look over the articles in the following resource section on the BHQ website to learn more. Read: Brain Plasticity Basics, The Brain: Changing the adult mind through the power of plasticity, and Stretch Your Brain at Any Age .
Dr. Michael Merzenich
Dr. Michael Merzenich
"The Father of Brain Plasticity"
"The Father of Brain Plasticity"
"What is Brain Plasticity" is an excellent short article that includes two short videos, by Dr. Merzenich himself, "The Spoon" and "The Cochlear Implant" that will help you better understand this amazing concept in simple terms.
If you are intrigued by this topic (and who isn't?), please watch the founder of Posit Science, Dr. Michael Merzenich's TED talk (23 minutes) about The Power of Brain Plasticity. Don't miss either of his presentations to our Zoom classes this past year, which can be found on our FAQs page (linked above under More). Just scroll down to the bottom and look for Interviews: Posit Science.
Conclusion
Conclusion
If you come away from this course with nothing else, it is important that you at least understand this one concept—that the brain is plastic and responds to its environment, and the lifestyle choices you make can shape your environment, and therefore your brain. If you do, your brain will respond willingly, and will thank you for it!
Videos to Help Further Your Understanding
Videos to Help Further Your Understanding
Brain plasticity is one of the most important concepts of our curriculum. It is best when learning such a complex topic that you view a variety of sources to learn more. In addition to the videos found with the lesson, following are a few more that may help you to better understand the concept of plasticity.
Down to earth, very sophisticated information in a fun and easy-to-follow delivery! (4:07 min)
A short Introduction to the brain and learning. (4:30 min)
Works Cited
Works Cited
Contributors, Wikipedia. Neuroplasticity. June 30, 2015. Retrived from: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neuroplasticity&oldid=669402247
Lewis, T. (March 5, 2013). New theory explains why amputees feel phantom pain. LiveScience. Retrieved from: https://www.livescience.com/27641-phantom-pain-linked-to-brain-mapping.html
Merzenich, M. (2010). On the Brain: About Brain Plasticity. August 25, 2010. Retrieved from: http://merzenich.positscience.com/?page_id=143
Merzenich, M. (2014). Brain Plasticity Podcast. January 21, 2014. Retrieved from: http://brainsciencepodcast.com/bsp/2014/bsp-105-merzenich
Michelon, D. P. (2008). Brain Plasticity: How Learning Changes Your Brain. February 26, 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/02/26/brain-plasticity-how-learning-changes-your-brain
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