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September 2014 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
Understanding Neuroplasticity and
Brain Changes
By Dr. Tom Miller, Staff Writer
Does our brain change over time
and in what way? Neuroscientists are
exploring this important question,
which is tied to evolutionary science. The term “neuroplasticity” has
emerged among the brain sciences as
a unique term that refers to changes
in neural pathways and synapses in
our brain. These changes are a result
of our evolutionary environment and
adaptive changes that the body makes
to how we think and behave. The
influence of new technology can
effect some of these changes in
humans. Neuroplasticity has replaced
the formerly-held position that the
brain is a physiologically static organ
in our body. Neuroplasticity explores
how the brain changes throughout
life. It occurs on a variety of levels,
from small cellular changes due to
learning, to large-scale changes (cortical remapping) in response to injury.
The role of neuroplasticity is widely recognized in healthy development,
learning, memory, and recovery from
brain damage. Throughout most of
the 20th century, neuroscientists
believed that brain structure was
relatively immutable during early
childhood. This belief has been challenged by findings that indicate that
many aspects of the brain remain
plastic even into adulthood. Perhaps
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no one is more intrigued or committed to answering these questions
than Warren Chaney in his book
Dynamic Mind. Chaney discusses
how experience and genetics interact
to influence neurocognitive development in humans over time. Research
has begun to show that substantial
changes occur in the way in which
the brain processes information, and
that these changes can profoundly
alter the pattern of neuronal activation in response to experiences in our
lives. Neuroscientific research suggests that experience can actually
change not only the brain’s physical
structure, but also the way the brain
works as we evolve in the 21st century. Neuroscientists continue to
explore with the latest technology to
help us understand the human brain
and how it processes information
more efficiently than humans decades
ago.
One of the fundamental principles
of how neuroplasticity functions is
linked to the concept of “synaptic
pruning.” This concept of synaptic
pruning suggests that, not unlike the
shaping of a plant, the human brain is
constantly changing and adapting.
Where there are two nearby neurons
that often produce an impulse simultaneously, their cortical maps change
and adapt and merge into one. This
idea also works in the opposite manner where neurons which do not regularly produce simultaneous impulses
will form different maps or pattern
of problem solving. With the early
research into neuroplasticity, many of
the questions that have intrigued scientists about learning have begun to
emerge. The answers are not yet
known, but as a reader of Health and
Wellness you have now been introduced to this emerging area of the
neurosciences.
About the Author
Thomas W. Miller, Ph.D. ABPP is
a Professor Emeritus and Senior
Research Scientist, Center for Health,
Intervention and Prevention, University
of Connecticut and retired service
chief from the VA Medical Center and
tenured Professor in the Department
of Psychiatry, College of Medicine,
University of Kentucky.
Synaptic Pruning suggests that, not
unlike the shaping of a plant, the
human brain is constantly changing
and adapting.