Brain Plasticity Definition
Brain plasticity (also known as cortical plasticity or neuroplasticity) is the ability of the brain to reorganize itself – forming new brain cells and connections and new functions for brain cells (neurons).
When does Brain Plasticity Happen?
The brain reorganizes itself:
- During infancy and childhood, and into young adulthood: when the immature brain organizes itself for functions like language, personality, and self control.
- Whenever we form a new memory, learn something new, or develop a new skill – long term memories and skills become ‘hard-wired’ and this requires that brain circuitry changes.
- In response to brain injury, disease or congenital brain disorders such as blindness, the brain will often reorganize itself dramatically to compensate for lost functions or maximize the functions that are left intact. Blind individuals, for instance, typically develop higher sensitivity in other sensory systems. The regions of the brain used for hearing literally expand into the cortical territory that for most of us is used for vision.
Why is Brain Plasticity Big News?
You just have to read a page or two of the SharpBrain’s brain fitness website to find out that brain plasticity is big news. Brain plasticity is a hot topic because all the evidence from neuroscience is now pointing to one striking fact – a fact that is only now beginning to be appreciated in the way it deserves: The brain is capable of remarkable widespread change and adaptation not just in childhood, but throughout the lifespan.
What does Brain Plasticity Mean in Our Lives?
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Cognitive Aging – from your 30s onwards: Use It Or Lose It
While neurons multiply at a rate 250,000 neurons/minute in the fetus brain during pregnancy, brain cells die at a rapid rate as we age in adulthood, with around 1 neocortical neuron dying every second – or 31 million per year! If we look at the statistics cognitive performance tends to decline as we age. But the brain’s inherent plasticity means that with the right cognitive stimulation new brain cells can be constantly generated – a process called neurogenesis. And besides this, the brain’s organization can be continually transformed and improved, well into old age. What is important here is the principle ‘use it or lose it’. We need to stay mentally active to continue to tap into the benefits of the brain’s natural plasticity. If we get into fixed routines and minimize novelty and stimulation as we get older, our brains will decline in their functioning and our brain activity and cognitive processes will become more rigid. But when we learn a new skill like a language or musical instrument, the areas in our brains that deal with this kind of skill increase in volume. There is no age limit on knowledge and expertise! If we continue to challenge our brains with new and stimulating experiences, and actively exercise our brains with cognitive activities involving learning new facts and skills, solving problems, creating and thinking, our brains can continue to grow and transform in remarkable, vital ways.
Changing Your Future Depends on Changing Your Brain
In a recent and fascinating TED talk, Professor Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain supercomputer project, argues persuasively that memory, perception, our entire conscious experience of reality, as well as the abnormal experiences that come with mental illnesses, are all the constructions of the electrical signaling in brain neurons. Reality as we experience it is the patterns of electrical activity in the brain’s circuitry – nothing more. When you see a tree, what is actually occurring are electrical firing patterns in your brain’s neural circuitry. Different neural circuitry with different patterns of activity in our brains produces different perceptions, different habits & different futures. If your brain remains rigid and doesn’t change much, your reality won’t change. But if the structure of your brain changes – through training and practice – and challenging experiences – your future can change. The two go together: your brain’s organization and the reality you experience.
