Neuroscience & Neurology | By June 03, 2009 | By Sajid Surve, DO | 11 Comments

Reflections on Plasticity

Neuroplasticity is a relatively new concept for researchers. Up until the 1970s, scientists held firm to the belief that once we exit childhood, our neurons are fixed and we are unable to grow any new ones, except for very select areas of the brain such as the hippocampus where memory is processed. Since that time, new research and tools such as functional MRI have suggested that our brains are constantly being molded and shaped by our experiences, and maintain some degree of plasticity throughout life. Indeed, the works of such pivotal researchers as Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. and William Jenkins, Ph.D. have demonstrated that our brains wish to conserve real estate, and will remap unused portions of the brain lost due to injury so that they can process different information. As an example, if a patient lost their eye due to a traumatic accident, over time the area of the visual cortex responsible for processing that eye would convert and begin processing information for the remaining eye. Read more →