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"Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience or following injury" - Lisa Kreber, PhD
Author: Finnegan Schoebel
Neuroplasticity--otherwise known as brain plasticity--is the brain’s ability to alter its structure throughout life. Despite the original belief that the brain remained constant after its initial development, recent research has shown that the brain keeps adapting throughout life. This adaptation can involve rewiring and reshaping itself in response to environmental changes, or after receiving injuries, or gaining experience. The skill to change is likely the brain’s most incredible and powerful feature.
Essentially, Neuroplasticity is altering the strength of various neural connections in response to stimuli. Anytime we learn something or improve at a skill, the involved pathways increase in efficiency. A chain of neurons that connect together to complete a task have their connection nodes strengthened, essentially reinforcing the involved circuits. Just the same way, connections that are neglected go through synaptic pruning, where their circuits are essentially weakened. This shifting and adjusting of the various neural networks that make up the brain allow it to prioritize skills that it actually uses while eliminating unneeded pathways. In other words, the brain can fine-tune itself.
Credit: UC Davis Biotech
Neuroplasticity has two main levels, the structural and the functional. Structurally, new synapses are formed while old ones shrink away, a continuous cycle that stretches into adulthood for many parts of the brain. But beyond structural changes, the functionality of certain network links change as well. The brain can shift responsibilities for certain functions, basically making connections that had originally had one purpose be used for another. This can be used to compensate for deficits that may occur because of damage (such as a stroke). Though being able to adjust for a loss of the neurons originally involved in a certain function is far from endless, it is actually far more powerful than scientists originally anticipated.
The uses of Neuroplasticity are many and varied. It can be used in complicated lab work and improving everyday knowledge, stretching from rehabilitation medicine where plasticity is essentially used to help patients recover skills to helping gain skills and “hack” learning to improve efficiency.
Neuroplasticity is important for gaining skills, and you’ve probably used it when learning, even if you didn’t realize. When students practice active recall or spaced repetition, they are basically using plasticity-enhancing strategies to help their brain’s network solidify. When used repeatedly over time these strategies make complex tasks or quickly retrieving certain information more automatic.
Similarly, Neuroplasticity has important uses in improving mental health. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), mindfulness meditation, and certain types of exercise can reshape important brain circuits. These circuits have been clinically linked to stress, mood, and attention. As an example, regularly practicing mindfulness can strengthen regions involved in emotional regulations, and simultaneously reduce activity in areas that have been associated with anxiety. Despite the saying that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, long-term, solidified thought patterns can be altered after applying consistent effort.
Neuroplasticity and technology also have many intersection points. Various Biotechnological advancements such as Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) like Elon Musk’s proposed “Neuralink” chip, virtual reality rehabilitation, and neurofeedback systems are all able to work efficiently by targeting and encouraging specific neural changes. As these tools keep evolving, they may help strengthen cognitive skills and manage limiting neurological conditions.
Neuroplasticity is an incredible example of our brain's (and our wider bodies!) ability to adapt. The brain is not static or fixed, but an organ constantly rewriting and editing itself based on our experiences, thoughts, and actions. Whatever we do, whatever we think, whatever we choose not to do, our brain uses it to inform itself how to adapt. Furthering our understanding and knowledge of the complicated existence and functions of neuroplasticity are essential. So far, what we’ve learned has many positive connotations, such as how neuroplasticity suggests that learning is always possible, recovery is often more possible than previously believed, and the very existence of personal growth is rooted deeply in biology. When neuroplasticity is applied to education, therapy, or technological education, it provides an incredibly powerful baseline that helps us understand how we can shape our brains, and how our brains shape us.
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