The Impact of Studying Brain Plasticity

Summary & key facts

This paper explains brain plasticity, which is the brain's ability to change its wiring and activity. The authors looked at many studies from the past century and say that changing the strength of connections between nerve cells is a basic property of brains in animals from insects to humans. Plasticity helps with learning, memory, development, keeping the brain stable, training the senses, and recovering after injury. But scientists still do not fully understand how these changes produce long-term differences in brain shape and function, so more research is needed.

Key facts:

• Brain plasticity means the nervous system can change its activity by reorganizing its structure, function, or connections.
• A key part of plasticity is that nerve cells can change how strong their connections are; this is often called synaptic plasticity, or changing the strength of synapses.
• Research over the last hundred years shows that plasticity is a basic feature of nervous systems in many species, from insects to humans.
• Plasticity is involved in learning and memory, in how the brain develops, in keeping the brain stable, in sensory training, and in recovery after brain injury.
• Despite many studies, researchers still do not know exactly how plasticity leads to lasting changes in brain shape and how the brain works, so studying it remains important.

Abstract

Neural plasticity, also known as neuroplasticity or brain plasticity, can be defined as the ability of the nervous system to change its activity in response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli by reorganizing its structure, functions, or connections. A fundamental property of neurons is their ability to modify the strength and efficacy of synaptic transmission through a diverse number of activity-dependent mechanisms, typically referred as synaptic plasticity. Research in the past century has showed that neural plasticity is a fundamental property of nervous systems in species from insects to humans. Indeed, studies into synaptic plasticity have not only been an important driving force in neuroscience research but they are also contributing to the well-being of our societies as this phenomenon is involved in learning and memory, brain development and homeostasis, sensorial training, and recovery from brain lesions. However, despite intense research into the mechanisms governing synaptic plasticity, it is still not clear exactly how plasticity shapes brain morphology and physiology. Thus, studying synaptic plasticity is clearly still important if we wish to fully understand how the brain works.

Topics

Neural dynamics and brain function Neuroscience and Neural Engineering Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Categories

Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience Life Sciences Neuroscience

Tags

Cognitive science Neurophysiology Neuroplasticity Neuroscience Psychology