What Is Neural Plasticity?
Neural plasticity, which is also known as neuroplasticity, brain plasticity, cortical plasticity, and a variety of other names, is the changing of the structure, function, and organization of neurons in response to new experiences. Neural plasticity specifically refers to strengthening or weakening nerve connections or adding new nerve cells based on outside experiences. Plasticity is among the most important aspects of the field of modern neuroscience as strengthening, weakening, or adding neural connections could be very effective in treating brain damage. In some cases, patients with brain damage have healed naturally because healthy nerves took on the tasks of damaged or destroyed nerves, allowing for at least some level of functionality.
There are a variety of mechanisms by which neural plasticity can occur; axonal sprouting is among the most common of these mechanisms. The axon is the fibrous part of a nerve cell, or neuron, that conducts electrical impulses throughout the body. In axonal sprouting, healthy axons sprout new nerve endings that connect to other pathways in the nervous system. This can be used to strengthen existing connections or to repair damaged parts of the nervous system by repairing damaged neural pathways and restoring them to full functionality. Because of axonal sprouting and other mechanisms that lend to neural plasticity, damage to the brain or other aspects of the nervous system is not always permanent.
It was once believed that neural plasticity only existed in very young individuals and that once neural pathways were formed, they were set and could not be altered. Modern brain study, however, has revealed that nerves continually rearrange themselves throughout the course of life, allowing one's brain and nervous system to adapt to an endless number of different situations. This process is part of what makes humans so able to adapt to a broad range of circumstances; the very physiology of the brain changes in response to a given set of conditions.
Current research is focusing on using neural plasticity for medical purposes. There are many different diseases of the brain and nerves that greatly impair the functionality of those who suffer from them. Cerebral palsy and Alzheimer's, for example, are both disorders that could potentially be treated through guided neural plasticity. In some cases when people suffer massive brain damage, entire sections of the brain have been known to take over the functions of damaged or lost sections. If the process can be guided, restoring total functionality to those with nervous system or brain disorders really could be possible.
Written by Daniel Liden
