Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to be reshaped or altered in response to external stimuli and experiences. 

Although spoken commonly as a process limited to childhood, the rewiring and development of the brain stretches well into adulthood and continues through a person’s life. Every time you think, feel, or act, neural pathways in your brain light up, sending an electrical signal through a certain route of neurons. The more frequently you do something, the more often that neural pathway will be activated, strengthening that route and making it easier for the brain to travel that pathway. If you start thinking in a new way or experiencing a different emotion, your brain will carve out a new pathway for that experience. 

As you continue to think that way, the new pathway will become easier and easier for your brain to traverse, eventually developing into almost a second nature. This is how habits are formed. As one pathway becomes used more frequently, it will strengthen while other routes will weaken, causing them to become more difficult to access and forcing the brain to activate them less often. Thus, the brain structure is continuously changing, creating new neural networks and pathways, and modifying in reaction to all events and stimuli.

This concept of the brain’s adaptability stems from the work of an Italian psychiatrist, Ernesto Lugaro, in 1906. Although scientists weren’t certain of the brain’s continuous remolding and changing neural pathways until the last few decades, Lugaro’s research provided the foundation for this breakthrough. 

A common example of neuroplasticity, Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov developed an experiment where he taught his dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. This was done by ringing a bell every time he fed his dogs, and was repeated with such frequency that the dogs could eventually tap into the same neural networks without even needing the food as a direct stimulus. This shows how the brain was actively working to develop new connections and pathways. You’ve probably also used this strategy without even knowing it. Have you ever used flashcards to study for a test? It works the exact same way - exposing someone to a stimulus with enough repetition and intensity that eventually your brain is rewired. 

Works Cited

“Neuroplasticity | Psychology Today.” Www.psychologytoday.com, www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/neuroplasticity.

Plasticity Centers. “What Is Neuroplasticity?” YouTube, 19 Apr. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWIagHUqD8A.

Sentis. “Neuroplasticity.” YouTube, 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELpfYCZa87g.

The Digital Learning Consultant. “Neuroplasticity and Learning Explained.” YouTube, 14 Feb. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=88OL8NdkV-s.