What Is Neuroplasticity?

This concept is an important part of why this blog exists and I will be writing a lot with neuroplasticity in mind, so let's have a look at what it is now to set the stage for the future.

In a nutshell, neuroplasticity is learning. It's your brain's innate ability to change, remap itself, and build new pathways.

In case you were curious, by the way, we have Polish neuropsychologist by the name of Jerzy Konorski to thank for the term neuroplasticity. And thank him we shall, because it's nice to have names for things we like to study. But I digress. Let's get back to the point, shall we?

Contrary to popular belief, your brain retains its ability to drastically alter itself past childhood. While it is true that a developing brain is somewhat more efficient at it, all of the following examples are displays of adult brain plasticity:

• A mild improvement in acquiring a new skill

• PTSD

• A new habit due to a new socio-cultural environment

All the examples above show a mild or drastic but permanent change in behaviour, regardless of whether it was self-induced or emerged on its own. If our brains lacked plasticity after a certain age, none of the above would be possible.

So what does this mean? It means that not only can we learn whatever we want at any age, but that there are ways to keep you good at this kind of brain flexibility. This is great news because studies seem to point to a "use it or lose it" theory in keeping dementia at bay.

Now, for learning to occur, we need appropriate stimuli and conditions, under which the brain will produce new neurons (we call this process neurogenesis) and undergo minor or major changes in its "programming" to include this new behaviour (new neural pathways).

There are many factors that go into this function, and many of them are things we can control. Chances are you've come across advice to eat an adequate, balanced diet, engage in physical activity regularly, and get good sleep, and for good reason. These three things regulate your cortisol and dopamine levels (hormones responsible for feelings of stress and satisfaction, respectively), which has a positive effect on neurogenesis, and thus keeps your brain more plastic.

And speaking of cortisol, stress is another important factor when it comes to taking advantage of all of this. According to modern research, we appear to learn best when we're under a moderate amount of stress. Too little cortisol and we're too weak and fatigued; too much and we're in survival mode. You can't learn when your brain is in fight or flight mode, nor can you learn when you barely have enough energy to go to the bathroom.

That said, we do need to keep in mind that "moderate stress" means different things for different people. For some, this might mean playing a song they've never heard before as they get ready to learn something new, while for others even that might be overkill.

What this means is that even though our brains ARE plastic in nature, there are things that can either boost this plasticity or hinder it, and we must be aware of them if we are to take advantage of this quality.