Neuroplasticity: the kinda flexibility shown by the brain

Camelia Bhattacharyya, Amity University Kolkata

What is Neuroplasticity?

Plasticity is the quality of a material that allows it to easily change its shape or get molded; neuroplasticity is the same when the brain is taken into consideration. Thus, neuroplasticity is the capability of the brain to adapt to certain changes in the lifetime of an individual by reorganizing and forming new neural connections. This is how the brain stores new information in the form of memory or learn a new language or even master a new skill or recover from any traumatic injury. This process of adaptation is maintained through the proper release of neurotrophins and a balance in a few cellular processes (ex; neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, and angiogenesis) in the neuronal levels. Neuroplasticity is a term and a topic that came to be believed very recently since it was previously believed that the brain grows only till a specific period during the childhood of an individual. 

Examples of neuroplasticity:

1. An increase in grey matter density and white matter integrity on learning something new is a result of neuroplasticity.
2. The ability of an individual to learn and speak more than one language is the result of neuroplasticity.
3. The body’s way of coping up with a particular change in the physical routine is due to the brain’s way of coping up with the situation.
4. A change in the food habit might lead to a difference in the swallowing patterns of an individual which is again an example of neuroplasticity.
5. A patient with stroke returning to normal conditions is due to the balance in the processes occurring in the brain and the proper teamwork of the enzymes and other protein complexes to adapt to changes.
6. Musicians develop a better understanding of different musical instruments and can differentiate amongst several instruments since their peripheral auditory field has developed to adapt to and distinguish these sounds with time.

Habits that can damage neuroplasticity:

Cognitive damage might lead to the brain losing its neuroplastic properties leading to damage in the neurons and the synaptic structures. The body’s feedback mechanism to repair the cognitive responses at times fails to do so and the repairing mechanism, neuroplasticity itself gets damaged by toxic compounds like the tau protein and the amyloid-beta. Stress, high sugar intake, aging bad food habits, alcohol, drugs, smoke, etc. can interfere with the neuroplasticity of the brain by causing phosphorylation of the tau protein through impaired glucose metabolism and the amyloid-beta pathway. All these might later result in neurodegeneration causing Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), chronic schizophrenia, and so on.

Also read: COVID herd immunity is probably not possible

Treatments or ways to improve neuroplasticity:

Different enzymes, receptors, structural proteins, and environmental changes work together to improve the neuroplasticity of the brain. Several biochemical mechanisms are to be considered when speaking of neuroplasticity. While medical ways might include vaccines like AADvac1 and RG7345, and products like bilobalide and curcumin, normal habits from the livelihood might include exercise routines, proper food habits, and proper body clocks to improve neuroplasticity. Therapy, mostly motor rehabilitation therapy, therapeutic hypothermia and is also helpful in improving neuroplasticity. All these might help to improve neuroplasticity, but to maintain a proper neuro-cognitive response, physical exercise is a must and should be practiced from an early age. 

Conclusion and future perspectives:

A better understanding of neuroplasticity is much required since any damage to this might be a result of autism or other neurological disorders which develop with time. A better understanding might help to provide the brain with certain therapies which might help in a way to maintain its plasticity and cure behavioral delay in adapting to changes or in learning new skills. All of this is to make sure that in a world that believes in “fast forward” and is running and changing itself every moment, an individual should keep up with the speed and for that, the control center of an individual’s body, the brain should function smoothly.  

Also read: Hovlinc: a new class of ribozyme

Sources:

1. Gulyaeva NV. Molecular Mechanisms of Neuroplasticity: An Expanding Universe. Biochemistry (Mosc). 2017 Mar;82(3):237-242. DOI: 10.1134/S0006297917030014. PMID: 28320264.
2. Sasmita AO, Kuruvilla J, Ling APK. Harnessing neuroplasticity: modern approaches and clinical future. Int J Neurosci. 2018 Nov;128(11):1061-1077. DOI: http://10.1080/00207454.2018.1466781. Epub 2018 May 4. PMID: 29667473.
3. Hötting K, Röder B. Beneficial effects of physical exercise on neuroplasticity and cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013 Nov;37(9 Pt B):2243-57. DOI: http://10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.04.005. Epub 2013 Apr 25. PMID: 23623982.
4. Nahum M, Lee H, Merzenich MM. Principles of neuroplasticity-based rehabilitation. Prog Brain Res. 2013;207:141-71. DOI: http://10.1016/B978-0-444-63327-9.00009-6. PMID: 24309254.
5. Dimyan MA, Cohen LG. Neuroplasticity in the context of motor rehabilitation after stroke. Nat Rev Neurol. 2011 Feb;7(2):76-85. DOI: http://10.1038/nrneurol.2010.200. Epub 2011 Jan 18. PMID: 21243015; PMCID: PMC4886719.
6. Li P, Legault J, Litcofsky KA. Neuroplasticity as a function of second language learning: anatomical changes in the human brain. Cortex. 2014 Sep;58:301-24. DOI: http://10.1016/j.cortex.2014.05.001. Epub 2014 May 17. PMID: 24996640.
7. Martin RE. Neuroplasticity and swallowing. Dysphagia. 2009 Jun;24(2):218-29. DOI: 10.1007/s00455-008-9193-9. Epub 2009 Jan 7. PMID: 19130130.

• The Corrosion Prediction from the Corrosion Product Performance
• Nitrogen Resilience in Waterlogged Soybean plants
• Cell Senescence in Type II Diabetes: Therapeutic Potential
• Transgene-Free Canker-Resistant Citrus sinensis with Cas12/RNP
• AI Literacy in Early Childhood Education: Challenges and Opportunities