Is neuroplasticity the ability for brain to form new connections ? Is it the ability to alter psychological makeup ? Or both ?
In: Technology
oooooooh i like this question. i got into a conversation about neuroplasticity in regards to mental health on an ask reddit a couple of months ago. its super interesting.
in general, neuroplasticty is the brain’s ability to form neural pathways. these pathways are your personality in a way. if you think a certain way, if you like a certain color, if you always hold your pencil a certain way, any kind of habit your brain forms, neuroplasticity is how your brain retains that information. the more you do these things, the stronger that bond gets. the more you do new things, the more pathways your brain forms.
now, in people with mental disorders, especially mood disorders, neuroplasticity is shown to be incredibly limited. thats why its hard to just “stop being depressed” or “stop acting a certain way.” your brain has a harder time forming those new neural pathways, and it sticks to the few it already has.
so, artificial neuroplasticity, or even just therapeutically /medically enhanced neuroplasticity, could help people form new neural pathways. which could have much more benefit than just helping those with mental disorders. especially with people with brain damage, as it could allow them to essentially fix their brain.
at some point in time, we may be able to design and implant neural pathways that would make people smarter, or teach them a new skill, or possibly implant outside memories into people’s brains. nobody really knows what the limits of neuroplasticity are yet. we dont even really know how the brain works.
this was a bit more like “explain like im in a high school psych class,” so let me try for a real “explain like im five.”
when you are born, your brain is essentially a big empty field. as you get older, stuff starts to grow in that field. everything you do is shown by you walking across the field. the more you walk across the same spot, by doing the same thing, the more worn down that path is. that makes it easier to walk across. when youre much older, that field is now full of plants, vines and trees and flowers. the things you do most have given you paths that are very easy to walk across. you might have a few paths that arent as easy, but are still able to be crossed. trying something new, however, or trying to learn something new, means you have to walk where there is no path.
if you have high neuroplasticity, your field is probably mainly grass, and its pretty easy to form a new path. if you have low neuroplasticity however, your field might be full of thorns and brambles, and its a lot harder to form a new path. and thats where we’re hoping to be able to stimulate neuroplasticity. in minor cases, it would be like giving you a weed whacker and letting you cut down the stuff in your way to make a new path. still a bit of effort, but a lot easier. in major cases, like brain damage, it would be like getting a bulldozer and rebuilding a path that had a landslide and was previously inaccessible, and it completely artificial neuroplasticity, you would get a pre-built path and just lay it in your field, no work required.
i hope that helps!
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