Neuroplasticity

[Conor]

Hey my names Conor and I'm fairly new to the forum.

 

I'm a year 12 high school student. I take psychology as one of my subjects and when I leave high school I plan to study psychology at university. Last week in psychology we learnt about neuroplasticity, although apart from a quick introduction, a definition and some further information we didn't really cover much more on the topic. As year 12 psychology is very general and covers a lot of information but not in great detail, I was wondering if anyone has any interesting cases of neuroplasticity from people either close to them or people they have read about or seen in a video. I find it to be a very interesting topic and would also like to know if anyone knows if it is being used in mainstream hospitals, if not then why not?

 

Lastly I would like to ask has anyone read the book 'the brain that changes itself'? If so was it a good read? Why? Why not?

 

I'll enjoy your replys

[Realitycheck]

You could check en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity for starters. Thanks for bringing it up. I had heard a bit about it in the recent past, but had not really followed it up yet. It's still a fairly new concept in the neurology world.

 

While it is undoubtedly utilized as a method of rehabilitation, it really just happens where it is capable of happening, but I'm not going to say much till I'm more read on the subject. Fronm personal experience, I can tell you that it does have limitations though. Without intervention of some sort, some gaps are too great to be bridged.

Edited July 7, 2011 by Realitycheck

[StringJunky]

You might find this interesting:

 

"First Direct Evidence of Neuroplastic Changes Following Brainwave Training

ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2010) — Significant changes in brain plasticity have been observed following alpha brainwave training.

 

A pioneering collaboration between two laboratories from the University of London has provided the first evidence of neuroplastic changes occurring directly after natural brainwave training. Researchers from Goldsmiths and the Institute of Neurology have demonstrated that half an hour of voluntary control of brain rhythms is sufficient to induce a lasting shift in cortical excitability and intracortical function."

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100310114936.htm

Edited July 8, 2011 by StringJunky

[Conor]

Wow it seems amazing how little time it can take for the brain to undergo plasticity on a significant level.

 

For those interested in the potential of neuroplasticity, below is a YouTube link. In the video Dr. Norman Doidge talks about some interesting case studies from his new book 'the brain that changes itself'.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3TQopnNXBU

[StringJunky]

Here's a paper on the effects of music training on the brain:

 

http://www.musicianbrain.com/papers/Wan_Schlaug_MusicMaking_BrainPlasticity.pdf

[skybender]

You could check en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity for starters. Thanks for bringing it up. I had heard a bit about it in the recent past, but had not really followed it up yet. It's still a fairly new concept in the neurology world.

 

While it is undoubtedly utilized as a method of rehabilitation, it really just happens where it is capable of happening, but I'm not going to say much till I'm more read on the subject. Fronm personal experience, I can tell you that it does have limitations though. Without intervention of some sort, some gaps are too great to be bridged.

 

 

Sometimes it is and sometimes it is not, depending on how hardcore the doctors want to go, because the brain is like, 'I try to survive'!

[Realitycheck]

Well then, evidently the doctor(s) didn't do everything exactly as it should or could have been done since my rehab plateaued only several weeks after my surgery. Though it is quite possible that the cancer could have done damage to the nerves prior to the surgery that the surgeon possibly wasn't aware of/was blind to, and could have been unaware of connections/routing that needed to be done. Not sure what they do to facilitate that kind of situation.