Brain Plasticity and the CSET

Mar
22

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I write this from Berkeley California where I just finished attending the Conference on Brain Network Dynamics and brain plasticity with guest speaker Michael Merzenich.

Merzenich’s pioneering studies over three decades have revealed the capacity of the brain to rewire itself in response to new conditions, even during adulthood and aging. And in developing the first neural prosthesis — the cochlear implant, in the early 1980s — and software programs for language and learning disabilities in the mid 1990s, he has demonstrated that the brain has the capacity to actively engage in a remediation, or retraining, process. His current research focuses on developing intensive plasticity-based mental and physical training programs, targeting schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, functional losses in normal aging, mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease, acquired movement disorders, autism, and learning, language and reading impairments in children.

With new advances in MRI and brain imaging technology, I’m excited to bring you the latest cutting-edge research on the brain, learning, and how it applies to your CSET studies.

Let’s first define a little about plasticity and then what approach we can take to maximize our CSET studies.

What is Plasticity?

Plasticity, or neuroplasticity, is the lifelong ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences. As we learn, we acquire new knowledge and skills through instruction or experience. In order to learn or memorize a fact or skill, there must be persistent functional changes in the brain that represent the new knowledge. The ability of the brain to change with learning is what is known as neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity does not consist of a single type of morphological change, but rather includes several different processes that occur throughout an individual’s lifetime. Many types of brain cells are involved in neuroplasticity, including neurons, glia, and vascular cells.

It was once believed that as we aged, the brain’s networks became fixed. In the past two decades, however, an enormous amount of research has revealed that the brain never stops changing and adjusting. Learning, as defined by Tortora and Grabowski (1996), is “the ability to acquire new knowledge or skills through instruction or experience. Memory is the process by which that knowledge is retained over time.” The capacity of the brain to change with learning is plasticity. So how does the brain change with learning? According to Durbach (2000), there

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