Have you ever heard the saying: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”? It’s a phrase often used to suggest that change becomes impossible with age. Unfortunately, this limiting belief is often applied to humans too. Many individuals are under the belief that your brain plasticity peaks when you are younger and then continues to decline with the rest of your cognitive function as you age. That’s not a very inspiring outlook on aging, is it? It suggests that at some point, your mental abilities begin an inevitable downhill slide. What if I told you that neuroplasticity doesn’t actually get worse as you age – and in fact, it is more important than ever as you get older to harness the flexibility and adaptation that your brain has.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections in response to experiences, learning, and environmental changes. Our brain is made up of millions of neurons that process information and communicate it through a complex network of different electrical circuits. Neuroplasticity can encompass many different processes: synaptic plasticity, functional reorganization, and diaschisis – that help the brain adapt, recover from damage, and strengthen existing pathways.
Much of the information behind this misconception of “losing neuroplasticity” comes from the fact that at a young age your brain is still developing. It has an abundance of young neurons that can take in new information quickly, leaving a lot of opportunity for your brain to adapt and grow. It’s true that brain development slows in the mid-to-late 20s and that brain volume may gradually decrease over time. However, this shrinkage is not synonymous with a loss of neuroplasticity. You can retrain your brain, learn new skills, and build new neural pathways regardless of your age.
One of the most compelling data related to the plasticity of the aging brain comes from that of stroke patients. These patients have experienced significant damage to their brain, whether due to a neural bleed or blood clot, impacting their behavioral function. However, through therapy, these patients have shown incredible recovery, which can be attributed to the plastic changes in brain function. The impacted part of the brain in this patient has literally shut down and thus the brain must take advantage of any plasticity that is available to restore its function.
However, it is only when an individual experiences this substantial damage that the plasticity will manifest itself. Other functions in a normal, undamaged brain may take more training to increase this plasticity. For instance, an adult who is learning how to drive a new route in their town will need to draw on their working memory and attentional resources. Plasticity in the brain, however, would only result if the adult repeated this task of driving to new and confusing places and from it was able to develop good driving skills. Repeating this activity may result in the neural reorganization and even enhancement of certain brain processes that are utilized in navigation.
This process is shown in a study on London taxi drivers. These taxi drivers, who undergo extensive spatial navigation training are shown to have increased gray matter volume in the posterior hippocampus, a brain region associated with spatial memory. This shows how experience, navigational demands, can physically reshape the brain.
Currently research supports the fact that the adult brain is far from being fixed in one way. There are factors such as stress, adrenal hormones, neurotransmitters, drugs – and the list goes on — that may induce some morphological changes in the brain.
A strong stimulus that sparks neuroplastic changes, and proves that our brain is not finished morphing at a certain age, is stress. Repeated stress can impact the morphology of certain neurons in various brain areas. For one, the hippocampus system that regulates stress response has repeatedly shown retraction of dendrites in certain neurons after chronic stress.
An interesting phenomenon in adult neuroplasticity is adult neurogenesis, the generation of new neurons in adult brains. Most cells of the body such as blood cells or those in the gut, have been regarded as nonrenewable. And although most neurons of the adult nervous system cannot renew themselves, the adult brain compensates for damage by generating new connections among neurons that survive. The existence of neurogenesis in the adult human brain was shown in cancer patients who were injected with BrdU to monitor tumor cell proliferation. Since BrdU has been administered throughout the hippocampus, it should have been that all dividing cells were labeled. However, newborn neurons were detected unlabelled, and from there it became accepted that adult neurogenesis exists.
Some individuals were under the belief that neuroplasticity is related to actual brain volume. However, the evidence supporting this belief has mostly been ambiguous. Research shows that adults who engaged in aerobic exercise daily were able to prevent shrinkage of their pre-frontal cortex and even gain some brain volume in the hippocampal and nucleus accumbens region. These regions are both correlated with neuroplasticity, so this finding was important. However, these gains were not sustained for a 90-day period where the individuals stopped this repeated activity. With these findings, it seems that there still is not strong evidence that one can improve plasticity and the size of the brain through training.
Again there seems to be ambiguity with whether neural activation is tied to brain plasticity. Research findings vary: some studies show a decreased neural activation after training, which could be tied to increased efficiency. On the other hand, some findings show increased activation, which may be related to compensatory mechanisms.
There are several clinical treatment options that can be used to support neuroplasticity as it restores function and treats symptoms in impacted individuals. One treatment option, for instance, is mirror therapy – where an amputated individual focuses on watching their intact limb perform activities in order to increase activation and connectivity in the part of the brain responsible for motor movements on the both sides of the body.
A treatment used in patients with a stroke is constrain-induced movement therapy. This is where the patient’s functional limb is constrained and the affected limb engages in a repetitive task practice and behavioral shaping.
Why is neuroplasticity important to a typical individual? Neuroplasticity on top of giving hope to the aging brain, is also a strong preventative factor to whatever the years of aging may bring. It is important to do what you can to keep your brain young and flexible to whatever it may encounter.
Sleep is one of the most important ways to maintain your brain health, including the neuroplasticity of your brain. During sleep the brain clears itself out of toxins such as the amyloid protein, which can interfere with different brain functions. On top of helping to strengthen your memories, sleep is important in regulating emotions and bridging together knowledge with prior experiences. Remember that a healthy body supports a healthy brain – and one of the first rule of thumbs in taking care of yourself is prioritizing sleep.
Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain and reduces stress and inflammation – both of which help to preserve cognitive abilities. Also, among the most important neurotrophins involved in neuroplasticity is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Research shows that low levels of BDNF are correlated with cognitive decline – which affects memory, concentration, and learning ability. Aerobic exercise is involved in triggering the release of these brain growth factors – highlighting a direct correlation between exercise and neuroplasticity. Additionally, another source of research has shown improvement from exercise in the processing speed as well as decreasing age-related atrophy of the hippocampus.
Reducing stress is important when taking care of your brain health. One way to reduce stress may be through meditation. Chronic stress can increase cortisol levels, a hormone that can damage neurons and interfere with neuroplasticity. Research suggests that meditation can spark different structural changes in the brain that may impact how you process information. Other stress-reducing activities include spending time in nature, journaling, practicing deep breathing, engaging in creative pursuits, and ensuring downtime throughout your week.
Neuroplasticity is important for growth, but also for protection. Having a strong and flexible brain can help you recover from different injuries or diseases. Don’t let outdated beliefs convince you that age limits your brain’s potential. Your mind is capable of remarkable change at any stage of life.
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