Neuroplasticity

An interesting story from the University of Alabama. The article talks about brain rehabilitation in patients who had undergone a stroke. Apparently something called Constraint Induced (CI) therapy actually caused the stroke patients to increase the amount of gray matter in their brains. CI therapy can train the brain to rewire itself after a major insult like a stroke or a head injury. It is used on patients who have trouble moving after a brain injury. This treatment involves constraining movements of the less-affected appendage from a stroke with a sling for 90% of waking hours for 2 weeks, while intensively training the more affected appendage. This most recent study has shown that CI therapy causes structural brain changes, showing the brain's plasticity at work.

"Now we have further proof of the concept of neuroplasticity, the brain’s remarkable ability to respond to damage to compensate for the injury.”

The researchers found that the structural changes in the brain improved patient's outcomes on specific rating measures.

"The CI therapy group showed an increase in the amount of gray matter in areas of the brain responsible for motor skills while the comparison group had no increase."

The most interesting part of this study is that the gray matter increased in the area of the brain associated for motor skills. Scientists have known for some time that new neurons are continually being created in the hippocampus, a brain area critical for memory. This is the first time I have heard of the possibility of new neuron growth in this other area of the brain.

"The gray matter increase may also reflect an increase in the amount of glial cells in the brain. But the most intriguing possibility is that the brain is actually creating more neurons."

Science is making strides towards greater and greater control of the brain. In the future, scientist's ability to shape the brain will improve considerably. Increasingly, virtual reality environments will allow complete control over sensory inputs into a patients brain. With the precise manipulation of these inputs, scientists will be able to shape the functioning of brain towards a desired output. The brain's natural mechanism of plasticity will allow scientists to rehabilitate many forms of brain dysfunction.

“Coupling CI therapy with other factors affecting neuroplasticity, such as pharmacologic agents or electrical stimulation, may lead to exciting new avenues for research into a host of neurological diseases and developmental disabilities.”

Other tools at scientist's disposal such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation and stem cells may allow science to potentially cure many disabling conditions. I think science will better understand the brain's natural mechanisms of neuroplasticity and will be able to use it to our advantage. This may allow the brain to repair itself through targeted therapies.

(Note: I took the previous blog post down, sorry for the confusion. I found that previous research had already been performed on radio waves affecting the brain. Its not really an area of research that I'm too familiar with, so perhaps in the future I will redo that post)