NEUROPLASTICITY

By We Emotionally Care

The human body is an incredible machine: it has the ability to process hundreds of foods into energy, strengthen itself after suffering an injury, regenerate itself, identify elements around us, and tell us a story of our environment through our senses. One of the most impressive faculties that we continue to explore in neuroscience is neuroplasticity or neural plasticity.

Neuroplasticity is the brain structures and cells’ ability to modify and reorganize themselves based on experiences, learning, senses, damage and physical activity, among others.

Years ago, there was a constant discussion as to whether the human brain was capable of modifying itself or whether, when it reached a point in its development, it remained static and unchanged, i.e., without the capacity to be altered (which left us vulnerable to the idea of not having a chance to recover from an accident or to learn new things). Fortunately, it has been proven that neurons and neuroglia (special support cells for neurons) are able to adapt and respond in the best possible way to our lifestyle.

Not only that, but it has also been proven that there are 2 areas of the brain where new neurons are produced, which disproves the previous belief that neurons are never regenerated or modified.

Neuroplasticity is present in incredible cases. For example, in cases of people with visual disability, it has generally been found that the brain area with which they would process visual information is activated when using another sense (such as touch, in the case of people who read Braille). We can argue that the brain seeks to optimize its resources to make our lives easier.

This process is influenced by the exposure we have to our surroundings and the genetics of each one of us. Some of the habits and activities we can do to improve our neuronal plasticity involve eating a good balanced diet, sleeping 8 - 9 hours a day, playing an instrument, exercising consistently and healthily, practicing mindfulness, having positive social relationships, practicing with attention and intention multiple times something we want to learn, and avoiding a life of constant stress.