Brain Plasticity

Brain plasticity
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Brain plasticity is the ability of the brain to change for good or bad from childhood to adulthood, also known as neuroplasticity for example, when an individual learns a new skill such as riding a bicycle, plastic changes within the cell in the nervous system that control motor skill take place (Bocchio et al. 2017). It helps in both brain development and retrogression and without this ability, the brain cannot develop from an infant through adulthood or recover from brain damage. The brain is special because the motor and sensory signals are sent in collateral, making it possible to change the direction of the signal because it has neural paths that can duplicate another’s work. Every part of the brain has its important functions, for example, there is a part of the brain that controls right-hand movement and damage to this part, causes dysfunction of the right arm.
Brains composition is initiated before birth by our genes and its constant growth depends on developmental plasticity, a process whereby developmental processes alter synaptically and neurons connection (Bocchio et al. 2017). During birth, an infant’s neuron within the cerebral cortex has about 2,500 neurons and in adulthood the number multiplies to about 15,000 neurons this takes place when one explores the world and learns new skills, and this process is called synaptogenesis, while in old age, the neurons decrease by almost a half of the adult neurons and this is known as synaptic pruning (Bock et al.

2015). During an infant’s brain development, myelination occurs which is the process of covering the axon of a neuron with a layer of fat called myelin that protects neurons and helps them send signals to the synapses more effectively (Fields 2015). Myelination process starts within the brain stem and the cerebellum prior to birth and is completed towards the end of adolescent within the frontal cortex, and effective breastfeeding helps in fast myelination within the brain. Brain plasticity has enabled the development of my brain from childhood to adulthood by allowing the brain to make adjustments to its connections, therefore, retrieving information is easier.
Behavioral changes have an effect on brain plasticity because it causes a change in the composition of the neurons pathway that enhances the behavior. The factors affecting the structure of the neurons and behavior include; premature experiences this is whereby, the experiences one gets during early life have different results with same experiences later in life (Mandyam et al. 2017). For example, an animal in adolescent placed in harsh environment there will be both qualitative and quantitative contrast causing an increase to dendrites and neurons within the sensory and motor cortical region of an animal that is aged, while young animals in the same environment as aged animals there was an increase in dendrites but a decrease in density of the synapse (Chattarji et al2015). Individuals, who abuse stimulants like cocaine for its powerful psychoactive result, changes the nervous system, for example, a mouse that is injected with cocaine, will be very active, but with repeated injections, the mouse can stay active for a long period of time even if the injections are discontinued.
People continue to grasp new skills and language even in advanced years and the brain has a mechanism put in place to remember all this in later years whereby, knowledge is retained, this enhances both biochemical and structural changes at the synapse, but with related experiences, neuron paths can be changed differently and it is observed in change of behavior (Sailor et al. 2017). With constant repetition of activities, the adult brain can recall a new activity, and through the same mechanism, a brain that is damaged will lead to the recovery of information, and with related experiences, neuron paths can be changed differently and it is observed in a change of behavior.
References
Bocchio, M., Nabavi, S., & Capogna, M. (2017). Synaptic plasticity, engrams, and network oscillations in amygdala circuits for storage and retrieval of emotional memories. Neuron, 94(4), 731-743.
Bock, J., Wainstock, T., Braun, K., & Segal, M. (2015). Stress in utero: prenatal programming of brain plasticity and cognition. Biological psychiatry, 78(5), 315-326.
Chattarji, S., Tomar, A., Suvrathan, A., Ghosh, S., & Rahman, M. M. (2015). Neighborhood matters: divergent patterns of stress-induced plasticity across the brain. Nature neuroscience, 18(10), 1364.
Fields, R. D. (2015). A new mechanism of nervous system plasticity: activity-dependent myelination. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(12), 756.
Mandyam, C. D., Schilling, J. M., Cui, W., Egawa, J., Niesman, I. R., Kellerhals, S. E., … & Grogman, G. C. (2017). Neuron-targeted caveolin-1 improves molecular signaling, plasticity, and behavior dependent on the hippocampus in adult and aged mice. Biological psychiatry, 81(2), 101-110.
Sailor, K. A., Schinder, A. F., & Lledo, P. M. (2017). Adult neurogenesis beyond the niche: its potential for driving brain plasticity. Current opinion in neurobiology, 42, 111-117.