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Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt due to experience. It is an umbrella term referring to the brain’s ability to change, reorganize, or grow neural networks. This can involve functional changes due to brain damage or structural changes due to learning.
Plasticityrefers to the brain’s malleability or ability to change; it does not imply that the brain is plastic.Neurorefers toneurons, the nerve cells that are the building blocks of the brain and nervous system. Thus, neuroplasticity allows nerve cells to change or adjust.
Types of Neuroplasticity
The human brain is composed of approximately 100 billion neurons.Early researchers believed thatneurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons, stopped shortly after birth.
Verywell / JR Bee
Today, it’s understood that the brain’s neuroplasticity allows it to reorganize pathways, create new connections, and, in some cases, even create new neurons.
There are two main types of neuroplasticity:
How Neuroplasticity Works
The first few years of a child’s life are a time of rapid brain growth. At birth, every neuron in the cerebral cortex has an estimated 2,500synapses, or small gaps between neurons where nerve impulses are relayed. By the age of three, this number has grown to a whopping 15,000 synapses per neuron.
The average adult, however, only has about half that number of synapses. Why? Because as we gain new experiences, some connections are strengthened while others are eliminated. This process is known assynaptic pruning.
Neurons that are used frequently develop stronger connections. Those that are rarely or never used eventually die. By developing new connections and pruning away weak ones, the brain can adapt to the changing environment.
Benefits of Neuroplasticity
There are many benefits of brain neuroplasticity. Allowing your brain to adapt and change helps promote:
Characteristics of Neuroplasticity
There are a few defining characteristics of neuroplasticity.
Age and Environment Play a Role
While plasticity occurs throughout the lifetime, certain types of changes are more predominant at specific ages. The brain tends to change a great deal during the early years of life, for example, as the immature brain grows and organizes itself.
Generally, young brains tend to be more sensitive and responsive to experiences than much older brains.But this does not mean that adult brains are not capable of adaptation.
Genetics can have an influence as well. Theinteraction between the environment and geneticsalso plays a role in shaping the brain’s plasticity.
Neuroplasticity Is an Ongoing Process
Plasticity is ongoing throughout life and involves brain cells other than neurons, including glial and vascular cells. It can occur as a result of learning, experience, andmemory formation, or as a result of damage to the brain.
While people used to believe that the brain became fixed after a certain age, newer research has revealed that the brain never stops changing in response to learning.
In instances of damage to the brain, such as during a stroke, the areas of the brain associated with certain functions may be injured. Eventually, healthy parts of the brain may take over those functions and the abilities can be restored.
Brain Plasticity Has Limitations
It is important to note, however, that the brain is not infinitely malleable. Certain areas of the brain are largely responsible for certain actions. For example, there are areas of the brain that play critical roles inmovement,language, speech, and cognition.
How to Improve Neuroplasticity
There are steps you can take to help encourage your brain to adapt and change, at any age.
Enrich Your Environment
Learning environments that offer plenty of opportunities for focused attention, novelty, and challenge have been shown to stimulate positive changes in the brain. This is particularly important during childhood and adolescence, but enriching your environment can continue to provide brain rewards well into adulthood.
Stimulating your brain might mean:
Get Plenty of Rest
Research has shown that sleep plays an important role in dendritic growth in the brain.Dendrites are the growths at the end of neurons that help transmit information from one neuron to the next. By strengthening these connections, you may be able to encourage greater brain plasticity.
Sleep has been shown to have important effects on both physical andmental health. Some researchers suggest that this is partly due to genetics and partly due to the makeup of thegrey matterin the brain.
Exercise Regularly
Regular physical activityhas a number of brain benefits. Some research indicates that exercise might help prevent neuron loss in key areas of the hippocampus,a part of the brain involved in memory and other functions. Other studies suggest that exercise plays a role in new neuron formation in this same region.
A 2021 study adds that physical exercise also appears to boost brain plasticity through its impact on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF, a protein that impacts nerve growth), functional connectivity, and the basal ganglia—the part of the brain responsible for motor control and learning.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio exercises (such as walking,dancing, swimming, or cycling) per week and a minimum of two days of strength training exercises (lifting weights or doing bodyweight exercises).
Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulnessentails completely immersing your mind in the present moment, without ruminating over the past or contemplating the future. Awareness of the sights, sounds, and sensations around you is key. Many studies have shown that cultivating and practicing mindfulness can foster the brain’s neuroplasticity.
What to Know About Mindfulness Meditation
Problems With Brain Plasticity
Brain changes are often seen as improvements, but this is not always the case. In some instances, the brain’s structure and function can be negatively influenced or changed.
There are also some medical conditions that can limit or hinder brain plasticity. Among them are a variety of pediatric neurological disorders such as epilepsy, cerebral palsy, tuberous sclerosis, and Fragile X syndrome.
How Neuroplasticity Was Discovered
Beliefs and theories about how the brain works have evolved substantially through the years. Early researchers believed that the brain was “fixed,” while modern advances have shown that the brain is more flexible.
Early Theories
Up until the 1960s, researchers believed that changes in the brain could only take place during infancy and childhood. By early adulthood, it was believed that thebrain’s physical structurewas mostly permanent.
In his 2007 book, “The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph From the Frontiers of Brain Science,” which took a historical look at early theories, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Norman Doidge suggested that this belief that the brain was incapable of change primarily stemmed from three major sources:
Early on, psychologistWilliam Jamessuggested that the brain was perhaps not as unchanging as previously believed. Way back in 1890, in his book “The Principles of Psychology,” he wrote, “Organic matter, especially nervous tissue, seems endowed with a very extraordinary degree of plasticity.“However, this idea went largely ignored for many years.
Modern Theories
In the 1920s, researcher Karl Lashley found evidence of changes in neural pathways of rhesus monkeys. By the 1960s, researchers began to explore cases in which older adults who had suffered massive strokes were able to regain functioning, demonstrating that the brain was more malleable than previously believed. Modern researchers have also found evidence that the brain is able to rewire itself following damage.
Modern research has demonstrated that the brain continues to create new neural pathways and alter existing ones in order to adapt to new experiences, learn new information, and create new memories.
Thanks to advances in technology, researchers are able to get a never-before-possible look at the brain’s inner workings. As the study of modern neuroscience flourishes, research has demonstrated that people are not limited to the mental abilities they are born with and that damaged brains are often quite capable of remarkable change.
Learning Brain vs. Survival Brain: What’s the Difference?
A Word From Verywell
The brain has an amazing ability to change throughout the course of our life, allowing us to learn new things or recover after sustaining a brain-based injury. Still, there are limits to how much the brain can adapt.
Constantly challenging ourselves, making sleep a priority, and getting regular exercise can also help improve brain plasticity. Avoiding certain substances is beneficial as well.
Dispelling Myths About the Brain: 8 Facts About Our Most Important Organ
Without neuroplasticity, it would be difficult to learn or otherwise improve brain function. Neuroplasticity also aids in recovery from brain-based injuries and illnesses.
25 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Herculano-Houzel S.The remarkable, yet not extraordinary, human brain as a scaled-up primate brain and its associated cost.PNAS. 2012;109(Suppl 1);10661-8. doi:10.1073/pnas.1201895109The University of Maine.Bulletin #4356, Children and brain development: What we know about how children learn.Kaczmarek B.Current views on neuroplasticity: What is new and what is old?.Acta Neuropsychologica. 2020;18(1):1-14. doi:10.5604/01.3001.0013.8808Murdock A.The evolutionary advantage of the teenage brain. University of California.Johnson AK, Xue B.Central nervous system neuroplasticity and the sensitization of hypertension.Nature Rev Nephrol. 2018;14:750-66. doi:10.1038/s41581-018-0068-5Chen Q, Yang H, Rooks B, et al.Autonomic flexibility reflects learning and associated neuroplasticity in old age.Human Brain Mapping. 2020;41(13):3608-19. doi:10.1002/hbn.25034Dabrowski J, Czajka A, Zielinska-Turek J, et al.Brain functional reserve in the context of neuroplasticity after stroke.Neural Plasticity. 2019:9708905. doi:10.1155/2019/9708905Kiran S, Thompson C.Neuroplasticity of language networks in aphasia: Advances, updates, and future challenges.Front Neurol. 2019;10:295. doi:10.3389/fneur.2019.00295Vemuri P, Lesnick TG, Przybelski SA, et al.Association of lifetime intellectual enrichment with cognitive decline in the older population.JAMA Neurol. 2014;71(8):1017-24. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2014.963Li W, Ma L, Yang G, Gan WB.REM sleep selectively prunes and maintains new synapses in development and learning.Nat Neurosci. 2017;20(3):427-437. doi:10.1038/nn.4479Tahmasian M, Samea F, Khazaie H, et al.The interrelation of sleep and mental and physical health is anchored in grey-matter neuroanatomy and under genetic control.Communic Biol. 2020;3:171. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-0892-6Kim YS, Shin SK, Hong SB, Kim HJ.The effects of strength exercise on hippocampus volume and functional fitness of older women.Experiment Gerontol. 2017;97:22-8. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2017.07.007Liu PZ, Nusslock R.Exercise-mediated neurogenesis in the hippocampus via BDNF.Front Neurosci. 2018;12:52. doi:10.3389/fnins.2018.00052Vorkapic C, Leal S, Alves H, Douglas M, Britto A, Martin Dantas EH.Born to move: a review on the impact of physical exercise on brain health and the evidence from human controlled trials.Arq Neuro-Psiquiatr. 2021;79(6). doi:10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2020-0166Department of Health and Human Services.Current guidelines.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02012/full. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.0201Schultz S, Larson J, Oh J, et al.Participation in cognitively-stimulating activities is associated with brain structure and cognitive function in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.Brain Imaging Behav. 2015;9(4):729-736. doi:10.1007/s11682-014-9329-5Video games can change your brain: Studies investigating how playing video games can affect the brain have shown that they can cause changes in many brain regions. ScienceDaily.Chukwuma C.Environmental and public health repercussions of the heavy metal lead (Pb) in the pediatric population.Biomed J Sci Techn Res. 2020;31(3):24274-24277. doi:10.26717/BJSTR.2020.31.005112Dennis M, Spiegler B, Juranek J, Bigler E, Snead O, Fletcher J.Age, plasticity, and homeostasis in childhood brain disorders.Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013;37(10 Pt 2):2760-73. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.09.010Doidge N.The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph From the Frontiers of Brain Science. Viking.James W.The Principles of Psychology.Classics in the History of Psychology.Sebastianelli L, Saltuari L, Nardone R.How the brain can rewire itself after an injury: the lesson from hemispherectomy.Neural Regan Res. 2017;12(9):1426-1427. doi:10.4103/1673-5374.215247Voss P, Thomas ME, Cisneros-Franco JM, de Villers-Sidani É.Dynamic brains and the changing rules of neuroplasticity: implications for learning and recovery.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1657. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01657Ortiz-Teran L, Diez I, Ortiz T, et al.Brain circuit-gene expression relationships and neuroplasticity of multisensory cortices in blind children.PNAS. 2017;114(26):6830-35. doi:10.1073/pnas.1619121114Additional ReadingHockenbury SE, Hockenbury D.Discovering Psychology, 8th ed. Worth Publishing.Hoiland E.Brain plasticity: What is it?. University of Washington.Kolb B, Gibb R.Brain plasticity and behaviour in the developing brain.J Canad Acad Child Adolesc Psychiat. 2011;20(4):265-276.
25 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Herculano-Houzel S.The remarkable, yet not extraordinary, human brain as a scaled-up primate brain and its associated cost.PNAS. 2012;109(Suppl 1);10661-8. doi:10.1073/pnas.1201895109The University of Maine.Bulletin #4356, Children and brain development: What we know about how children learn.Kaczmarek B.Current views on neuroplasticity: What is new and what is old?.Acta Neuropsychologica. 2020;18(1):1-14. doi:10.5604/01.3001.0013.8808Murdock A.The evolutionary advantage of the teenage brain. University of California.Johnson AK, Xue B.Central nervous system neuroplasticity and the sensitization of hypertension.Nature Rev Nephrol. 2018;14:750-66. doi:10.1038/s41581-018-0068-5Chen Q, Yang H, Rooks B, et al.Autonomic flexibility reflects learning and associated neuroplasticity in old age.Human Brain Mapping. 2020;41(13):3608-19. doi:10.1002/hbn.25034Dabrowski J, Czajka A, Zielinska-Turek J, et al.Brain functional reserve in the context of neuroplasticity after stroke.Neural Plasticity. 2019:9708905. doi:10.1155/2019/9708905Kiran S, Thompson C.Neuroplasticity of language networks in aphasia: Advances, updates, and future challenges.Front Neurol. 2019;10:295. doi:10.3389/fneur.2019.00295Vemuri P, Lesnick TG, Przybelski SA, et al.Association of lifetime intellectual enrichment with cognitive decline in the older population.JAMA Neurol. 2014;71(8):1017-24. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2014.963Li W, Ma L, Yang G, Gan WB.REM sleep selectively prunes and maintains new synapses in development and learning.Nat Neurosci. 2017;20(3):427-437. doi:10.1038/nn.4479Tahmasian M, Samea F, Khazaie H, et al.The interrelation of sleep and mental and physical health is anchored in grey-matter neuroanatomy and under genetic control.Communic Biol. 2020;3:171. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-0892-6Kim YS, Shin SK, Hong SB, Kim HJ.The effects of strength exercise on hippocampus volume and functional fitness of older women.Experiment Gerontol. 2017;97:22-8. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2017.07.007Liu PZ, Nusslock R.Exercise-mediated neurogenesis in the hippocampus via BDNF.Front Neurosci. 2018;12:52. doi:10.3389/fnins.2018.00052Vorkapic C, Leal S, Alves H, Douglas M, Britto A, Martin Dantas EH.Born to move: a review on the impact of physical exercise on brain health and the evidence from human controlled trials.Arq Neuro-Psiquiatr. 2021;79(6). doi:10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2020-0166Department of Health and Human Services.Current guidelines.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02012/full. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.0201Schultz S, Larson J, Oh J, et al.Participation in cognitively-stimulating activities is associated with brain structure and cognitive function in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.Brain Imaging Behav. 2015;9(4):729-736. doi:10.1007/s11682-014-9329-5Video games can change your brain: Studies investigating how playing video games can affect the brain have shown that they can cause changes in many brain regions. ScienceDaily.Chukwuma C.Environmental and public health repercussions of the heavy metal lead (Pb) in the pediatric population.Biomed J Sci Techn Res. 2020;31(3):24274-24277. doi:10.26717/BJSTR.2020.31.005112Dennis M, Spiegler B, Juranek J, Bigler E, Snead O, Fletcher J.Age, plasticity, and homeostasis in childhood brain disorders.Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013;37(10 Pt 2):2760-73. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.09.010Doidge N.The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph From the Frontiers of Brain Science. Viking.James W.The Principles of Psychology.Classics in the History of Psychology.Sebastianelli L, Saltuari L, Nardone R.How the brain can rewire itself after an injury: the lesson from hemispherectomy.Neural Regan Res. 2017;12(9):1426-1427. doi:10.4103/1673-5374.215247Voss P, Thomas ME, Cisneros-Franco JM, de Villers-Sidani É.Dynamic brains and the changing rules of neuroplasticity: implications for learning and recovery.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1657. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01657Ortiz-Teran L, Diez I, Ortiz T, et al.Brain circuit-gene expression relationships and neuroplasticity of multisensory cortices in blind children.PNAS. 2017;114(26):6830-35. doi:10.1073/pnas.1619121114Additional ReadingHockenbury SE, Hockenbury D.Discovering Psychology, 8th ed. Worth Publishing.Hoiland E.Brain plasticity: What is it?. University of Washington.Kolb B, Gibb R.Brain plasticity and behaviour in the developing brain.J Canad Acad Child Adolesc Psychiat. 2011;20(4):265-276.
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Herculano-Houzel S.The remarkable, yet not extraordinary, human brain as a scaled-up primate brain and its associated cost.PNAS. 2012;109(Suppl 1);10661-8. doi:10.1073/pnas.1201895109The University of Maine.Bulletin #4356, Children and brain development: What we know about how children learn.Kaczmarek B.Current views on neuroplasticity: What is new and what is old?.Acta Neuropsychologica. 2020;18(1):1-14. doi:10.5604/01.3001.0013.8808Murdock A.The evolutionary advantage of the teenage brain. University of California.Johnson AK, Xue B.Central nervous system neuroplasticity and the sensitization of hypertension.Nature Rev Nephrol. 2018;14:750-66. doi:10.1038/s41581-018-0068-5Chen Q, Yang H, Rooks B, et al.Autonomic flexibility reflects learning and associated neuroplasticity in old age.Human Brain Mapping. 2020;41(13):3608-19. doi:10.1002/hbn.25034Dabrowski J, Czajka A, Zielinska-Turek J, et al.Brain functional reserve in the context of neuroplasticity after stroke.Neural Plasticity. 2019:9708905. doi:10.1155/2019/9708905Kiran S, Thompson C.Neuroplasticity of language networks in aphasia: Advances, updates, and future challenges.Front Neurol. 2019;10:295. doi:10.3389/fneur.2019.00295Vemuri P, Lesnick TG, Przybelski SA, et al.Association of lifetime intellectual enrichment with cognitive decline in the older population.JAMA Neurol. 2014;71(8):1017-24. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2014.963Li W, Ma L, Yang G, Gan WB.REM sleep selectively prunes and maintains new synapses in development and learning.Nat Neurosci. 2017;20(3):427-437. doi:10.1038/nn.4479Tahmasian M, Samea F, Khazaie H, et al.The interrelation of sleep and mental and physical health is anchored in grey-matter neuroanatomy and under genetic control.Communic Biol. 2020;3:171. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-0892-6Kim YS, Shin SK, Hong SB, Kim HJ.The effects of strength exercise on hippocampus volume and functional fitness of older women.Experiment Gerontol. 2017;97:22-8. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2017.07.007Liu PZ, Nusslock R.Exercise-mediated neurogenesis in the hippocampus via BDNF.Front Neurosci. 2018;12:52. doi:10.3389/fnins.2018.00052Vorkapic C, Leal S, Alves H, Douglas M, Britto A, Martin Dantas EH.Born to move: a review on the impact of physical exercise on brain health and the evidence from human controlled trials.Arq Neuro-Psiquiatr. 2021;79(6). doi:10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2020-0166Department of Health and Human Services.Current guidelines.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02012/full. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.0201Schultz S, Larson J, Oh J, et al.Participation in cognitively-stimulating activities is associated with brain structure and cognitive function in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.Brain Imaging Behav. 2015;9(4):729-736. doi:10.1007/s11682-014-9329-5Video games can change your brain: Studies investigating how playing video games can affect the brain have shown that they can cause changes in many brain regions. ScienceDaily.Chukwuma C.Environmental and public health repercussions of the heavy metal lead (Pb) in the pediatric population.Biomed J Sci Techn Res. 2020;31(3):24274-24277. doi:10.26717/BJSTR.2020.31.005112Dennis M, Spiegler B, Juranek J, Bigler E, Snead O, Fletcher J.Age, plasticity, and homeostasis in childhood brain disorders.Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013;37(10 Pt 2):2760-73. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.09.010Doidge N.The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph From the Frontiers of Brain Science. Viking.James W.The Principles of Psychology.Classics in the History of Psychology.Sebastianelli L, Saltuari L, Nardone R.How the brain can rewire itself after an injury: the lesson from hemispherectomy.Neural Regan Res. 2017;12(9):1426-1427. doi:10.4103/1673-5374.215247Voss P, Thomas ME, Cisneros-Franco JM, de Villers-Sidani É.Dynamic brains and the changing rules of neuroplasticity: implications for learning and recovery.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1657. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01657Ortiz-Teran L, Diez I, Ortiz T, et al.Brain circuit-gene expression relationships and neuroplasticity of multisensory cortices in blind children.PNAS. 2017;114(26):6830-35. doi:10.1073/pnas.1619121114
Herculano-Houzel S.The remarkable, yet not extraordinary, human brain as a scaled-up primate brain and its associated cost.PNAS. 2012;109(Suppl 1);10661-8. doi:10.1073/pnas.1201895109
The University of Maine.Bulletin #4356, Children and brain development: What we know about how children learn.
Kaczmarek B.Current views on neuroplasticity: What is new and what is old?.Acta Neuropsychologica. 2020;18(1):1-14. doi:10.5604/01.3001.0013.8808
Murdock A.The evolutionary advantage of the teenage brain. University of California.
Johnson AK, Xue B.Central nervous system neuroplasticity and the sensitization of hypertension.Nature Rev Nephrol. 2018;14:750-66. doi:10.1038/s41581-018-0068-5
Chen Q, Yang H, Rooks B, et al.Autonomic flexibility reflects learning and associated neuroplasticity in old age.Human Brain Mapping. 2020;41(13):3608-19. doi:10.1002/hbn.25034
Dabrowski J, Czajka A, Zielinska-Turek J, et al.Brain functional reserve in the context of neuroplasticity after stroke.Neural Plasticity. 2019:9708905. doi:10.1155/2019/9708905
Kiran S, Thompson C.Neuroplasticity of language networks in aphasia: Advances, updates, and future challenges.Front Neurol. 2019;10:295. doi:10.3389/fneur.2019.00295
Vemuri P, Lesnick TG, Przybelski SA, et al.Association of lifetime intellectual enrichment with cognitive decline in the older population.JAMA Neurol. 2014;71(8):1017-24. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2014.963
Li W, Ma L, Yang G, Gan WB.REM sleep selectively prunes and maintains new synapses in development and learning.Nat Neurosci. 2017;20(3):427-437. doi:10.1038/nn.4479
Tahmasian M, Samea F, Khazaie H, et al.The interrelation of sleep and mental and physical health is anchored in grey-matter neuroanatomy and under genetic control.Communic Biol. 2020;3:171. doi:10.1038/s42003-020-0892-6
Kim YS, Shin SK, Hong SB, Kim HJ.The effects of strength exercise on hippocampus volume and functional fitness of older women.Experiment Gerontol. 2017;97:22-8. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2017.07.007
Liu PZ, Nusslock R.Exercise-mediated neurogenesis in the hippocampus via BDNF.Front Neurosci. 2018;12:52. doi:10.3389/fnins.2018.00052
Vorkapic C, Leal S, Alves H, Douglas M, Britto A, Martin Dantas EH.Born to move: a review on the impact of physical exercise on brain health and the evidence from human controlled trials.Arq Neuro-Psiquiatr. 2021;79(6). doi:10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2020-0166
Department of Health and Human Services.Current guidelines.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02012/full. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.0201
Schultz S, Larson J, Oh J, et al.Participation in cognitively-stimulating activities is associated with brain structure and cognitive function in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.Brain Imaging Behav. 2015;9(4):729-736. doi:10.1007/s11682-014-9329-5
Video games can change your brain: Studies investigating how playing video games can affect the brain have shown that they can cause changes in many brain regions. ScienceDaily.
Chukwuma C.Environmental and public health repercussions of the heavy metal lead (Pb) in the pediatric population.Biomed J Sci Techn Res. 2020;31(3):24274-24277. doi:10.26717/BJSTR.2020.31.005112
Dennis M, Spiegler B, Juranek J, Bigler E, Snead O, Fletcher J.Age, plasticity, and homeostasis in childhood brain disorders.Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013;37(10 Pt 2):2760-73. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.09.010
Doidge N.The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph From the Frontiers of Brain Science. Viking.
James W.The Principles of Psychology.Classics in the History of Psychology.
Sebastianelli L, Saltuari L, Nardone R.How the brain can rewire itself after an injury: the lesson from hemispherectomy.Neural Regan Res. 2017;12(9):1426-1427. doi:10.4103/1673-5374.215247
Voss P, Thomas ME, Cisneros-Franco JM, de Villers-Sidani É.Dynamic brains and the changing rules of neuroplasticity: implications for learning and recovery.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1657. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01657
Ortiz-Teran L, Diez I, Ortiz T, et al.Brain circuit-gene expression relationships and neuroplasticity of multisensory cortices in blind children.PNAS. 2017;114(26):6830-35. doi:10.1073/pnas.1619121114
Hockenbury SE, Hockenbury D.Discovering Psychology, 8th ed. Worth Publishing.Hoiland E.Brain plasticity: What is it?. University of Washington.Kolb B, Gibb R.Brain plasticity and behaviour in the developing brain.J Canad Acad Child Adolesc Psychiat. 2011;20(4):265-276.
Hockenbury SE, Hockenbury D.Discovering Psychology, 8th ed. Worth Publishing.
Hoiland E.Brain plasticity: What is it?. University of Washington.
Kolb B, Gibb R.Brain plasticity and behaviour in the developing brain.J Canad Acad Child Adolesc Psychiat. 2011;20(4):265-276.
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