The Neuroplastic Brain: Our Malleable Learning Machine

The human brain, or as I personally call it, “the Eighth Wonder of the World”, has baffled and confused even the most distinguished of thinkers throughout history. Many have taken the deep dive down the rabbit hole of neural science, and returned empty-handed, as they couldn’t fully comprehend and map the brain in its entirety without proper technology. After years of innovation, technology has finally caught up and allowed new opportunities to explore the mysterious “final frontier” of our malleable brain.

The exponential growth of research surrounding this subject has revealed that the core principles of neuroplasticity can be used as tools for strengthening, repairing, and growing our brains.

The concretizing of the neuroplasticity theory is a phenomenon without a single doubt, as many world-renowned neuroscientists from the past could only claim this hypothesis and theory to be true. Although they lacked tangible and irrefutable evidence, one thing these specialists unanimously agreed upon is that your brain didn’t stop growing when you reached adulthood, actually quite the opposite as it never stopped growing. Take this small excerpt from an 1897 paper from “The American Journal of Psychology” that discusses this, “intelligence… enables the organism to make better adaptations. Its neural pre-requisite is plasticity.”

Even in 1897, Neuroplasticity, at its most basic definition, accepted as the brain having the cunning ability to restructure itself after basic, mild, or intense training and mental practice. The idea that your brain works out just like any other muscle in your body. The main difference being that your brain gains gray matter rather than muscle mass. The neocortex makes up 80% of the brains mass, giving you lots of room to learn.

Scanned image of the brain

The discoveries on the neocortex as a malleable palette for growth were so encouraging and exciting a breakthrough in neuroscience because it disproved the notion that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. The acceptance of this as fact reignites a person’s sense of optimism and capability at any age.

Newly found hope gives way to new adventures and experiences for older generations and makes personal growth and development still possible, especially to people who thought they can only degrade, rather than regenerate. This hope can illuminate minds and bring about beautiful fireworks displays of creativity and ingenuity.

Back to gray matter. A great example of how this works is a trumpet player who has dedicated his life to mapping his fingers a trumpet’s three valves. An MRI scan would reveal a larger mass around the area that controls finger movement for the player and is directly related to the quantity and quality of the practice being performed consistently. Their brain is adapting in very real-time. This is mostly done by neuron pathways connecting enough times that they become superhighways that jettison information back-and-forth from the brain to the body, a strong gray matter muscle, and neuron pathway. The more you practice the more ingrained it becomes.

The flip side to this is the fact that these neuron pathways can also disintegrate and become forgotten. This is why constant practice in any facet of life is necessary for mastering that area.

A direct example of this in my life is my studying of the Brazilian Portuguese language and culture. When I studied abroad in Brazil, specifically Salvador, Bahia, I learned more in those 11 weeks than in four semesters of language courses at the University of Texas at Austin. The main reason being that my brain learned and adapted so much, so quickly, that I was thrown into full immersion and I experienced this immersion very intensely.

I learned enough Portuguese to create a highway but didn’t practice enough to create a superhighway that would never disappear or disintegrate.

A major disruptor to neuron pathways is stress. Human cognitive ability is directly affected by high stress in the workplace, in life, or financially and can actually kill neurons and neural connections — the very definition and recipe for neuroplasticity.

Stress is unavoidable in this world, but managing stress is a major necessity in life, whether it’s through meditation, counseling, daily walks, exercise, or a hobby, literally any method that suits you and your mind.

It is imperative to keep our mind and body and check, and an easy way to begin this is by ridding your mind of stress through one of the above methods to allow your mind to finally flourish.

The underrated brain produces and 35 W of power, enough to power a lightbulb, and consumes 20% of the body’s entire blood and oxygen flowing through it to perform an action such as yawning in our overall intelligence. Obviously, it is the engine, the wisdom, the dictator, and the diplomat that keeps our body functioning and growing.

The 150,000 blood vessels working in perfect harmony, at unbelievable speeds, to reshape existing neurons shape the brain to be faster and better at completing daily tasks…never forget this. Never forget that at any age or time there is nobody who can steal or take away your brain's ability to grow, and continue growing — even through adulthood.

This article is meant to inspire, not only to gain more knowledge but also to grow as a person and as a way to recognize the fact that we have one life to live; one brain to take care of. This malleable brain has revealed that is has spoiled us with unlimited potential and opportunity to grow. It’s up to you to make it this growth occur.

An easy explanation and example of neuroplasticity and the wonders it can do to repair neuron pathways is the story of Jody. Jody recovered from epilepsy and Hemispherectomy: The removal of a brain hemisphere or half of a brain.

Her left hemisphere, the half that remained, had such plasticity that it was able to learn, take over, and eventually complete functions that normally are reserved for the right hemisphere. This malleability further conveys the “miracle-like” power neuroplasticity holds.

The video posted below shows the positive affect this phenomenon can have on the lives of individuals who struggle with neural issues daily. These conditions in the past were labeled as permanent and not recoverable, but now there is a glimmer of light passing through their dark realities.

I trust that the more popular “working out” your brain becomes worldwide the quicker the rate of human evolution will exponentially rise, leading to a more civilized, intelligent, and rational world. As the famous poet, philosopher, and great thinker of his time, Marcus Tullius Cicero, who was so far ahead of his own time said:

“Six mistakes mankind keeps making century after century: Believing that personal gain is made by crushing others; Worrying about things that cannot be changed or corrected; Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it; Refusing to set aside trivial preferences; Neglecting development and refinement of the mind; Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cheers,

J. Robert Fallon III