NEUROPLASTICITY essay

In this essay I will be explaining the nature o neuroplasticity, also known as brain plasticity, I will look at how the brain functions, adapts and recovers from trauma, such as phantom limbs and stroke as well as the way stem cells are used in order to aid recovery. Neuroplasticity (or brain plasticity) For an appropriate understanding of brain plasticity, it is important to comprehend the structural and functional divisions of the nervous system. The nervous system is an extremely complex structure with divisions which serve different functions. The system can be divided into the peripheral and central nervous systems (Nieuwenhuys, and Nicholson, 2014). The nervous tissue that comprises both the peripheral and central nervous systems is composed of two basic cell types-the glial cells and the neurons.

The white matter consists of regions that consist primarily of cell bodies while the grey matter refers to the regions that comprise primarily of axons. White matter obtains its colouration from the lipid-rich myelin that insulates axons. Grey matter, on the other hand, can vary in colour depending on how long the nervous tissue has been preserved. Nonetheless, this type of colouration is crucial for understanding the functioning of the nervous system. It is important to note that in neuroplasticity, it is grey matter (the axons) that primarily undergo change. These terms refer to alterations in their intrinsic excitability and modifications in the inter-neuron connections, respectively. Brain plasticity could involve the sprouting of nerve endings from undamaged axons and thus establish new neural pathways to achieve a certain function.

Nonetheless, brain malleability is a double-edged sword and could result in tinnitus in deaf persons because of the rewiring of sound-starved brain cells, for example (Cacace, 2003). The rewiring of neuronal connections is also seen in the phantom limb syndrome, resulting in the ability to feel sensations from a non-existent limb including both non-painful and painful stimuli. The pain associated with this syndrome ranges from the tingling pins and needles to shooting or burning pains while sensations that are not pain-associated include exteroperception-itch, vibration, pressure, temperature and touch, and the perception of movement. The expertise acquired by the London taxi drivers was attributed to a greater proportion of grey matter in the hippocampus. The study used London bus drivers as the control- the selected control group equalled the taxi drivers regarding stress levels and driving experience, but had less navigation experience because unlike taxi drivers, they used a fixed pattern of routes.

With increased experience regarding navigation, it was discovered that there was a reduced amount of grey matter in the anterior hippocampus and an increased amount of grey matter in the mid-posterior hippocampus. The right posterior amount of grey matter was reported to increase with a proportional increase in navigation experience. The study on London taxi drivers reveals that neuroplasticity is a process that occurs in the brain throughout the life of the individual and is highly dependent on the parts of the brain that are put to repeated use. According to Pascual-Leone and Hamilton (2001), the occipital region of the cerebral cortex may be perceived to be an all-input processing machine that nonetheless, in the presence of visual input, processes visual information and in its absence employs non-visual inputs in its functioning.

According to Burton (2003), the switch in function by the occipital region could be explained in terms of de novo cross-modal plasticity. In this context, new patterns of connectivity and interneuron connections are a response to blindness. The occipital cortex’s processing of sensory inputs other than visual ones hints at the brain’s ability to process many forms of sensory inputs even in areas that are specialized for a specific form of input. This phenomenon also explains why blind individuals have a better sense of smell, touch and hearing. ’ Furthermore, there is significant grey matter and brain functional changes associated with focal hand dystonia (musician’s cramp). Neuroplasticity provides an explanation for the neurological movement disorder that affects various parts of the body that may be involved with the repeated movement.

The disorder is characterised by prolonged involuntary muscle contractions –in FHD, the hand is twisted into out-of-the-normal positions (Garraux et al, 2004). The repeated movement of the hand is believed to cause a remapping of the brain cortex’s receptive fields. Finger representations in the brain in this context may be fused, which is abnormal. Other methods proposed for the treatment of stroke include stem cell therapy. Human neural stem cell products are used to facilitate cell-enhanced functional recovery. Stem cell therapy in this context is used to promote neuronal structural plasticity by enhancing axonal transport and dendritic branching (Andres et al, 2011). Stem cell therapy thus enhances the endogenous repair mechanism of neuroplasticity by stimulating more intensive neurite sprouting. Conclusion It can thus be concluded that neuroplasticity is responsible for the etiology of some diseases as seen in focal hand dystonia but is also essential in the recovery process for various diseases including phantom limbs and brain ischemia, which affect the nervous system.

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