What Is Brain Plasticity?

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According to Berlucci and Butchel (2009), plasticity describes an alteration in neural organization. Plasticity may be to blame for several types of behavior changes both short-term and permanent, such as growth, learning, injury, aging, and adaption to various settings. While several authors have attempted to more appropriately define the term, researchers are inclined to relate the theory to essentially any deviation found within the nervous system. Today, the method of behavior change can mostly likely be described by the alteration of synaptic transmission amongst neurons. William James was conceivably the initial pioneer in addressing the topic of brain plasticity from a contemporary viewpoint, as he showed an association between the …show more content…

He was intensely swayed by Santiago Cajal’s thoughts regarding the neural bases of the brain, subsequently offering a definitive perspective of the mechanism of mental associations depending upon newly formed associations between neurons. He also related the concept of plasticity and plastic activity with Tanzi’s hypothesis of the functional modifiability and Cajal’s concept of …show more content…

Further, his research of nervous degeneration and regeneration is quite familiar in the world of neuroscience today (Stahnisch and Nitsch, 2002). It is speculated that Cajal did not enjoy using the word plasticity, and therefore used the term cautiously (Berlucci and Butchel, 2009). It is even speculated that he adapted the term plasticity from Ioan Minea, a Russian neuroscientist. Additionally, it remains ambiguous as to how he intended the term to be used within in his work (Stahnisch and Nitsch, 2002).

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