Os Cangaceiros
13th February 2012, 11:54
Neuroscience is in the process of reinventing itself. For 400 years, the brain was seen as a machine with parts, each performing a single mental function in a single brain location. Eventually the brain was seen as a computer with hard-wired circuits, all formed and finalized in childhood. It was believed that the brain's circuitry was only alterable in certain "critical periods," or brief windows of extreme plasticity; these were thought to occur in childhood, when experience helped to form the brain's circuitry. The conventional wisdom was that certain skills must be learned early on; it was generally "too late" for adults to pick up a new language or musical skill. Plasticity was for kids.
But in the past few decades mainstream neuroscience has reversed itself, demonstrating that the brain is "neuroplastic" from cradle to grave. Neuroplasticity is the property of the brain that allows it to change its structure and function through mental experience. This discovery has led to new treatments for learning disabilities and for strokes (so that adults can at times, through brain exercises, develop new circuitry and cure themselves). A host of neurological and psychiatric problems and injuries can now be addressed through mind-based interventions.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203711104577200850417760734.html
But in the past few decades mainstream neuroscience has reversed itself, demonstrating that the brain is "neuroplastic" from cradle to grave. Neuroplasticity is the property of the brain that allows it to change its structure and function through mental experience. This discovery has led to new treatments for learning disabilities and for strokes (so that adults can at times, through brain exercises, develop new circuitry and cure themselves). A host of neurological and psychiatric problems and injuries can now be addressed through mind-based interventions.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203711104577200850417760734.html