Psychology Neuroplasticity and the Brain

[GreyCrow]

I talked about Neuroplasticity in another post and did some more research and found a few videos that explain it better than I can. But at its core Neuroplasticity is changing those areas of the brain ie behaviours , emotions and habits.



A short video on emotions. I would like to see emotional intelligence taught in schools. For people involved in Domestic Violence and Anger Management it can be a very good tool.



This is the full length ( 52 minutes) documentary based on Doidges book ''The Brain That Changed Itself'' where they show how issues such as blindness, stroke, phantom pain in amputations can be ''rewired'' to help people live better lives.

 

[GreyCrow]

For many of us Alzheimers Disease is either in our future or we have known people who have suffered or are suffering with it. Neuroplasticity is one area where this can be defeated or at least slowed down. Its why medicos talk about doing crosswords or puzzles daily to keep our brains active. Its why we are told to learn new things after we retire.

Alzheimers has been likened to cholesterol of the brain. As in heart cholesterol where it clogs and slows our arteries so blood cant be moved around the body , so Alzheimers is said to be a clogging of our pathways.

Use it or lose it

 

[_Mike_]

Our body parts and limbs are also extensively mapped to the nervous system of the brain. Each finger, toe and thumb has it's own piece of real estate in the brain to which after an amputation signals start getting mixed up to which what the brain has been so used to is no longer there.

When we lose a limb that part of the brain mapped to that limb also loses function and the areas around the brain try to take over the "real estate" so to speak and the objective of things such as mirror therapy is to trick the brain that the limb is still there.

The difficulty is the phantom sensations and pain that can be generated in the nerve endings from a limb that no longer exists. This is also related to the plasticity of the brain to which Im reading a book about at the moment (albeit slowly reading)

 

[GreyCrow]

The difficulty is the phantom sensations and pain that can be generated in the nerve endings from a limb that no longer exists. This is also related to the plasticity of the brain to which Im reading a book about at the moment (albeit slowly reading)

As far as I can recall the mirror imaging was to allow people to ''scratch'' that phantom itch etc.

Good luck with your reading.

 

[Randomizor]

The Brain that Changes Itself is a great book on the subject

 

[eldorado]

Phantom Limb Syndrome, as mentioned by Mike, is a weird one.

Often, the sensation of 'itchiness' can be solved by scratching a different part of the body, (say, the chin) and the sensation is perceived on both the chin, and on the phantom limb.

Other phantom limb cases have an agonising sensation of cramp, which can oddly be solved by getting the patient to imagine clenching and unclenching their non-existent fist or leg.

Apropos of nothing, here is the little man who lives in your somato-sensory cortex in your parietal lobe, where all the sensation from your body get processed...he is represented by number of nerve endings per body part (i.e amount of cortical area devoted to each part)

*Yes, the penis is surprisingly small, considering...

 

[eldorado]

Here is a sort of related thing, dealing both with our direct sensation, and some mechanism in our brain that relays/processes information about our actual position in the 3 dimensional world.

This man damaged that area, and 'lost' his body in space...

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-man-who-lost-his-body/

 

[little graham]

Alzheimers has been likened to cholesterol of the brain. As in heart cholesterol where it clogs and slows our arteries so blood cant be moved around the body , so Alzheimers is said to be a clogging of our pathways.

Use it or lose it

For those who've been on neuroleptics and some on ssri's this is one of various diseases that develops as they get older. Those drugs kill brain cells. Some even cause brain shrinkage. Even the humble valium is accused.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/benzodiazepine-use-may-raise-risk-alzheimers-disease-201409107397

People who had taken a benzodiazepine for three months or less had about the same dementia risk as those who had never taken one. Taking the drug for three to six months raised the risk of developing Alzheimer’s by 32%, and taking it for more than six months boosted the risk by 84%.

Reputable study from a reputable source.

Use it or lose it may not be the case for someones issues caused by a neuro toxin they weren't warned about. You can do some experimenting yourself next time you're at your doctor. Ask him for some Valium to calm you down from time to time. Then ask him what can you expect long and short term. See if he warns you of Alzheimers.

prevention is always better than cure.

 

[_Mike_]

The Brain that Changes Itself is a great book on the subject

Yes thats the book Im reading at the moment

 

[Vicky Park]

As long as no-one introduces Todd Sampson (yawn) into this thread, I'll keep reading it.

Talk about over-exposure...

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

If you're interested in phantom limb syndrome, VS Ramachandran is fantastic to listen to. Such a character and knows his stuff too.



He's great to listen to on pretty much anything neuropsychological:

 

[sataris]

If you're interested in phantom limb syndrome, VS Ramachandran is fantastic to listen to. Such a character and knows his stuff too.



He's great to listen to on pretty much anything neuropsychological:

Just wanted to throw this in as well. Excellent explanations


EDIT: Can't get the Media to embed properly so here's the direct link.

EDIT2: Bloody Forum, can't even link TED.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Just wanted to throw this in as well. Excellent explanations


EDIT: Can't get the Media to embed properly so here's the direct link.

EDIT2: Bloody Forum, can't even link TED.

All fixed. Chief temporarily broke embedding.

 

[Haso]

V S Ramachandran is a bit of a hero of mine. Probably the best user of a n of 1 to ever exist.

And I say that coming from a stats nerd background.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

V S Ramachandran is a bit of a hero of mine. Probably the best user of a n of 1 to ever exist.

And I say that coming from a stats nerd background.

It is amazing how much he can get from one single participant. I mean, case studies aren't exactly new, but the breadth of information he can glean from one case is truly extraordinary.

 

[Seeds]

Great idea for a thread. Do think neuroplasticity is massively overplayed, probably because there is a lot of money to be made if people believe in it, but it is real to a small degree and interesting none the less

 

[Haso]

Great idea for a thread. Do think neuroplasticity is massively overplayed, probably because there is a lot of money to be made if people believe in it, but it is real to a small degree and interesting none the less

Yep. Used unscrupulously by companies like Lumosity.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Yep. Used unscrupulously by companies like Lumosity.

I really don't know how they get away with the marketing techniques they employ. They deliberately misappropriate research findings to suit their agenda.

"Research suggests that training for just 20 minutes per day can improve your cognitive abilities!"

No, research suggests that training improves your performance on those specific tasks, not that it makes you smarter or more cognitively able. Which is very different when you consider just how useless most of those tasks are in everyday life.

 

[Haso]

I really don't know how they get away with the marketing techniques they employ. They deliberately misappropriate research findings to suit their agenda.

"Research suggests that training for just 20 minutes per day can improve your cognitive abilities!"

No, research suggests that training improves your performance on those specific tasks, not that it makes you smarter or more cognitively able. Which is very different when you consider just how useless most of those tasks are in everyday life.

Spot on mate. As an organisational psychologist who works in the psychometric testing field, that s**t makes me very angry.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Spot on mate. As an organisational psychologist who works in the psychometric testing field, that s**t makes me very angry.

Interested in hearing a bit more about what you do if you can/don't mind?

 

[Procrastinator35]

Phantom Limb Syndrome, as mentioned by Mike, is a weird one.

Often, the sensation of 'itchiness' can be solved by scratching a different part of the body, (say, the chin) and the sensation is perceived on both the chin, and on the phantom limb.

Other phantom limb cases have an agonising sensation of cramp, which can oddly be solved by getting the patient to imagine clenching and unclenching their non-existent fist or leg.

Apropos of nothing, here is the little man who lives in your somato-sensory cortex in your parietal lobe, where all the sensation from your body get processed...he is represented by number of nerve endings per body part (i.e amount of cortical area devoted to each part)

*Yes, the penis is surprisingly small, considering...

Having endured compound breaks in multiple fingers on both hands, I fully concur on the largessness of those hands....Worse pain ever.

 

[Haso]

Interested in hearing a bit more about what you do if you can/don't mind?

I work in R&D (building) and also in the consulting sphere (selling) for a company that builds psychometric assessments for pre-selection, recruitment, etc. General mental ability, personality, emotional intelligence, etc.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

A year or so old, but:

 

[SydCrow]

Yep. Used unscrupulously by companies like Lumosity.

Don't tell my mum. She does it every morning religiously. And then three crosswords. She is 79 and sharp as ever. Her mum had Alzheimers and she is determined to keep it at bay.

 

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Don't tell my mum. She does it every morning religiously. And then three crosswords. She is 79 and sharp as ever. Her mum had Alzheimers and she is determined to keep it at bay.

There are certainly some benefits to "brain training" exercises and the encouragement of cognitive reserve creation through activation of neural pathways is one of the biggest ones. There is a clear difference between advertising that fact and marketing it as a super smart potion though.

I'd never look down upon somebody who does those types of activities, but if they're doing them to get smarter, I have bad news for them.