The brain is one of the most important organs of the body because of the role it plays. The body requires the brain for its normal functioning and other important body activities. Neuroplasticity is one of the features that make it to work in an effective and efficient way. Neuroplasticity has several definitions from different scholars. However, I define it as the process that allows the brain cells to rearrange themselves so as to fit a particular environmental change. According to Fink (2009) Neuroplasticity is defined as the ability of the brain to reorganize its activities by creating new connections of neurons in a living thing in order to prepare the brain to adjust to any new changes or situations in its surrounding. Nevertheless, Stippich (2015), defines neuroplasticity as the ability of the human brain’s nervous system to reorganize and enlarge new connections of neurons in order to adapt to new changes in the environment.
The brain has the ability to adapt due to its ability to form new brain neurons. This is important because it helps the brain to adapt to any new changes that occur in its environment; the change may be neuronal change, behavioural change or any change that affects the brains in one way of the other. There a number of ways that the brain uses to adapt to different situations. The first way is the ability of the brain to strengthen the existing neural connections that are involved in performing a certain behaviour. Secondly, the brain can adapt to a new situation by modifying the current behaviour, and lastly, the brain adapts to new changes by fully accommodating the new behavioural changes that occur in a given environment. The adaptation of the brain is an amazing activity because it allows one to freely and fully adapt to new changes, thus, enabling their existing in almost all situations (Lind-Kyle, 2009).
The brain of the human beings has remarkable ability to adapt to a lot of change that may include trauma in the forms of a stroke of a brain injury. The ability of the brain to adapt enables people to continue with their normal activities even after their brains have undergone any form of damage. Studies show that the human brain has the natural ability to rebound from any brain traumas and injuries, thus showing us that the people can train their brains to prepare for recovery that occurs after the injury (Lind-Kyle, 2009). Research shows that one's brain can adapt to new changes by coming up with new styles of thinking just the way a switch-hitter builds up its alternative styles of battling. For instance, if one’s left arm gets a muscle injury, then the person can use the style of battling that mostly depends on the strength of the other arm, which is not injured.
According to Dr Doidge (2007), the ability of the brain to adapt to change is the one of the most changes that occur the people’s understanding of the human brain in over four hundred years. Arguably, some of the best neuroscientists have tried for a long time to study the brain as a machine equipment that has parts that perform one single function of reasoning in one particular location. However, Dr Doidge (2007), argues that the brain can rearrange itself in different situations to suit its particular functioning. Dr Denning backs the study up by talking about a life situation of a patient who underwent an open heart surgery and was almost dead due to the hemispherical stroke of the brain. However, the patient was able to recover from the coma and with time, he started to walk without any paralysis after five weeks. This shows that the brain adaptability to new situations is a lifelong process that acts to suit all people, whether that old, or school going children.
In other studies, psychologists such as Dr. Chapman teaches that although the brain is one of the most adjustable parts of the human body parts, it needs constant proper learning for it to keep up with the ever changing environments and brain situations. Her study shows that the adaptability of the brain may be affected by age where the frontal lobes of the brain that are in charge of the reasoning accelerate at the ages of between 16 and 25. However, she adds that the acceleration of the brain reasoning starts to decline after a person reaches the age of 30 especially if the activities that keep the brain fit have been neglected (Brown et al, 2010).
In conclusion, it is evident that the brain is one of the most important body organs because of the different crucial roles that it plays its ability to adapt to different situations helps it to function in a better and more efficient ways. Neuroplasticity has been defined differently by different scientists. However, my definition for neuroplasticity is that it is the process that allows the brain cells to rearrange themselves so as to fit a particular environmental change. Different scholars, including Dr Doidge (2007) have shown that the brain is not like a machine. The ability of the brain to adapt to change is the one of the most crucial changes that has helped human beings to survive brain injuries and damage for over four hundred years.
References
Brown, J., Fenske, M., & Neporent, L. (2010). The winner's brain: 8 strategies great minds use to achieve success. Philadelphia, PA: Da Capo Lifelong.
Doidge, N. (2007). The brain that changes itself: Stories of personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science. New York: Viking
Fink, G. (2009). Stress Science: Neuroendocrinology. Burlington: Elsevier Science.
Lind-Kyle, P. (2009). Heal your mind, rewire your brain: Applying the exciting new science of brain synchrony for creativity, peace, and presence. Santa Rosa, CA: Energy Psychology Press.
Stippich, C. (2015). Clinical functional MRI: Presurgical functional neuroimaging.
