Brain Fact # 10
Brain Plasticity
Dr. Pascual-Leone was asked “How does plasticity work in the brain? How fast do changes occur?
“There are different steps in neuroplasticity. One is a very rapid expansion of brain matter, which can be seen in about 1 week (for instance when someone is learning how to play a difficult finger sequence on a piano). This expansion results from the fact that the “wires” that connect the neurons responsible for that specific fingering allow more information to pass through. Such expansion can be seen only during the practice time. When practice is over a shrinkage is observed. If the learning behaviour is repeated over and over again, then new connections are established. In other words, the brain can accommodate more traffic and if this level of traffic is maintained it can expand the size of the “network”.