neuroplastisuutena

Neuroplastisuutena is a term used in certain languages to denote the brain's capacity to reorganize its structure and function in response to experience, learning, environmental changes, or injury. In standard English-language neuroscience, the concept is known as neuroplasticity or neural plasticity.

Mechanisms include synaptic plasticity, such as long-term potentiation and long-term depression, structural changes in dendrites and axons, and, in some brain regions, neurogenesis. The brain can remap functional areas, strengthen existing connections, and recruit alternative networks to compensate for damage or new skills. Changes can occur on scales from milliseconds to years and may be experience- or task-dependent.

Significance and applications: plasticity underlies learning and memory, skill acquisition, and recovery after stroke or traumatic brain injury. It is influenced by age, sleep, physical activity, stress, and nutrition, and can be enhanced by rehabilitation, cognitive training, physical exercise, and brain stimulation in clinical settings. However, plastic changes can be adaptive or maladaptive; maladaptive plasticity can contribute to chronic pain, phantom limb sensations, or dystonia. Research continues to map the timescales, limits, and individual variability of plasticity, and to develop interventions that promote beneficial reorganization.