Aa
Neuroplasticity
I have been reading a fascinating book on this recently. It's called The Brain that Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge (amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Brain-That-Changes-Itself-Frontiers/dp/067003830X; find in a library: http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71189897).
It starts out with a story of a woman who completely lost the functioning of the vestibular apparatus in her brain and how she used this special helmet which detects movement in two planes and sends signals to a strip of electrodes on her tongue to teach her brain how to perceive balance again. You can read a little bit about this in the excerpt at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2008/07/26/sm_brain126.xml.
The book also talks about different types of therapies, such as constraint-induced movement therapy where stroke victims go through an intense period of training where they are prevented from using their good limbs and are forced to use their paralyzed limbs for various tasks. This can work even with people who have been previously unable to use the affected limbs for years or decades.
There are a lot of interesting and hopeful ideas in this book. How well these things would work over the long run is something like MS where the underlying physical structure of the brain keeps deteriorating, I don't know. I did recently come across one interesting study that experimented with constraint-induced movement therapy in MS patients: http://www.acceleratedcure.org:8080/node/3296
sho
It starts out with a story of a woman who completely lost the functioning of the vestibular apparatus in her brain and how she used this special helmet which detects movement in two planes and sends signals to a strip of electrodes on her tongue to teach her brain how to perceive balance again. You can read a little bit about this in the excerpt at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2008/07/26/sm_brain126.xml.
The book also talks about different types of therapies, such as constraint-induced movement therapy where stroke victims go through an intense period of training where they are prevented from using their good limbs and are forced to use their paralyzed limbs for various tasks. This can work even with people who have been previously unable to use the affected limbs for years or decades.
There are a lot of interesting and hopeful ideas in this book. How well these things would work over the long run is something like MS where the underlying physical structure of the brain keeps deteriorating, I don't know. I did recently come across one interesting study that experimented with constraint-induced movement therapy in MS patients: http://www.acceleratedcure.org:8080/node/3296
sho
I took a stab at the health page. Suggestions for improvement welcome. And no I can't figure out how the paragraph breaks on the Health Page interface work.
sho
sho
Well, I'll give it a shot and see what I can come up with.
And, yes, our forum and the health pages are awesome. MedHelp *should* be impressed! I for one have learned so much. Less than a year ago, the neuro first told me I had a problem with my central nervous system and I sat there, somewhat stunned not exactly absolutely sure what that comprised. I know a lot more now and much of it from here.
Hopefully all this learning is helping my brain plasticity--I need every bit I can get!
sho
And, yes, our forum and the health pages are awesome. MedHelp *should* be impressed! I for one have learned so much. Less than a year ago, the neuro first told me I had a problem with my central nervous system and I sat there, somewhat stunned not exactly absolutely sure what that comprised. I know a lot more now and much of it from here.
Hopefully all this learning is helping my brain plasticity--I need every bit I can get!
sho
I think what you are describing is the development of plasticity. The more you require the brain to adapt, the more adaptable it becomes - within limits. People who stop learning are set ups for dementia and brain deterioration.
You are no more underprepared for the topic than I. Remember, 99% of those that read it will have NO NOTION at all of what it is or what role it might play in MS. It only needs to describe the topic in broad terms and discuss some of the tantalizing findings. Maybe some discussion about brain games and keeping the mind active with new tasks.
But, if you feel reluctant to take it on, that's okay, too. I wouldn't get to it for quite a while. I guess God put me here to accomplish certain things. I'm so far behind now that I am going to have to live forever!
MedHelp is really in awe of our Pages. They say we have done more with them than any other forum and it is not only what they were hoping for, but far beyond it. They use our forum to show off! Isn't that groovey?
Quizzle
You are no more underprepared for the topic than I. Remember, 99% of those that read it will have NO NOTION at all of what it is or what role it might play in MS. It only needs to describe the topic in broad terms and discuss some of the tantalizing findings. Maybe some discussion about brain games and keeping the mind active with new tasks.
But, if you feel reluctant to take it on, that's okay, too. I wouldn't get to it for quite a while. I guess God put me here to accomplish certain things. I'm so far behind now that I am going to have to live forever!
MedHelp is really in awe of our Pages. They say we have done more with them than any other forum and it is not only what they were hoping for, but far beyond it. They use our forum to show off! Isn't that groovey?
Quizzle
Glad you guys found the topic interesting.
Erin: the book is definitely a worthwhile read so I hope your mom is amenable to an addition to the Christmas list.
Zilla: Wow $400. I can see why you passed. I'll have to look out for the PBS show (I'm not much of a TV watcher, but I did once turn on the TV to watch a DVD and ended up watching the most interesting show on epigenetics--http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genes. There are so many cool and incredible things that scientists are researching). Do you remember what the neuroplasticity program was called?
Quix: That is an interesting question about sleep and neuroplasticity. I wonder if anyone is researching that topic. There was an interesting article about sleep and memory and learning and how it isn't just REM sleep in the Scientific American blog recently: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-snoozing-makes-you-smarter
I guess I could try to put something basic together on neuroplasticity for the health pages, although I do feel woefully underprepared to address the topic.
I do often feel like my brain is adapting or habituating. For example, even though the sensation in my fingers doesn't seem to be getting better, I will often feel like I get better at doing things after an initial setback. It's like my brain has somehow figured out how to compensate. Not completely, but somewhat.
sho
Erin: the book is definitely a worthwhile read so I hope your mom is amenable to an addition to the Christmas list.
Zilla: Wow $400. I can see why you passed. I'll have to look out for the PBS show (I'm not much of a TV watcher, but I did once turn on the TV to watch a DVD and ended up watching the most interesting show on epigenetics--http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genes. There are so many cool and incredible things that scientists are researching). Do you remember what the neuroplasticity program was called?
Quix: That is an interesting question about sleep and neuroplasticity. I wonder if anyone is researching that topic. There was an interesting article about sleep and memory and learning and how it isn't just REM sleep in the Scientific American blog recently: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-snoozing-makes-you-smarter
I guess I could try to put something basic together on neuroplasticity for the health pages, although I do feel woefully underprepared to address the topic.
I do often feel like my brain is adapting or habituating. For example, even though the sensation in my fingers doesn't seem to be getting better, I will often feel like I get better at doing things after an initial setback. It's like my brain has somehow figured out how to compensate. Not completely, but somewhat.
sho
In my favorite book, The Handbook of Multiple Sclerosis, the editor brings up an interesting question about treating hypersomnia. Studies about how we learn and how the normal person converts new learning into long-term memory show that we need slow wave, deep sleep shortly after a period of learning in order to lay down the new knowledge into accessible memory. Students who pull all-nighters are actually sabotaging themselves.
He notes that MS docs have noted for a long time that people who have significant brain atrophy often function much better than you would predict given their loss of brain tissue. The only explanation would be brain plasticity and the recruitment of new neural pathways.
He raises the question that, if plasticity is occurring in a patient with severe fatigue, could it be signaling that more slow-wave, deep sleep is needed? Would that person benefit from more periods of sleep to allow the new pathways to establish? Is that brain saying,"Hey! Get some sleep here, so I can make new pathways and function better!" Might we be doing something counterproductive in giving medications to keep the person awake?
He doesn't offer the answer to this, but it is an interesting thought.
Sho, would you be willing to write up a Health Page on brain plasticity? It would have to be very detailed - just enough to introduce people to the concept that our brains can often do "work-arounds" of areas of damage, allowing us to regain lost function.
Quix
He notes that MS docs have noted for a long time that people who have significant brain atrophy often function much better than you would predict given their loss of brain tissue. The only explanation would be brain plasticity and the recruitment of new neural pathways.
He raises the question that, if plasticity is occurring in a patient with severe fatigue, could it be signaling that more slow-wave, deep sleep is needed? Would that person benefit from more periods of sleep to allow the new pathways to establish? Is that brain saying,"Hey! Get some sleep here, so I can make new pathways and function better!" Might we be doing something counterproductive in giving medications to keep the person awake?
He doesn't offer the answer to this, but it is an interesting thought.
Sho, would you be willing to write up a Health Page on brain plasticity? It would have to be very detailed - just enough to introduce people to the concept that our brains can often do "work-arounds" of areas of damage, allowing us to regain lost function.
Quix
Sho sounds good to me!
I have seen time and again a special that PBS has aired about that very thing. It's immensely intriguing and when I watched the special, it made sense the way it was presented. My World's Most Attentive Neuro is very interested in the possibilities of neuroplasticity. He's done a lot of stroke research.
If Quix sees this, she may coment on the helmet. Her doc comes up with all these inventions to correct and treat vestibular dysfunction. She may know a thing or two about it....
The PBS thing I saw spoke mostly about keeping the brain active in new ways. About learning new things. If you learn a new skill or new game or hobby, even, in your midlife, you can actually keep your brain making new connections, those synapses that will keep it "young." That's at least what I took from the show. It was very fascinating and gave me hope for my feeble gray matter!
It may have been written by the fellow you mention. Sounds vaguely familiar, but my memory doesn't serve me, unfortunately! I would have ordered the book and all the "games," but it would have meant making a donation of over $400 to PBS. Couldn't swing it, even for my brain health!
Thanks for sharing, Sho!
Zilla*
I have seen time and again a special that PBS has aired about that very thing. It's immensely intriguing and when I watched the special, it made sense the way it was presented. My World's Most Attentive Neuro is very interested in the possibilities of neuroplasticity. He's done a lot of stroke research.
If Quix sees this, she may coment on the helmet. Her doc comes up with all these inventions to correct and treat vestibular dysfunction. She may know a thing or two about it....
The PBS thing I saw spoke mostly about keeping the brain active in new ways. About learning new things. If you learn a new skill or new game or hobby, even, in your midlife, you can actually keep your brain making new connections, those synapses that will keep it "young." That's at least what I took from the show. It was very fascinating and gave me hope for my feeble gray matter!
It may have been written by the fellow you mention. Sounds vaguely familiar, but my memory doesn't serve me, unfortunately! I would have ordered the book and all the "games," but it would have meant making a donation of over $400 to PBS. Couldn't swing it, even for my brain health!
Thanks for sharing, Sho!
Zilla*
I looked at the Amazon link the brain that heals itself looks very interesting... I believe in that stuff. I have a cousin who got shot in the Vietnam war he walks with a cane... but he walks.
My mom told me about him so many times the first time I was relearning to walk, but the 2nd time I was relearning to walk I kept thinking Dave has a big ol plate in his head... I don't think the 2nd time was as hard... maybe the lesions weren't as big... maybe they were in a less critical place.
1 thing I do know I can't remember passwords to sites like Amazon to get in to look very much... I'm supposed to go over to my Mom's house this evening... I'm thinking I might take her to the Amazon site and tell her something about cousin Dave and how that used book would make a good Xmas present for me... 2 birds 1 stone
Erin
My mom told me about him so many times the first time I was relearning to walk, but the 2nd time I was relearning to walk I kept thinking Dave has a big ol plate in his head... I don't think the 2nd time was as hard... maybe the lesions weren't as big... maybe they were in a less critical place.
1 thing I do know I can't remember passwords to sites like Amazon to get in to look very much... I'm supposed to go over to my Mom's house this evening... I'm thinking I might take her to the Amazon site and tell her something about cousin Dave and how that used book would make a good Xmas present for me... 2 birds 1 stone
Erin
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Multiple Sclerosis Community
Top Neurology Answerers
Australia
ON
Queensland, Australia
Queen Creek, AZ
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease
