Why Neuroplasticity Is Considered Your Brain's Superpower

Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to adapt and reorganize itself in response to learning, experience, or injury from insult or disease. This phenomenon allows the brain to form new neural connections and modify existing ones, which can help in times of injury or disease (such as a head injury or a stroke ), and in learning and assimilating new information.

Keep reading to better understand the concept of neuroplasticity, and how you can improve or leverage it to remain cognitively sharp and possibly delay cognitive decline or dementia, including Alzheimer's disease .

What Is Neuroplasticity?

Broadly speaking, neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change in response to something that happens in the world, says Anne Elizabeth West, PhD , a researcher and a professor of neurobiology at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina.

"That's exciting, because we often think that we are fixed in some way by the genes we were born with. The idea of neuroplasticity is that even though your brain is wired a certain way when you're born, it can still change in response to things you learn or that happen to you," says Dr. West.

These adaptations can be the result of internal or external events - for example a stroke, brain injury, or our experiences, says Shehroo Pudumjee, PhD , a neuropsychologist at Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Cleveland.

There are basically two kinds of neuroplasticity:

• Structural Plasticity In response to learning and experience, the brain creates pathways that solidify information such as our ABCs or the name of a new acquaintance.

• Functional Plasticity When the brain sustains an injury of some kind, it is able to construct new pathways to work around the injured area.

What Is Its Role in a Healthy Brain?

A brain is made up of billions of neurons - nerve cells that collect and process information - and a network of electrical circuits that allow neurons to communicate with other neurons and send messages throughout the body via the nervous system.

In a healthy brain, when you take in new information, new neural connections are formed - that's neuroplasticity.

In the first months and years of life, the young brain forms more than a million new neural connections every second. By the time a person is 6 years old, the size of the brain has increased to about 90 percent of its eventual adult size.

This helps kids take in a lot of information quickly and form new neural connections, and it's the reason they have an easier time learning new languages and concepts than adults.

Every experience helps shape the brain. As the psychologist Donald O. Hebb predicted in 1949, if neurons are temporally synchronous with each other, then the connection between the neurons is strengthened. In short, neurons that fire together, wire together.

From an overabundance of connections in childhood, the brain prunes unused connections to form a mature brain. So if you don't hear and use a certain phoneme - a bit of sound - in a specified language by your teens, you'll never be able to say the sound and will always have an accent.

Once we hit our thirties, the brain starts to shrink, and the "shrinkage rate" increases even more by age 60, which can affect things like memory, learning, and how fast we process new information.

But neuroplasticity allows the brain to remain flexible (able to change) throughout our entire life. That means that the brain can continue to form new pathways when we learn a new skill or engage with other people, even as older adults.

Neuroplasticity also plays a role in helping people recover from events like a stroke. With time, therapy, and practice, a person can sometimes recover functions - such as the ability to speak or walk - because of the brain's ability to build new pathways or use silent pathways to compensate for brain cells that are damaged or have died.

Are There Ways to Build Brain Plasticity?

If we continue to learn and engage in new activities, we can build on the advantages of neuroplasticity, which is good for the health of the brain, says Dr. Pudumjee.

There are compelling reasons to foster neuroplasticity as it can help maintain cognitive function as we age and potentially reduce the effects of neurodegenerative diseases, she says.

And by cognitively challenging yourself, you can expand your cognitive reserve, says Pudumjee.

How Does Cognitive Reserve Fit Into the Picture?

One way to think about cognitive reserve is "brain resilience." There are people who have brain changes that are consistent with advanced Alzheimer's disease or other dementias but who don't show any symptoms. "Cognitive reserve" may play a role in offsetting the damage and allowing them to continue to function normally.

Greater cognitive reserve is thought to be supported by more extensive neural connections and more efficient neural networks, which are aspects influenced by neuroplasticity.

Learning a new language, pursuing other learning opportunities, and having a challenging job are all associated with greater cognitive reserve, says Pudumjee.

"Engaging in these activities engages the process of neuroplasticity in the form of building associations and creating and strengthening brain networks in response to internal and external stimuli," she says.

What's the Role of Neuroplasticity in Alzheimer's Disease?

In Alzheimer's disease, there is a loss of structure and function of neurons, atrophy or shrinkage of certain brain structures, and loss of synaptic density (the number of synapses, the places where neurons connect and communicate), says Pudumjee.

"It is critical to regularly stimulate and engage our brain to keep fostering the use of those networks, building and sustaining those connections, and employing that neuroplasticity to our advantage," she says.

While there is no evidence from clinical trials showing this, finding ways to foster neuroplasticity could improve cognitive reserve and potentially delay decline. But there may be no benefit to activities or experiential therapy.

How could neuroplasticity come into play in diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's? These conditions involve progressive neural degeneration, but the brain's ability to adapt and form new connections may help compensate for damaged areas. Strengthening neuroplasticity could delay cognitive decline.

Is There a Way to Use Neuroplasticity to Slow the Progression of Cognitive Impairment?

Research suggests that by challenging your brain, you may build neuroplasticity and cognitive reserve and delay the onset or progression of cognitive decline associated with aging and neurodegenerative diseases.

But it doesn't come easy: Research suggests that these efforts have to be consistent and outside our "comfort zone." For example, a retired accountant who takes a class on how to manage a stock portfolio might learn new information, but that topic might already be within her "wheelhouse" and therefore not very helpful for plasticity. Piano lessons or a foreign language might be more beneficial for neuroplasticity.

What Can I Do Now to Maximize Neuroplasticity?

To maximize neuroplasticity and cognitive reserve, it's essential that we keep our brain not only active, but also challenged and engaged, says Pudumjee.

Here are a few proven interventions that strengthen neuroplasticity, as well as a few that show promise.

New Skills

"Learning a new language or how to play a musical instrument or taking a course on interesting subject matter are ways to harness the benefits of neuroplasticity. It is important that these activities are done on a regular basis, as doing them occasionally does not have the same effect," she says.

That means you should try to find activities or subjects you enjoy, because you're more likely to sustain it, leading to greater benefit, says Pudumjee.

Sleep

Sleep is an important part of maintaining a healthy brain, says Brahyan Galindo-Mendez, MD, MPH , the chief neurology resident at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

"Memory consolidation and removal of waste proteins in the brain happens during sleep. Most adults need from seven to nine hours of sleep nightly, and that is what is recommended to maintain a healthy brain," says Dr. Galindo-Mendez.

Physical Activity

The data on the benefits of exercise for the brain is really quite good, says West.

Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, which is good for the neurochemical environment of the brain, she says.

A review of the impact on sleep, diet, and exercise on neuroplasticity concluded that both aerobic and resistance exercise "profoundly influence neuroplasticity" by way of increasing positive proteins and brain chemicals.

Mind-Body Practices

Any activity that gets your heart pumping is likely to have benefits, whether that's jogging, swimming, or dancing.

Because most of the data on what happens in the brain comes from studies on mice and rats, there's not a lot of evidence on the benefits of specific types of slower movement such as tai chi or Feldenkrais lessons for neuroplasticity.

There is evidence of improvement of executive function in people without cognitive decline and increased brain volume in people who regularly practice tai chi.

Balance training (which tai chi can improve) has been linked to positive brain changes and neuroplasticity.

The Feldenkrais method is a somatic practice (meaning "learning from within") that teaches students that movement is based on meaningful intention and awareness. Practitioners of the method believe that it potentially changes the brain's structure through the combination of movement and guided attention.

Brain Training

The evidence for structured cognitive exercises or "brain training" is mixed. While it may improve the ability to do specific tasks, it isn't proven that it will improve general cognitive ability. Even when older people perform better on tasks, some experts question whether it is due to changes in the brain, or simply that people learn strategies to perform better on a specific task.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy works with people to examine how their thoughts impact their actions. Over time, the therapy helps people unlearn negative patterns and adopt healthier patterns of thought and habits.

The idea behind CBT is that with practice, new neural pathways are created. There isn't a lot of research on how cognitive behavioral therapy impacts neuroplasticity, but there is some evidence to suggest that it does change the structure and function of the brain.

Mindfulness Meditation

There isn't much research on mindfulness and neuroplasticity. A trial of more than 200 people found that a short-term (eight-week) mindfulness training intervention (yoga, meditation, and body awareness) did not lead to any significant brain changes that would indicate improved neuroplasticity.

But the researchers believe that it's possible that a longer duration of training with a more specific focus might promote brain changes.

Neurofeedback

In neurofeedback, electrodes are placed on the scalp to measure brain waves. When the brain waves change in the desired way - faster or slower, for example - the person is "rewarded" in some way, which encourages their brain to repeat the desired action.

When used as a cognitive training tool, neurofeedback can provide people with information about their brain activity and train them to control the activity. The theory is that this control results in a cognitive "boost" and triggers specific structural and functional changes in the brain and improves neuroplasticity.

Research on the effectiveness of neurofeedback for neuroplasticity is still in the early stages, and controlled trials with an appropriate placebo intervention arm are challenging to conduct.

The Takeaway

Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to form new neural connections, which it does in response to experiences, learning, and sometimes injury to the brain. In young children, the brain is forming millions of new neural connections constantly, but in adults, the brain actually starts to shrink, and the number of connections decreases. The good news is that you can maintain neuroplasticity in your brain at any age by engaging in new and challenging activities, getting enough sleep, and participating in regular physical exercise.

Editorial Sources and Fact-Checking

Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy . We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.

Sources

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4. Park DC et al. The Aging Mind: Neuroplasticity in Response to Cognitive Training. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience . April 1, 2022.
5. Pickersgill JW et al. The Combined Influences of Exercise, Diet, and Sleep on Neuroplasticity. Frontiers Psychology . April 25, 2022.
6. A Sharper Mind: Tai Chi Can Improve Cognitive Function. Harvard Health Publishing . January 31, 2024.
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David Weisman, MD

Medical Reviewer

David Weisman, MD, is the director of the Clinical Trial Center at Abington Neurological Associates in Pennsylvania, where he has conducted numerous clinical trials into mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease to develop disease-modifying drugs.

Dr. Weisman has dedicated his research career toward advancing new therapies for Alzheimer's disease, focusing on clinical trials for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and other dementias, and he devotes his clinical practice to memory and cognitive problems.

He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Franklin and Marshall College, then an MD from Penn State College of Medicine. After an internship at St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco, he completed his neurology residency at Yale, where he served as chief resident. He then went to the University California in San Diego for fellowship training in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

Weisman has published papers and studies in journals such as Neurology , JAMA Neurology , Stroke , and The New England Journal of Medicine , among others.

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Becky Upham

Author

Becky Upham has been professionally involved in health and wellness for almost 20 years. She's been a race director, a recruiter for Team in Training for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a salesperson for a major pharmaceutical company, a blogger for Moogfest, a communications manager for Mission Health, a fitness instructor, and a health coach.

She majored in English at the University of North Carolina and has a master's in English writing from Hollins University.

Upham enjoys teaching cycling classes, running, reading fiction, and making playlists.

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